midnight ramblings about immigrant identity and the politics of ethnicity
Interesting thought for the day after St Patrick's Day.
There's a comment to this Sociological Images post that states:
There’s a fair amount of bemusement when Americans tell us that they’re Irish when they mean that they’re 5 generations down from an Irish ancestor. Added to that, the way that so many people (not just Americans) find an Irish identity on March 17th then portray it in stereotypical terms (hats, green Guinness, shamrocks).
The comment then goes on to talk about how the Irish commentator defines "Irish" as a national and cultural identity.
But I think there's something to be teased out that tends to get glossed over when people make jokes about "Irish-Americans". That's the way, in the USA, you're almost never just American.
Because of the history of immigration (not to say that other countries don't have high immigration rates, but most countries didn't and don't have an identity founded on it the way America does-- streets paved with gold, anyone?) Americans tend to be very protective of their cultural and ethnic distinctions. This may be because it usually started as prejudice or discrimination-- indeed, in many cases, especially where someone doesn't look white, it still does display itself as naked prejudice. It seems to me there are two categories or responses to prejudice based off cultural and ethnic distinctions. On one hand you can try to wipe away all the differences and assimilate, and on the other, you can form insular communities where the culture is reinforced. In some cases the second option is enforced by the mainstream culture refusing to assimilate a particular ethnic or cultural identity, usually due to perceived racial differences. On the other hand, the more chances a group has to assimilate, the more likely it is that the insular community will eventually fragment somewhat.
Still, there's a heavy reliance on these communal, cultural structures. Because most immigrant communities started off as relatively insular, even after fragmenting people in the US often rely very heavily on the identification of the group or groups from which they originated. Even if they retain little or no fragments of the original cultural identity besides an identification with the ethnic and cultural group with which the immigrants in their family associated, that's enough. People in the US put heavy stock in that kind of identification.
It's something to be made fun of, I guess, when the person identifying that way has none of the cultural markers or knowledge that technically should associate him or her with said culture aside from an ancestor or two five generations back. However, I do feel like dismissing the idea of the "Irish-American" is ignoring the way in which the immigrant mentality has never really dissipated out of the American psyche, pretty much regardless of how long the family has been in the US. I mean, hell there's even the Mayflower Society, for people whose ancestors have been here literally since White people started invading this country was founded.
I really have no idea where this post is going. I just think some variation of this whenever non-Americans bring up how weird it is that people from the US are so hung-up on the ethnicities of their ancestors. Is it really so weird that a country that has a national identity founded on being a nation of immigrants is hung up on being immigrants? I mean, seriously.
Another note, I use "ethnicity" here for a reason-- a significant number of Americans are hung up on "ethnicity"-- on being specifically a national or ethnic group rather than being a race. I am also glossing over African-American identity, which is WAY too complicated for someone rambling at midnight with no research, and I'm probably fucking shit up WRT other groups too, especially non-white ethnic/racial groups. It's midnight, comment if you think I'm wrong about anything.
There's a comment to this Sociological Images post that states:
There’s a fair amount of bemusement when Americans tell us that they’re Irish when they mean that they’re 5 generations down from an Irish ancestor. Added to that, the way that so many people (not just Americans) find an Irish identity on March 17th then portray it in stereotypical terms (hats, green Guinness, shamrocks).
The comment then goes on to talk about how the Irish commentator defines "Irish" as a national and cultural identity.
But I think there's something to be teased out that tends to get glossed over when people make jokes about "Irish-Americans". That's the way, in the USA, you're almost never just American.
Because of the history of immigration (not to say that other countries don't have high immigration rates, but most countries didn't and don't have an identity founded on it the way America does-- streets paved with gold, anyone?) Americans tend to be very protective of their cultural and ethnic distinctions. This may be because it usually started as prejudice or discrimination-- indeed, in many cases, especially where someone doesn't look white, it still does display itself as naked prejudice. It seems to me there are two categories or responses to prejudice based off cultural and ethnic distinctions. On one hand you can try to wipe away all the differences and assimilate, and on the other, you can form insular communities where the culture is reinforced. In some cases the second option is enforced by the mainstream culture refusing to assimilate a particular ethnic or cultural identity, usually due to perceived racial differences. On the other hand, the more chances a group has to assimilate, the more likely it is that the insular community will eventually fragment somewhat.
Still, there's a heavy reliance on these communal, cultural structures. Because most immigrant communities started off as relatively insular, even after fragmenting people in the US often rely very heavily on the identification of the group or groups from which they originated. Even if they retain little or no fragments of the original cultural identity besides an identification with the ethnic and cultural group with which the immigrants in their family associated, that's enough. People in the US put heavy stock in that kind of identification.
It's something to be made fun of, I guess, when the person identifying that way has none of the cultural markers or knowledge that technically should associate him or her with said culture aside from an ancestor or two five generations back. However, I do feel like dismissing the idea of the "Irish-American" is ignoring the way in which the immigrant mentality has never really dissipated out of the American psyche, pretty much regardless of how long the family has been in the US. I mean, hell there's even the Mayflower Society, for people whose ancestors have been here literally since White people started invading this country was founded.
I really have no idea where this post is going. I just think some variation of this whenever non-Americans bring up how weird it is that people from the US are so hung-up on the ethnicities of their ancestors. Is it really so weird that a country that has a national identity founded on being a nation of immigrants is hung up on being immigrants? I mean, seriously.
Another note, I use "ethnicity" here for a reason-- a significant number of Americans are hung up on "ethnicity"-- on being specifically a national or ethnic group rather than being a race. I am also glossing over African-American identity, which is WAY too complicated for someone rambling at midnight with no research, and I'm probably fucking shit up WRT other groups too, especially non-white ethnic/racial groups. It's midnight, comment if you think I'm wrong about anything.