For those of mixed ancestry

[Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić]

I just identify as Croat, although my old man is ethnically Slovenian. It is because I was born and raised in Croatia, and I can't even speak Slovenian well. Father descend from third generation of Slovenians in Croatia and he already identified as Croat.

Doesn't mean I don't respect my Slovenian heritage though. I do.

[Catarinense1998]

I do identify myself as a brazilian with azorean cultural influences, since my regional area is very influenced (accent, traditions) by azorean islanders which settled in brazilian southern litoral. But, I don't hate my native and german roots; I just don't feel myself conected to them.

[Gwydion]

As Daco Celtic admitted, you seem quite disconnected from your ethnic roots. If I may say so, many Americans of mixed ancestry also have this tendency to LARP hard.

I guess it depends on the person. I was raised with an awareness of my ancestral roots, grew up reading English/Irish/Germanic myths and legends, grew up listening to American and Irish folk music, ate recipes of food passed down from my German grandmother, grew up reading my pre-American history, etc. so I can't say I was entirely disconnected from my roots, but many indeed are.

As to Americans "LARPing" as it were, can you really blame them? A large majority of modern Americans (as well as others in the Anglosphere and even non-Anglo Europeans) grew up weaned on a modern, manufactured, consumerist pop culture consisting of Hollywood films, video games, rock n roll or other pop music, etc. which is totally disconnected from any ethnic heritage and also lacking in any spiritual content. In such a case is it really a surprise that people are interested in finding out their roots and identifying with them rather than existing in a void of identifying with aforementioned corporatist pop culture that can't be said to really belong to their ethnicity?

I don't see it as any different to an adopted Chinese who grew up in white American (or Canadian, etc.) suburbia and with the same pop culture eventually wishing to learn about and identify with authentic Chinese culture. The only difference it seems is that when non-white ethnics seek out their roots in such a way they are applauded, whereas white colonials are often dismissed out of hand as LARPers. But yeah, better to LARP as something real with historical roots and meaning than have something as vapid as Star Wars, Brittney Spears, Mountain Dew, skateboarding, or video games be the extent of your cultural horizons and sense of identity.

[Jägerstaffel]

I guess it depends on the person. I was raised with an awareness of my ancestral roots, grew up reading English/Irish/Germanic myths and legends, grew up listening to American and Irish folk music, ate recipes of food passed down from my German grandmother, grew up reading my pre-American history, etc. so I can't say I was entirely disconnected from my roots, but many indeed are.

As to Americans "LARPing" as it were, can you really blame them? A large majority of modern Americans (as well as others in the Anglosphere and even non-Anglo Europeans) grew up weaned on a modern, manufactured, consumerist pop culture consisting of Hollywood films, video games, rock n roll or other pop music, etc. which is totally disconnected from any ethnic heritage and also lacking in any spiritual content. In such a case is it really a surprise that people are interested in finding out their roots and identifying with them rather than existing in a void of identifying with aforementioned corporatist pop culture that can't be said to really belong to their ethnicity?

I don't see it as any different to an adopted Chinese who grew up in white American (or Canadian, etc.) suburbia and with the same pop culture eventually wishing to learn about and identify with authentic Chinese culture. The only difference it seems is that when non-white ethnics seek out their roots in such a way they are applauded, whereas white colonials are often dismissed out of hand as LARPers. But yeah, better to LARP as something real with historical roots and meaning than have something as vapid as Star Wars, Brittney Spears, Mountain Dew, skateboarding, or video games be the extent of your cultural horizons and sense of identity.

billErobreren recently said in another thread that he's given up trying to explain America to non-Americans. He's probably onto something. American identity can seem schizophrenic or shallow or LARPy to others but if you haven't grown up marinating in the epicenter of globohomo corporate vapidity with such confusing demographic changes, you probably can't really understand us.

Americans can be fiercely loyal to their ethnic components or completely flippant about them. They can identify more strongly with their state or the portion of the country they're from and its corresponding history. They can be detached entirely from their family traditions from Europe (or wherever) or cherish how those traditions have been handed down and have evolved over the generations. Of course it all depends on the person.

As for the question posed in the OP, I'd say I primarily identify with my British Isles ancestry. It's the majority of what I am anyway. Race relations are tremendously strained in the US, so I equally just identify as "White" as that's how the battle lines have been drawn.

[Kyp]

Both although I was raised typically german and do not speak iranian or turkish.

[Creoda]

I guess it depends on the person. I was raised with an awareness of my ancestral roots, grew up reading English/Irish/Germanic myths and legends, grew up listening to American and Irish folk music, ate recipes of food passed down from my German grandmother, grew up reading my pre-American history, etc. so I can't say I was entirely disconnected from my roots, but many indeed are.

That all well and good, but that stuff is fragmentary. It's not the same as growing up immersed in a culture and really feeling English/Irish/German as opposed to anything else, and being identified as such by others.

As to Americans "LARPing" as it were, can you really blame them? A large majority of modern Americans (as well as others in the Anglosphere and even non-Anglo Europeans) grew up weaned on a modern, manufactured, consumerist pop culture consisting of Hollywood films, video games, rock n roll or other pop music, etc. which is totally disconnected from any ethnic heritage and also lacking in any spiritual content. In such a case is it really a surprise that people are interested in finding out their roots and identifying with them rather than existing in a void of identifying with aforementioned corporatist pop culture that can't be said to really belong to their ethnicity?

I don't see it as any different to an adopted Chinese who grew up in white American (or Canadian, etc.) suburbia and with the same pop culture eventually wishing to learn about and identify with authentic Chinese culture. The only difference it seems is that when non-white ethnics seek out their roots in such a way they are applauded, whereas white colonials are often dismissed out of hand as LARPers. But yeah, better to LARP as something real with historical roots and meaning than have something as vapid as Star Wars, Brittney Spears, Mountain Dew, skateboarding, or video games be the extent of your cultural horizons and sense of identity.

Those are all problems that have contributed to deracination, but mass ethnic mixing in the first place makes it kind of inevitable. I don't see the point in pretending to be something you're not, the type of LARPing that often goes on is throwaway, ignorant, and individualistic, very much the bastard child of the culture you're describing. American culture(s) is what it is and Americans are what they are, there is authenticity, richness, traditions and an ethnic base there behind all the bullshit as well.

[Smeagol]

I identify as 100% American but i'm proud of my British ancestry even though it's only half of my genetics.

[Daco Celtic]

You both come across to me as very American.

The region of the US also dictates a person's sensibilities. My parents grew up in the Midwest so they were very Americanized themselves and their ethnicity was not at the forefront of their identity. As far a being disconnected, I did have grandparents that shared some of old world customs (cooking, songs, etc.) but most of my friends and classmates growing up were "white bred" Americans who were not overly concerned with their heritage or mine. I think part of this is rooted in the fact that modern Americans have a basic concept of what it means to be white but don't sweat the details of specific nationalities. There is not really the idea of WOGs in America, people are just adsorbed into this vague suburban culture, for better or worse.

American culture(s) is what it is and Americans are what they are, there is authenticity, richness, traditions and an ethnic base there behind all the bullshit as well.

Yes, I agree

[Gwydion]

That all well and good, but that stuff is fragmentary. It's not the same as growing up immersed in a culture and really feeling English/Irish/German as opposed to anything else, and being identified as such by others.

That's true, but Americans who "LARP" as something other than simply American are often interested in historical traditions. Say for example German folktales or Irish traditional music or old Polish cuisine and so on. I am willing to wager that a large chunk of modern Europeans didn't grow up immersed in these cultural forms either, more often than not they are as Americanized as Americans themselves (hence Rammstein's song about "we're all living in America", etc.) with the global prevalence of Hollywood and Americanized pop culture, etc.

An American of 90% Irish descent surnamed O'Brien identifying as an Irishman intends to do so in an ethnic and historical sense, he is likely not intending to believe or claim that he is the equivalent to a modern Irishman. For such person to start learning Gaelic, playing Irish music, or identifying with ancient Gaelic history/culture in an attempt to connect with his roots to be seen as inauthentic, LARPy, and dismissed for doing so doesn't make much sense to me. This is especially true when you consider that culture is something that is constantly changing and a German from the 1880s is the product of a different cultural environment than a German from the 1920s, 1960s, and now 2010s. Why only the modern 2010s German has a claim to Germanness or more of a claim than a 100% ethnic German-Canadian whose parents immigrated in the 1950s again doesn't make much sense to me.

In general though I tend to not give much weight to modern European opinions on Americans (or other colonials) interested in their roots when a good percentage of them believe a full-blooded Kenyan raised in England is more English than a 100% English American. Odd though how non-white ethnics don't seem to have this problem....a Jew is a Jew whether the Jew is religious or secular, grew up in France or Russia, and so on. A Chinaman is Chinese whether they live in China or grew up in Malaysia or Canada, etc.

[Jägerstaffel]

American culture(s) is what it is and Americans are what they are, there is authenticity, richness, traditions and an ethnic base there behind all the bullshit as well.

Traditional American culture can be seen as an outgrowth of European traditions from the colonial/settler era.

I remember discussing history with a woman last year. She mentioned how there is so much deep history in Europe versus a comparatively more recent history in the US. She brought up all the medieval castles in particular. I remember looking at her like she was crazy. We didn't just spring into existence in the eastern woodland of the New World in the 1600s or whatever. The castles of her ancestral regions are still part of the landscape of her ancestry even if she's not a citizen of those places.