Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Hannon
When people ask me my nationality, I answer Irish. Yet, I have never been to Ireland. Born and raised in New York, (Long Island) how Irish can I be?
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Tom, to me you're American. And that's the point I was trying to make. I understand that genetics make a difference but we're not talking genetics, we're talking what people say they are. In most parts of the world, you are where YOU were born, not your parents. Ask a German of Turkish descent, at least by the third generation, what he is and he'll tell you he's German. Yes, he will practice a lot of his parents' culture at home but he'll still perceive himself first and foremost to be German. Here, it doesn't matter how many generations have been in America, people don't see themselves as Americans, they see themselves as Irish, Italian, German, Polish, etc. even though they don't really know the history of their nation nor do they really practice the cultures of that nation. They'll eat the food because they grew up with it, they'll celebrate both the American and heritage-nation holidays but they don't think of themselves as Americans. That, to me, is sad. This is a great nation and is deserving of having the heritage of being American embraced.