Originally Posted by
Gaga
A lot of Americans like to claim many things which hold limited meaning. They like labeling shit. To some it makes them feel 'special'.
For example, one of my colleagues is married to a "Dutch" American. He doesn't speak Dutch, has never gone to Holland, and knows less about the country/culture than I do. His great-great grandparents, and I don't believe it was both maternal/paternal, were Dutch. So in reality he's just a run of the mill American 'mutt' with Dutch ancestry. Given American history, and the Dutch who arrived in prior generations, that really makes him about as special as a grain of sand on the beach. She doesn't get it (not that bright) but to me, as a foreigner, there's a difference between claiming to be Dutch-American & an American of Dutch ancestry.
But as Eren said many Americans like to fudge their African ancestry. And if they're not fudging African ancestry then they're lying about Italian or Mediterranean ancestry. I know a few "Amerindian" Americans. It's interesting how the great-grandfather could have passed in Sicily. Might have had to do with the fact he was of Sicilian ancestry.
You also got to remember with numerous celebs claiming to be "Amerindian" the plebs got to get in on the act. Crap family trees online [ancestry.com is a plague in many ways] give rise to and support these delusions.
What proportion have it? Be a headache to figure out.
Average admixture? Depends on where you're looking. Some areas are going to be higher given their ancestry. Like the woman I met yesterday. She was of aboriginal ancestry. Couldn't deny that. Even if she hadn't had a status card her looks were identifiable. She definitely wasn't some lily-white desperate to be special American claiming 0.005% "Amerindian" DNA that I've seen around.
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