I am American, but I really don’t care what countries my ancestors immigrated from.
However, I know plenty of Americans who do.
They go as far as building family trees, researching birth records, talking to Europeans they meet about it, and (in at least one case I know) planning to have their cremated remains scattered in “the old country” that they never even visited in life.
Americans like this are the topic of much ridicule by Europeans, and frankly by many Americans under the age of 50 (which I am).
But, honestly, mocking them is kind of like mocking someone who really wants to be your friend. Sure, they’re a little cringe, but they mean well and their behavior is mostly a sign of respect. Picking on them is kind of cruel.
Most Americans who care deeply about their ancestry hold a lot of respect for Europeans and Europe. They find your culture and countries fascinating, worthy of respect. By bringing up their ancestry to you, they’re trying to find something in common with you in the only way they really know how… and they absolutely mean it as a sign of respect.
Rather than being a topic of mockery or scorn, this American quirk should instead be seen as an opportunity for better international understanding and education.
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I feel like this is mocked more by Americans than by Europeans.
Respect would be not claiming to share a culture that you do not have nor have any knowledge about, I would think.
Any “respect” that doesn’t result in action is pretty worthless by my way of looking at things.
As an Italian I think it’s very cringe and just doesn’t make sense when some Americans think they are Italians because of their Italian ancestors but they can’t even speak italian and they have never even been to Italy
If people are being nice, it’s cool, but what’s quite funny is when some folk get a little nasty with it. One time stands out, with a Canadian not an American, where he made some dufus comment about ‘his people’ conquering my country–I’m Scottish. Delusional, born in Canada with Canadian parents, but wanted to think of himself as a regular Longshanks? Silly. 😀
I’ve met europeans who didn’t seem bothered to talk about it.. I met a guy from Strasbourg once in a Vietnamese Hostel, and mentioned my dad’s family came from Alsace Lorraine pre 1850’s and he seemed interested in discussing it
It’s super cringe. If you don’t own a German passport and neither do either of your parents, don’t tell me you are German.
Wait, this is a thing people get riduled for? Huh… learn something new everyday I guess.
I am fine with it. I just say my ancestors said “fuck this shit” a long time ago and left. Lol. We all come from somewhere. Some people can be snobby, but fuck em.
People still getting heritage confused with nationality
I feel like America’s obsession with lore in general negatively impacts the political atmosphere. So I’m kinda down with encouraging people to not hold things from a couple centuries ago as so sacred.
Mocking is mean but sometimes Americans are perpetuating quite ignorant and offensive stereotypes.
Having a bad temper – must be the “Scotch” in me lol! Being an alcoholic – must be the Irish in me lol!
The thing is I don’t believe it’s about desperately trying to be a friend most of the time. It’s more an attempt to be a Special American or not like other Americans. They expect to be embraced by an ancestral country they have barely any connection to and don’t really understand, based on… announcing that they’re connected. That’s what’s cringe.
I’m half Croatian but I don’t speak the language. No way am I going to tell a bunch of Croatians in Croatia. Why would I?
It’s funny that you have to specify Americans with European ancestry and not Americans with African or Asian (etc) ancestry.
Whether or not I take them seriously depends on how they frame it. A lot of people run around with this fantasy homeland in their head that does not match up with reality.
I agree, I always find it wholesome when they tell stories about their great-grandpa or try to connect with my culture in any way. I don’t know why it bothers some people so much, it’s not like they’re taking away your identity by claiming they are Irish/Italian/Scottish/whatever.
If the conversation was along the lines of “oh my family are from X specifically Y city.” Then that’s fine and normal. It’s so often “actually as a X you’re wrong about how to make famous dish”.
It’s more of an online thing. People in person are always much nicer than online.
Also to add it is not valued to honor your ancestry here. The education system is very American centric and even very untruthful about other parts of the world.
Im 25% specific place in europe (I mean one country not 25% european decent) and I know literally nothing of that culture due to family reasons, and lack of european education. I dont really go around gloating or bragging about it though, but I do think its an interesting fact!
It kinda reminds me of the “I know a person from the same country you come from”, people treat it as if they were implying you must know each other while it’s just a nice conversation starter.
There’s a difference between ridicule and “you’re not fucking Scottish, please stop calling yourself that.
Like half the screenshots i see around reddit about this are Americans making bombastic statements about countries they’ve never been to and not backing down when people who live in that country correct them. I don’t really see how that’s nice?
It can be interesting and I also enjoy looking into family history as a European, but one thing I don’t like is how this heritage is used by some Americans to create false caricatures of the ancestral homeland, reinforce old stereotypes of Europe, adopt old grievances from that homeland, or assume they understand what it’s like to be from XYZ country today.
American culture and society has diverged a lot from Europe and is unique in many ways. So when you say you’re French, Italian, Irish etc. it’s disorienting.
And I think many Americans underestimate how the US and Europe have diverged, in subtle ways, over time.
It’s also a bit flattering to know they kept their original lands in their hearts after generations in the US . The western europeans look down on this stuff we love you here in eastern Europe .
Differs per person though, doesn’t it?
Acting like all Americans who bring it up are always only trying to be nice is pretty silly. Some do. Some don’t. Americans who act haughty and rude about it certainly aren’t rare. Plenty of Americans claim to know more about the “home country” than the people who actually live there.
So, I feel pretty in the middle on this whole topic. Realistically, I can kind of care less because I don’t do this.
However, it does seem that the same people who say “You are not this heritage because you were born in the US, have never visited said country, and can’t even speak the language!”
…are the same people who would tell an American they have no identity because they’re just an immigrant from wherever.
I don’t really feel like you can have it both ways. Do you want those people to embrace their ancestral heritage, or the one they were born into?
If they embrace being American, they’re ignorant. If they embrace their ancestral heritage, they’re a phony. The truth is, most people just end up with major identity crises as a result of this mentality. Rejecting what they were born into but not being accepted into their larger ancestry either.
And obviously I am speaking in broad strokes here.
Okay there’s no solution to this becuase to Americans being American is a concept, not a nationality or ethnicity. Racist asshats aside, most Americans truly believe that the second you become a citizen you’re as American as everyone else.
But to everyone else, you would assume that when we say American we mean born in America or part of the American culture that clearly does exist and we straight up don’t. There’s no sense of history to being American. It’s always a current concept.
If a african american calls himself this its normall. if a italian american does it it is cringe?
I dont really get that. Bolth of u are just americans.. not italian/irish or african..
Like moroccan immigrants in holland also do this.. even after 6 generations if u ask them: what are u.. they say maroccan 100% of the time.. even go out on the streets and wave the maroccan flag in protest.. ur dutch man.. they just dont get it.
Most white Americans are not from one ancestry. I am of 4-5 different European backgrounds. (Scottish, Irish, French, Swedish, Finnish) To claim any one of them would be to slight the others.
I take interest in my cultural background, but I’m American,
That’s all I really identify as. I think that ALL Americans should celebrate the fact that ours is (should be) a culture of amalgamation of the best the world has to offer.
Why would anyone be mocked for anything? If someone told me they were Irish and I’d be like oh from Ireland they’d maybe say ‘No ancestry’ I’d be like ‘Oh cool’.
Mocking doesn’t normally need to happen regardless.
>They find your culture and countries fascinating, worthy of respect.
See, if they do that, i wouldn’t mock them. I might find it a bit weird, but i wouldn’t care. But my one personal expirience was with an Irish-american trying to prove their Irishness to me by rambling on about how much they hate Britain and the British people.
Hating Brits isn’t some inherent Irish trait, mate. You don’t know shit. You’re just a plastic paddy. Calm down.
A lot of them are so out of touch that they are being unintentionally offensive though. I am Greek and I’ve heard things from Americans with one Greek grandparent that would be true in Greece 100 years ago. It’s just stereotypes and ignorance 99% of the time. Which just proves that they have zero connection to their ancestral country so it’s just a label that sounds cool.
One example that once left me speechless was an American woman with a Greek grandfather who asked if married couples in Greece still show off their bedsheets after the first night of their wedding. I’ll never get over how she thought this might be happening in the 21st century.
I don’t know why but this post reminded me of Sean giving arthur morgan shit for being English in red dead 2
And stolen valor means nothing, sure buddy.
when they think they know more than you about growing up then they can feck off.
had numerous Americans telling me about growing up in Northern Ireland.
There is a difference between discussing your ancestry and claiming to be a part of a nation.
Don’t tell me you’re polish if you have to ask why 2137 is funny.
There’s plenty of reasons to make fun of Americans, and this is just another 🙂
Lmfao, most Americans I’ve encountered claiming to have Italian, German, Scottish or whatever nationality are doing so because they did a dna test and are claiming it as a personality trait. They pick the one that came up they like most and latch onto it. That’s not cute, it’s cringe.
Being interested in where your ancestors come from is completely fine. But I get the feeling the research is often limited.
Cringe away though if that is what makes you happy.
This opinion is the cultural equivalent of a participation medal.
In Ireland we call them plastic paddys
Most people are cool about it. If you want to know your ancestry and go visit the places they came from, that’s fine. No one in Norway is going to mock you for looking for a church where your great-great-grandparents got married. If it’s still there, their probably help you find it.
It’s the people who are like “I’m Irish so that’s why I get drunk a lot” who are cringe. Like naw dog, your Irish ancestry (which is usually way less than they think) isn’t what is causing you to be a fucking alcoholic.
It’s the people who latch on to one element of their ancestry and then make a caricature of that culture a huge part of their personality. “It’s in my DNA to get emotional and talk with my hands.” Whatever…
My family came from Germany in 1800s. Idk much about Germany besides the obvious. Though I think a lot of Europeans over look certain cultures continued to develop once they left their home country and can be pretty distinct for an American. I think when Americans express their ancestry they’re probably looking to connect. Though if someone asked me what I am I’d just say American…. Ya dick head. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Bwahahahaaaa
It’s the mansplaining element of it. A quick mention – fine, a shared joke – great! Lecture me about my own culture and country and get it wrong? Go away.
Bringing it up as to why you’re visiting or some commonality between the two of you is fine. But calling yourself a X-American isn’t charming. Definitely not cool to correct them on their culture.
I often have Europeans asking me what my background is – particularly Germans and Danes. I have very stereotypical Danish face shape and features – but not coloring. They get excited about it and like that I know which towns my greats came from lol
When I am in Europe locals assume that I am also local. I blend in I guess
I’m English and very rarely do Americans claim English heritage (I’ve not seen any at all but they’re prob out there) since we’re the OG bad guys. So this is not personal for me at all. But it’s weird and sad to claim a culture that isn’t yours I’m sorry.
You can enjoy and participate in a culture without claiming it as your own so just do that. Travel there, learn, talk to people if it genuinely fascinates you. But don’t go around telling people it’s yours. Because it’s just not.
I have had a DNA test done for fun and it came back with a few different places, all European but I was born and raised in England same as my parents and grandparents and great grandparents. I have no significant connection or understanding with any of the other groups listed. Not even really the other British cultures. Obviously we have shared elements of culture but I’d rather stick my head up a horses arse than call myself Welsh or Scottish or Irish. I’d look like a complete prat. Just like Americans do.
Also just generally insensitive considering, yknow everything.
I think a lot of it is because Europeans just assume ‘ yeah, no shit. My country colonised you, most Americans are European descended’. I find it interesting, only because of how elements of each culture have evolved from its origins. Hamburgers and Hotdogs are both clearly derived from German culture, but are their own thing now. The American accent itself is what happens when the early modern English language meets Dutch, German, French, etc.
They aren’t being nice they are desperately trying to be cool or belong to a club or whatever they imagine. If anything they are being rude. Acting as if you have any connection to the culture when its your ancestors you never even met? Fuck no.
You should be ridiculed for sure
It’s usually a bit cringy but doesn’t hurt anybody. What I can’t stand is guys like my neighbor who has an Irish flag tattoo, constantly talks about his Irish decedents and all of that. He will also bitch about Mexicans who sport any sort of Mexican flags, basically if your white it’s cool, if you are brown you should just go back.
I recently discovered my mom’s people descended from Ashkenazi Jews, but I don’t really expect Jewish people to be like “welcome to the tribe; here’s your yarmulke.”
They are not trying to be nice, they just want to talk about themselves
Why are you thinking of this and getting worked up about it?
Meh, they sre delusional if they think “being 5% italian” makes them italian.
I love my ancestors and their stories. I don’t brag about them to others. Well except the other family peeps that love the stories.
We just don’t like it when you try to claim to be that nationality. Plus they only really seem to care about “Exotic” ancestry. I don’t see many Americans claiming to be English (which most Anglo-Americans have ancestry from)
>and frankly by many Americans under the age of 50 (which I am).
let’s not get ageist.
I’m over 50 and have experienced and felt everything you are talking about … many years ago. Your experience could have been written word for word in 1985 or 1925 or 1875 I daresay.
Life is on eternal repeat, the same old patterns new generations discover.
I try following the golden rule: treat others are you would have yourself be treated.
As someone who has been researching genealogy stuff for years now, 23andMe used to actually go far back with their testing but apparently now is like AncestryDNA in the sense that they won’t go back past a few hundred years, which can be somewhat misleading.
Meanwhile other companies go back like far far. It gets tricky because every company uses different methods with the results too. A controversial one is Genomelink who allegedly analyzes your genetic makeup of 5,000 years. Thats amazing. I’ve read plenty of comments over the years of people saying that the older versions of 23andMe match Genomelink a bit in what ancestry they find but obviously drastically different percentages, which matches my personal case too.
Theres also companies that break it down by historical era or this or that. List of testing methods and companies goes on and on. People should be proud of their ancestors but also understand that it’s up to us to create our own stories too.
All fun and games until their LARPing is stirring up very real ethnic and cultural division in the country they’re fixated on.
They’re often representing cartoonish versions of prejudices that don’t reflect modern times, either because they come from generations ago or more often because they come from nutters and fellow LARPers on Reddit.
What’s nice about some yahoo in Idaho praising an IRA bomb because they think it’s an integral part of their Irish costume when you’ve personally seen the hurt such things can cause in the actual community they’re supposed to be from?
My mom is from England and my dad was from Australia. The only family I have in the US is my mom and two brothers. Everyone else still lives overseas. When I’m in England I usually just say something along the lines of, “I’m from America but my mom is from here” or something. I mean, I even had an accent as a kid. I was born about two years after they moved here. I’m American but I’m not just going to pretend my entire family isn’t.
My great grandparents were Sicilian. I wear my great grandfather’s wedding band on my right hand. I do not pretend to be Sicilian. I do, however, recognize that immigration is not some abstract concept – it is very much part of my family history. I never met them, they seemed awesome, and I would love to see where they came from, but I am about as American as you can get. Still, this ring is an anchor to the past, and a reminder that American-ness is in many cases just a matter of time.
If a foreigner is interested in my country’s culture (especially if they live in my country), I think this is nice. But people calling themselves Italian, Irish, German, etc when they are not is cringe. They should be mocked.
Its never about being nice its always about trying to be special because America has a weird obsession with race.
When someone says “im 20% italian” because of some test then europeans will roll their eyes because we dont think in those terms. Your genes dont mean shit its your culture that matters. If you are 50% german but have never been to germany and dont know anything about germany then you arent german. And if you want to flex it then you are just being weird. Europe learned their lesson about being too proud of where you cam from. Americans havent had to face that yet.
So no one cares where your genes are from we care about you as a person and if all you have to offer as a person is a diverse set of genes youre probably very boring.
I think it’s mostly miscommunication. Europeans have no issue with Americans valuing their heritage. What Europeans take issue with is how some Americans reduce our nationalities to nothing but heritage. Being a Dutchman/German/whatever European nationality is about living your life in the context of that country, not about your grandpa being born somewhere. As long as that distinction is clear Europeans have no issue with an American being interested in or even feeling a connection to the place where their grandpa was born.
What is mocked is when Americans equivocate their heritage with European people’s nationality. To understand why Europeans mock this, imagine you’re a firefighter and some guy comes up to you and says: “Hey, I’m a firefighter too!” So you reply: “Really? Which unit are you a part of?” And they say: “O no. I’m not actually in a unit myself. My grandpa was a firefighter.” That’s what you sound like to Europeans when you call yourself Italian/Irish/whatever based solely on heritage.
Instead of saying “I am French/Scottish/…”, just say “my family was originally from …” or something along those lines and not a single European will mock you.
I always appreciate it, don’t think anything of it. Good conversation starter and still valid!
I definently dont mock Americans who do this. I might not think we have anything in common because some generation from my country went to the USA way back when, but i still dont really find the need to mock anybody saying it. It is a cool fact and thank for sharing, but that is it
It’s ok if they’re nice 👍 – but some of those people think they are more Polish than Poles in Poland because – their ancestors left Poland before we lost our “polishness”.
Then they proceed to butcher our language because their grandmother “used to say something that sound like thisTM” – and apparently it’s us whose wrong not them xD
But don’t get me wrong many of americans looking for their ancestors- asking to translate old letters or a few words on the back of pictures, trying to decipher what their grandma said – are awesome. Love the energy and passion.
The people mocking are purely online I think
Aa an European: we don’t care, you’re 100% American no matter where your ancestors came from. The most important ones (parents and grandparents) were most likely born and raised Americans
The Americans that understand they’re Americans get treated well.
It’s the “I’m 8% Irish so I’m pretty much from Ireland get treated how they deserve to be.
I visited Scotland when I was younger, and I am a multigenerational Canadian (ancestry going back to early 1800s) of mostly Scottish ancestry with a lesser mix of other British Isles and Irish ancestry.
A number of people we met said our Clan was a very respectable one with interesting history, my surname isn’t a super common one, but it is very historically identifiable within Canada and in Scotland.
Folk often get incredibly defensive about it. i had an American man who had never left his state, tell me he was more Scottish than me. Someone who has lived there their whole life.. who’s parents and grand parents where born/lived there.
I mean there’s a difference between “My Great-Grandparents emigrated from x country” and “Well as a…” even though you had almost 0 contact to the culture.
I’m Swedish and it’s just so incredibly cringe seeing Americans call themselves “vikings” because their greatgreatgreat grandparents lived in Sweden 100 years ago and then have no actual idea of a) what a viking actually was and b) what actual Swedish/nordic culture is lol
Just because someone is trying to be nice doesn’t make up for the reality of them being boorish and irritating.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and – in this instance – a pathological lack of self awareness.
Okay. My ancestry is English and scottish? Am I supposed to be mocked now?
You can’t be anti immigration at home and then be proud to be an immigrant when talking to other Europeans. It’s the selective memory that I haven’t got time for.
You spend too much time online. In real life people don’t really give a shit.
You tell them where your ancestors are from, they tell you the city in the US they’ve visited that’s not the city you’re from, it’s just conversation and no big deal.
I am a first generation American so it gets brought up by others more than I ever do.
I have yet to meet a European who gives a shit about that. Sure, Americans get mocked for being obnoxious, loud, obese, dressed like cliché tourists (not saying that that’s nice or necessarily justified), but no one gives a fuck about your Italian great-grandfather.
And I’ve lived here all my life.
Polish ekhem americans argue with real Poles about polish culture, traditions, dishes and pretend they know everything better that us, Poles living in Poland! Fuck them all.
I feel like Polish Americans who disrespect our culture and say that they are „improving it”, absolutely deserve being mocked.
Regards from Poland.
>But, honestly, mocking them is kind of like mocking someone who really wants to be your friend.
The ones getting mocked are more like the people who brag about being your friend, despite have no social connection to you aside from their great-grandpa coming from the same town as your great-grandpa.
It’s one thing if you show genuine interest about your genealogical roots.
It’s another thing if you claim ownership of an ethnic identity without sharing any identifying cultural aspects of that ethnic identity, such as language or customs.
I have an American friend who insists he is Polish. He doesn’t speak Polish, has no idea when his ancestors moved from Poland, or even where in Poland they came from. He believes that if he visited Poland he’d be welcomed as a fellow Pole. He has a Polish surname and eats Polish sausages, that seems to be the extent of his Polishness. It’s people like him who annoy Europeans.
Nobody is mocking people for talking up their ancestry (or at least this isn’t common). A lot of Americans just outright try to claim thst they are are some other nationality though to cosplay someone else’s culture and/or use it to claim they are an authority on some topic related to it. Massive difference.
Ancestry is cool, and really fascinating to discuss. But “I’m Scottish too, you know” just lets everyone know you’re a self-centred twat
It gets weird when they start about race and genetics. It’s not a good look.
The ones who are truly interested in genealogy are not being mocked. I have met many of them during a job I once had.
The people who, metaphorically speaking, owned a German sheperd and claim that they are of German decent will get the full package deal of ridicule.
I think the issue is that most Americans who have European ancestry also end up being seen as someone trying to appropriate said culture while not really knowing anything about it. There are some things you can really only learn through being physically exposed to it and honestly, a lot of cultures won’t consider you part of it unless you’ve grown up or spent a long time actually living in it.
Care to explain how pretending to be German while not having any clue what that even is beeing nice?
Maybe they’re trying, I cant tell. But it seems pretty disrespectful to assume you could understand an entire culture just because you have a distant relative coming from there.
True respect would include the humility that no, you don’t understand that culture, not in the slightest.
I wouldn’t know my ancestry. I am curious about it, but just that, curious. Ultimately, it makes little difference. No matter what my ancestry is, I am still ultimately just a filthy white United States American.
My ancestors are Italian. When I talk to Europeans (especially Italians), I never mention my ancestry unless they ask. I will say every Italian I have talked to about it has been very nice and usually excited about it (as I do know a lot about where they are from in Italy), but I still only talk about it when asked. When I was in college I dated a girl from Ireland (in the US fir an internship), and I remember her saying how sick and tired she was of all the Americans telling her that they were also Irish. I think one of the reasons she dated me was that I didn’t claim any Irish background (it has to be; she was WAY out of my league!).
I broadly agree but your characterisation does paint a picture of silly well meaning peeps who are just trying to be respectful.
Thats not the people who are ridiculed, its more the people who think that an ancestor being from Ireland/Italy/Sweden etc makes them some sort of authority on the culture or makes them actually Italian.
Then its weird, expecting people in Italy to be like “hes one of our own”
America since it was formed, is and always has been a force of cultural sterilization. It’s comical that people try to upsell it as “the great melting pot” because the entire idea is bleaching and burning away the differences until you conform and consume curated identity, content and products. The lack of identity and desire for more community is actually a sign of collective trauma. The US’s goal is to crush culture and turn it into blind patriotism. If you stick out, prepared to be hammered down. I know this sounds bleak, but that’s because it is.