Johnny Novgorod said:
Kaleion said:
shrekfan246 said:
First of all, because being "American" doesn't mean anything more than being "European". Being "American" could mean Canadian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Brazilian, Dominican, Native American, etc. and it's always been a bit weird that people born and raised in the United States are referred to as "American", but there's no simpler way of referring to us because what, are we going to use an unwieldy phrase like "Statesian"?
Falling back on our cultural heritage gives us something to grab onto.
You have no idea how much Latin Americans complain about this, they think it makes them clever, personally I've just given up, it's not like we can call them anything else besides Gringos and they don't like that word -_-'
We call them yanquis over here. I don't like using the word 'American' very much since it should technically mean anybody in the whole continent, but people from the US only recognize themselves as American. I get that it's semantically correct since the word 'America' is contained in the name of the country, so you can call yourself that, but if you're from Central America or South America doesn't that make you technically American as well?
This particular point is readily resolved. The name of the nation is the United States of America. The first two words simply indicate very roughly a political configuration (a series of states with some degree of independence, united in some form or fashion) while the last tells us the place. This is incredibly common. For example, Germany's official name is, if memory serves, Bundesrepublik Deutschland which I believe translates to the Federal Republic of Germany.
So, while it may be something of a foolish brag to name a nation that represents but a part of a continent
after the continent, generally when you refer to a nationality, you make reference to the name of the nation. It would not be correct to refer to a Bolivian as an American because they are from a nation called Bolivia; to argue
otherwise is to fundamentally invite confusion in what you attempt to communicate which undermines the purpose of referring to yourself by nationality anyhow.
If you want to argue about how such things were gotten away with, I'd wager it is simply because no other European colony had gained independence yet. We just called dibs on the name.
As far as the larger question goes, that has more or less been covered. Different people have different attachments to their original culture. An off the boat immigrant likely has strong attachment to their native cultures and, in many cases, settled the nation in such a way to invite a bit of their native flair. In Texas, for example, you see
tremendous German influence. One of the most common wines produced in Texas is the Reisling for example. Towns throughout central Texas and the Hill Country often have German names: Flugerville (which, to be fair, is both French and German. It is also a suburb of Austin) or Fredricksburg (A notable spot for Wine Tourism). Restaurants offering German fair compete next door to those offering Spanish foods.
In most cases, if one is not of a fashionable lineage, there is little reason to cite it, especially given that after a few generations your connection to the "Old Country" is virtually eliminated. My family emigrated from Germany but, considering it was in the 1880s (My great, great, great grandfather), there is little reason to refer to myself as a German-American. I'd have a
better claim to being Cherokee because my great great grandmother was of that tribe but again there is no reason to claim this. My family has been here long enough that my lineage is from lots of places and there is no particular reason to hitch my horse to any particular cultural wagon.
