I'm black, but how come American caucasians classify themselves as Italin, Irish, etc. know they're American?

Question

for ex. irish, german, italian, etc. or irishi-american, italian-american, etc. Those are nationalities, and you are only that if you come from those countries yourself. It has nothing to do with people related to you from 100's of yrs. ago. What if a black person was from Ireland or whatnot? Would you call them Irish too? Or would they just be "black"?

Answer 1

THEY WANT TO BE CONSIDERED THAT BECAUSE THEY THINK ITS COOL.

Answer 2

Speaking as a "mixed" person (of European, African, Native American, and Jewish descent, but also called "biracial" by some and "black" by others):

All of these classifications are arbitrary and they criss-cross over matters of history, culture, physical appearance, political sympathies, social identification, etc.

In a sense, they are hopelessly muddled and we'd be tempted to toss them all out.

But in other ways, each serves a purpose and sometimes the purpose isn't a bad one.

African Americans (most often descendants of former slaves from West Africa) have a rich cultural heritage and family history that has shaped their identities. So do Irish-Americans, etc. And it's fine to celebrate (or to recognize, or sometimes to mourn) all those things.

Incidentally, there is such a thing as "Black Irish" and some look Middle Eastern. It has been suggested that this is from some mixing with the Iberians (ancient inhabitants of northern Spain). And yes, they count themselves as "Irish".

One other thing: Irish- and Italian-Americans only started arriving 4 or 5 generations ago, not hundreds of years. And some will point out that this means their families had no connection whatsoever to slavery, for example, which is actually a fair point. Also many have grandparents who lived in a time of signs for jobs that said "Irish need not apply". They have their history too and we ought to respect that just as we want them to respect ours.

Answer 3

I just call myself an American Euro-mutt b/c my ancestors were horny little gypsies that traveled all through Europe banging anything that wasn't nailed down.

I think we as a society have been programmed to put things in a nice tidy "box" for classification purposes. That's why the census has to be changed every time now b/c there is rarely someone who is 100% anything in the U.S. and people were getting annoyed that they had to check "Other".

And yes, if someone were from Ireland and happened to be black, I would call them Irish and get them a pint of Guinness before they got angry.

Answer 4

Ya they do this and it's funny to me because they don't say they are African and European, considering a lot of Caucasians have an African as one of their ancestors. The same goes for black people too, they have at least one European ancestor and don't walk around saying they're African/European American. Personally as an African American i let it be known that i am Polish and Native American as well.

Answer 5

they are trying to reach into their ancestrat pool...you would be african if doing what they do, even though you probably have nothing in common with a person from africa.
if you are black, then you are african.
just like if you are white, then you are european.
but this is just a simplistic way of looking at things....we are all of the earth.

Answer 6

Because Americans are a culmination of various ancestries. We are who we are because of what we have come from. There aren't too many black people in Ireland... Because my father's father's father came straight from Ireland, and reproduced, part of my heritage is Irish. Because my father's mother's mother's mother came straight from Poland I am part Polish.

Answer 7

Actually, didn't 'black' people start that tradition by wanting the PC term to be "African-American"? That is just the impression I've gotten.

Answer 8

they'd still be called black.black-Irish American.interesting question.

Answer 9

smh----------wll it ever end?


IDK,to answer your question