The world is getting stranger and stranger

[Alpo]

It has become quite common for people to hyphenate their nationality. If your great-grandfather came over here from Ireland, and your name is still O'Reilly, you say you're Irish-American. You're not Irish-American. You're American.

 

If somewhere back in your ancestry your grandparents or great-grandparents or whatever came from Africa, you say you're African-American. You're not African-American. You're one or the other.

 

And this just annoys the hell out of me. It shouldn't. But it does.

 

I was thinking, earlier, about banned cartoons and banned commercials and banned TV shows, that they show on YouTube. They were never banned. They just couldn't be made today because it would offend somebody.

 

And while reminiscing about these I remembered a cartoon about a little Japanese mouse. And after thinking a while, I pulled his name out of memory. Hirohito.

 

So I look him up. Hirohito was dreamed up and drawn and directed by this guy named Bob Kuwahara.

 

And according to wiki, he was "born in Japan".

 

I went to school with a boy who was born in Japan. His parents were missionaries. He was Caucasian. American. But he was born in Japan.

 

But this guy Kuwahara, was Japanese. "Born in Japan"? Where the hell else is he going to be born?

 

 

Why didn't they just say he was Japanese? Or even say he was Japanese and was naturalized American (his parents moved the family here when he was 10)?

 

"Born in Japan". Phooey.

[Subdeacon Joe]

At church one of the Old Russian Ladies,  as White Russian as could be,  was  born in Harbin   When she came to America her nationality was listed as Chinese. 

[watab kid]

yes - ive never hyphonated my nationality - ill admit that im half scot and half german  by linage , my wife is half czek and half german , the german side of both our linage is oin our mothers side but we are and have always been american , we both believe in our country and although we dont acknowledge our heritage all that much are proud that our ancestors came here the correct way , 

 

we lived far different lives - i was the son of a veteran of the second world war , she the daughter of a current and active cold war vet , she grew up in japan during VN and i was looking at going to VN , she was born at pearl harbor , i was born in a flyover state , odly enough our parents hit it off when we married , they even holidayed together untill my father passed away , 

 

as far as hypnonating things go - id be far more inclined to it for our names so they both survive in the future - thats the kind of thing that matters really , those that claim their nationality in hyphenations of citizenship are notassimilatingf into ur american culture , my thought is you chose to come here or were born here , accept it or leave ............we vare offering the best of this world and you are enjoying it , accept it or leave 

[Pat Riot]

A great man had a speech about this issue over 100 years ago. 
 

https://informedandhappy.com/?p=1087

[Rye Miles #13621]

My Dad was born in Italy and came here when he was 10yrs old. He was truly an Italian American but never called himself that. He was in the army around 1932.:He was always proud to say he was American 🇺🇸

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Calling a person a "hyphenated American" was used as an insult alleging divided political or national loyalties, especially in times of war. It was used from 1890 to 1920 to disparage Americans who were of foreign birth or ancestry and who displayed an affection for their ancestral heritage language and culture.

[Alpo]

Pretty sure that it was Red Skelton I was looking up. It said his parents were Jewish-American.

 

That's a country now? Jewland?

[Alpo]

8 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

At church one of the Old Russian Ladies,  as White Russian as could be,  was  born in Harbin   When she came to America her nationality was listed as Chinese. 

I know this young lady that was born in Shanghai, moved to Hong Kong when she was about six, and in her late 20s immigrated to the US.

 

And one day I either wanted some information about China or maybe wanted some Chinese characters translated - I don't really remember, it's been a while - and I said, "You should know this, you're Chinese".

 

And she says, "I'm not Chinese. I'm American. I've got papers to prove it!"

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

100 % AMERICAN REDNECK 

 

and proud of it 

 

  CB 

[Pat Riot]

In every country I have been in outside USA people have always said “Are you an American?” and I proudly smile and say “Yes”.
No one has ever asked me if I was anything but an American. No “White-American”, no “European-American”, no “British-American”, no “Scottish-American. Just “American”.

I have worked with people from all over the world that have emigrated to the USA and became “Americans”. They all referred to themselves as “American”.
The only people that I have encountered that call themselves hyphenated Americans of one sort or another have been people that are 3 or more generations after their original family members that came to the U.S. or they are people that really don’t like it here but won’t leave because where they came from is a lot worse off than where they are now, but they like to romanticize where they came from. 
I have been known to offer them money to go “home” and not come back. They never take me up on it and they never speak to me again. Win-Win! Now there’s some positive hyphenation for ya! 

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Unmitigated and expatriated Appalachian hillbilly here.

Nationalities in my background?

I'd need so many hyphens it would sink the ship.

Genuine American mongrel.

 

[Pat Riot]

15 minutes ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

Unmitigated and expatriated Appalachian hillbilly here.

Nationalities in my background?

I'd need so many hyphens it would sink the ship.

Genuine American mongrel.

 

I tell people that I am the best kind of human. “I am a mutt” 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Can I say I’m an Ohioan American 🇺🇸 

[DeaconKC]

8 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

A great man had a speech about this issue over 100 years ago. 
 

https://informedandhappy.com/?p=1087

Beat me to it!

[Captain Bill Burt]

I'm with Linn and Pat, way to mixed of a heritage to start using hyphens.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

  African-American....  

 

[watab kid]

15 hours ago, Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 said:

100 % AMERICAN REDNECK 

 

and proud of it 

 

  CB 

me too , but i also know a few recent "new" american citizens that agree with that speech , they are proud to be "americans" without a hyphen , im not sure why so many of us incist on that save they think it makes them 'special' but all it does is make them less than "AMERICAN' 

[Dantankerous]

Why doesn't anyone call Egyptians Africans or an Egyptian living in America African American?

 

 

[DocWard]

11 minutes ago, Dantankerous said:

Why doesn't anyone call Egyptians Africans or an Egyptian living in America African American?

 

 

 

The easy answer to that is, because they have a known country of origin. The tendency to use the broad "African-American" started when most blacks in the U.S. couldn't name a country of ancestry, because their ancestors were brought over against their will and they had no specific ancestral memory to rely on. With the use of DNA testing, there has been improvement in that area.

Oh, I'm an American of Scots-Irish, Dutch and English ancestry. But I agree with the great Theodore Roosevelt as well.

[Alpo]

There is (or was - I don't know if it's still in existence) a huge rodeo in Pendleton Oregon. Roundup.

 

The first ever Roundup had three competitors for saddle bronc.

 

The guy that wrote One flew over the cuckoo's nest wrote the novel about that first Roundup. There was a girl singing group - Cowboy Envy. They had a song about that first Roundup. THE BALLAD OF JONATHAN SPAIN.

 

Their song seemed based mostly on the novel. So I did some research (yes I know - Alpo did research????? I look stuff up all the time) to see how close the novel and the song came to reality.

 

While looking I came upon this black site. You know they have different types of websites. They have pro gun websites where they say how wonderful guns are. They have anti-gun websites where they say how terrible guns are. They have white supremacist websites where they say how wonderful white people are. They have homosexual websites where they say how wonderful homosexuals are. And they have black websites where they say how wonderful black people are and how terrible everybody else is.

 

And this was a black website.

 

Talking about the three competitors for saddlebronc, they said there was Jackson Sundown, a Native American. That term would probably have come to a shock to him, since I'm fairly certain he considered himself a Nez Pierce. There was George Fletcher, an African-American. Except that he wasn't. He was colored. Possibly negro. He wasn't black, because black was an offensive term back then. But he couldn't have been African-American because there was no such thing.

 

And the third competitor was John Spain, a European-American.

 

A what?? European-American???

 

That website was the only time before or since that I have seen that idiotic term. I can't believe that any white guy would use that term to describe himself.

 

In case you're interested, apparently prejudice reared its ugly head at the rodeo. The judges said that John Spain gave the best ride. The audience violently disagreed. They said that George Fletcher did. They raised so much hell that the judges agreed to let George ride again. And they still said Spain did best.

 

Sundown lost control of his mount and went out of bounds - I believe it went up into the stands - and so was disqualified.

[Dantankerous]

Since I was born in America does that make me a Native-American?

 

Or is that reserved only for Senator Elizabeth Warren?

[Subdeacon Joe]

On 2/27/2025 at 5:35 AM, Alpo said:

I know this young lady that was born in Shanghai, moved to Hong Kong when she was about six, and in her late 20s immigrated to the US.

 

And one day I either wanted some information about China or maybe wanted some Chinese characters translated - I don't really remember, it's been a while - and I said, "You should know this, you're Chinese".

 

And she says, "I'm not Chinese. I'm American. I've got papers to prove it!"

 

Shura was adamant that she, since becoming a citizen,  was AMERICAN.   She just got a kick out of the looks on people's faces when,  with her heavy Russian accent,  told people who asked if she was Russian,  "No, I'm Chinese."  After all, that's what INS said she was.

 

 

On forms that ask for  race/ethnicity I check "Other" and fill in "Celto-Slavic."  I figure if they insist on that male bovine excrement and list a bunch of options for Latinos,  Asians, Pacific Islanders,  etc. I'm not going to be satisfied with just "White."  If being interviewed for something and I say "Celto-Slavic" and the person says,  "So, White?"  I  tell them,  "Nope.   Just what I said.  After all,it's racist to lump all white people into one category while having a bunch of options for everyone else.  That usually gets some blank-faced and confused blinks.

[Dantankerous]

Years ago when my brother was enrolled at UVA his roommate was from South Africa. And he was a white guy. The roommate was applying for financial aid and on the application he checked African American. African American apparently meant black to the college. But black American was not an option on the application. My brother's roommate pressed them on this and said he was indeed African American as he was born in South Africa. Legally, he was entitled to that financial aid. The financial aid office then threw a fit to which the roommate asked if they'd like to begin having this conversation with lawyers. Apparently they did not as the roommate got his financial aid and the next semester the financial aid application had been changed to reflect what the college really meant.

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

6 minutes ago, Dantankerous said:

the next semester the financial aid application had been changed to reflect what the college really meant

 

It's amazing how much race matters to the people who say that race is a social construct and doesn't matter. 

[Alpo]

35 minutes ago, Dantankerous said:

Since I was born in America does that make me a Native-American?

 

Or is that reserved only for Senator Elizabeth Warren?

Anytime I see a block that says Native American, I check it. Last time I looked, since I was born in America I am native.

 

According to my father-in-law, his mother was Cherokee. Which made him half, my wife 1/4, my daughter 1/8, and my grandchildren 1/16. I told my daughter and told her to tell her kids that if they ever are filling out a form and one of the blocks for race was American Indian, to check it.

[Sundog]

I'm glad we cleared this up.  Just got through watching a movie, Captain America: Brave New World (and it was quite entertaining to me).

 

But it just doesn't sound right, Captain Africa: Brave New World.

[watab kid]

i can understand , i just dont relate - never been a comics fan ever but i get where you are coming from - oh and i dont have american family insurance either 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

My mother had an uncle born and raised in Italy.  He was about 30 when he came over here and became a citizen.  He Americanized his name and carried his citizenship papers in an oil cloth wallet.  At the drop of a hat he's carefully bring those out ans show them to whoever was there with the proud statement "My name is Joe C------. and I am an American citizen!"

 

His English was almost as good as people who were born here and I never saw him without a coat, vest and necktie, and he always wore a hat to town.  Dapper little old man.

 

 He was 96 when he died and he was buried with a 48 star flag on his chest.

 

Uncle Joe was an American!

[bgavin]

I am a "Euro-American" by using the same definition structure as applied to African Americans.

 

[Sedalia Dave]

How are they going to decide who is going to receive all the reparation money that a bunch of idiots claim they are owed because of what happened over 150 years ago.. How black do you have to be? Who will decide? 

 

What about all the other ethnicities that were marginalized. The Indians, The Irish, The Chinese, ad nauseam. 

 

If this stupidity ever comes to fruition it'll definitely start a race war.

[Rye Miles #13621]

On 2/28/2025 at 8:55 AM, Dantankerous said:

Since I was born in America does that make me a Native-American?

 

Or is that reserved only for Senator Elizabeth Warren?

Well after all she’s got high cheekbones!🙄😂😂

[Dantankerous]

13 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

...What about all the other ethnicities that were marginalized. The Indians, The Irish, The Chinese, ad nauseam....

Since about 2008, the white, Christian, heterosexual, employed American male has fallen into that same category of being marginalized. Where's my damn reparations?

 

In the same time period law enforcement has been marginalized. Do they get reparations?

 

I don't see reparations being paid as doing anything but creating more problems and conflict. That fanciful idea sure does buy votes though.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On 2/28/2025 at 6:28 AM, Dantankerous said:

Why doesn't anyone call Egyptians Africans or an Egyptian living in America African American?

 

 

They, like most Arabs, are Caucasian.

[Alpo]

11 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

They, like most Arabs, are Caucasian.

Egyptians are African, but most other Arabs are Asian. Look at the map. Saudi, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait. They are all in Asia.

[Big Gus, SASS# 66666]

Being born in Austria of a German father and Austrian/German mother. I am an American of Germanic descent. 
 

Big Gus/ Werner Gstattenbauer