The Official Religious/Political Debate Thread (quote)

[TheBig3]

Originally Posted by right-track

Tricky one. Are are your parents Israeli?

Point being, as far as Ma Cherie is concerned, if your born in America to a German father, with an American mother, then your American.
Believe me a German wouldn't consider you anything else.

Are you a german? And ever if, why would we believe you? I am going on record as not beleiveing you.

[right-track]

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

Are you a german? And ever if, why would we believe you? I am going on record as not beleiveing you.

I have to assume that post is aimed at me.
Are you asking me if I am German, Big3?

Also what is it you don't believe? That I'm German or that Europeans don't consider Irish/Americans, German/Americans, Italian/Americans etc as being anything other than American? (those born in America that is)

1. I am not German (I never said I was) I'm English.
2. Europeans don't give a toss where an Americans heritage originates.

[DontRunMeOver]

Originally Posted by right-track

2. Europeans don't give a toss where an Americans heritage originates.

I second that point.

My best friend at uni is Irish and she finds it kind of ridiculous that an American would actually insist they were 'Irish'. If you haven't grown up in a certain country and absorbed the cultural values and behavioural patterns of that place then it seems a bit naive to associate yourself so closely with the people there. In terms of physical appearance, there is nothing much to differentiate between and Irish-American, a German-American, a British-American, a South-African-American, a French-American...

African-Americans, Asian-Americans and possibly 'Hispanics' have much more reason to identify with each other, as their physical appearance means that they will inevitably be grouped, by other people and themselves, into certain categories which are seperate to those which white americans are grouped into. By this I mean the same mental seperations we might make between thin and fat, tall and short etc. Everybody you meet (apart from blind people) notices your physical appearance and makes some kind of judgement. When you are visibly a member of a ethnic minority - in America this means 'not being white' - you have to be aware of it and you have to accept that this will inform a lot of what people think of you on first impressions. Part of accepting this involves describing yourself as Whatever-American. You will be asked it on all kinds of forms, from dating agencies to college applications, and it probably becomes almost as essential as knowing if you're male or female.

I take this to be pretty true, don't know about you.

My OPINION is that white people, american or otherwise, who live in a place where white people are in the majority have no good reason to care about their specific origins, beyond realising that other people will describe them as white. Thus, terms like Irish-American etc. just seem pretentious. Why? Because nobody else cares!

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

Are you a german? And ever if, why would we believe you? I am going on record as not beleiveing you.

Ok, that wasn't really a point, but I see what you're getting at. I'll ask all of my German friends about this next time I'm in Germany. See what they think and then get back to you... Maybe you can ask your German friends about it too.

[Ma Cherie]

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

Are you a german? And ever if, why would we believe you? I am going on record as not beleiveing you.

if your aiming it to me yes, i've been to germany, and in fact i'll probally be filling the F*cking duel-citizenship papers in a couple of months... if they send them to me, frankly yes i have grown up in a very GERMAN household with STONG german values..... not by my choice either.....

[Ma Cherie]

Originally Posted by DontRunMeOver

I second that point.

My best friend at uni is Irish and she finds it kind of ridiculous that an American would actually insist they were 'Irish'. If you haven't grown up in a certain country and absorbed the cultural values and behavioural patterns of that place then it seems a bit naive to associate yourself so closely with the people there. In terms of physical appearance, there is nothing much to differentiate between and Irish-American, a German-American, a British-American, a South-African-American, a French-American...

African-Americans, Asian-Americans and possibly 'Hispanics' have much more reason to identify with each other, as their physical appearance means that they will inevitably be grouped, by other people and themselves, into certain categories which are seperate to those which white americans are grouped into. By this I mean the same mental seperations we might make between thin and fat, tall and short etc. Everybody you meet (apart from blind people) notices your physical appearance and makes some kind of judgement. When you are visibly a member of a ethnic minority - in America this means 'not being white' - you have to be aware of it and you have to accept that this will inform a lot of what people think of you on first impressions. Part of accepting this involves describing yourself as Whatever-American. You will be asked it on all kinds of forms, from dating agencies to college applications, and it probably becomes almost as essential as knowing if you're male or female.

I take this to be pretty true, don't know about you.

My OPINION is that white people, american or otherwise, who live in a place where white people are in the majority have no good reason to care about their specific origins, beyond realising that other people will describe them as white. Thus, terms like Irish-American etc. just seem pretentious. Why? Because nobody else cares!

Ok, that wasn't really a point, but I see what you're getting at. I'll ask all of my German friends about this next time I'm in Germany. See what they think and then get back to you... Maybe you can ask your German friends about it too.

i'm also part Native American(Powhatan) and yes that to get discriminated, thats why i stoped getting a tan, i was told to go do a rain dance before....

[DontRunMeOver]

Originally Posted by Ma Cherie

i'm also part Native American(Powhatan) and yes that to get discriminated, thats why i stoped getting a tan, i was told to go do a rain dance before....

Not really sure what to say to that. Its not really a response to my post, but it is interesting to know. Would you say you actually look at all Native American? Can people tell when they first meet you, or do they only know because you told them first?

[right-track]

Here's a thought.
Maybe those Americans who are seemingly obsessed with their roots, stopped referring to themselves as whatever/American and instead just refer to themselves as American, well, just maybe there wouldn't be as much racism in the U.S. as there is today.

Incidentally why is this? Is it because America is a relatively new nation that is struggling with it's own identity?

Note how I'm only referring to those who do!

Awaits impending shitfest.

[aran]

Originally Posted by right-track

Here's a thought.
Maybe those Americans who are seemingly obsessed with their roots, stopped referring to themselves as whatever/American and instead just refer to themselves as American..

I agree with you 100%

[aran]

I'm european and I don't give a damn about something/american white, black, latins, indians, christians, muslims, ... If they born in America are all AMERICANS cos they think american, talks american, they culture are american wich is a mixture of all. They should be proud of been so rich in culture but many of them they seem a shamed of it.

[sleepy jack]

Originally Posted by Ma Cherie

if your aiming it to me yes, i've been to germany, and in fact i'll probally be filling the F*cking duel-citizenship papers in a couple of months... if they send them to me, frankly yes i have grown up in a very GERMAN household with STONG german values..... not by my choice either.....

You should probaly specify what "strong german values" are.