Culture / Ethnicity

[Golden_Rhino]

As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother. I find that in my daily life German culture has had no influence on me, but the Italian and Argentine cultures affect me greatly. Most of my friends are Italian as well as the food I usually eat. I speak Spanish with my family, and I identify myself as an Argentine, even though I came to Canada when I was three years old.

I am curious about the ethnicity of the forum.

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?

- How big a role does it play in your life?

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

[Cancuk]

My father is a draft dodging American. Don't know his exact heritage, neither does he.

My mother was a dutch citizen who was born in Indonesia and immigrated to Canada when she was 3ish.

I was grown up in a pretty "alternative" (ie hippy) lifestyle. I started going to to political/social protests when I was a small child. I atteneded an "alternative" school until Junior high. My mom openly smoked pot infront of me before I even knew what it was. My social upbringing affects my life, politics, and how I view society greatly.

My parents "background", ie. heritage, has very little affect on my life. Besides me calling my grandma, "oma" and a couple of family trips to Holland.... not much.

[suzzer99]

Italian/Irish/Scottish/English

- How big a role does it play in your life?
Not much growing up. But my trips to Italy where I have met distant family have been magical. I really think they've changed my life some. My family on my Mom's side is really into tracing their Irish heritage.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)
5 on my Dad's side - Scottish/Irish, many more on my Mom's side.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?
My dad used to throw around a few Italian phrases. He also played one silly game with me where he said some Italian stuff and tried to grab my finger before I could pull it away. Interestingly my older relatives in Italy remembered this game and were able to translate what the Italian meant. (Apparently a boy named Salvatore is trying not to get burned by a lamp.) They said no one plays this game anymore in Italy. So I thought that was cool. Our one cultural relic.

[SNOWBALL]

I grew up in LA, so the only thing being white meant to me was that mexican and black kids would try to fight me at school. The food I eat, music I listen to, my political beliefs, my clothes, etc. aren't directly attributable to my 25% jewish, 6% mexican, 69% white ancestry.

As a teenager, most of my friends and peers were jewish. Their pride in their heritage was strange to me, but at least no one ever tried to fight me for being 75% goyem. I still think that group pride is only appropriate if you selected the group.

For example, I have pride in being an atheist, and a communist. I used to have some degree of pride in being a 2+2er before I joined the strat posters diaspora, and got hooked on the numerous pleasures of OTland.

[Coffee]

English/Scotch/Irish/German is my ethnic composition. However, my family has been in Texas for at least 8 generations on both sides. It may seem strange to act as though a state is a cultural background, but I believe this is one of those things that makes Texas different from most other places in the Union.

I was born and raised in Houston, a city of about 4 million(metro area). I had every modern convenience, so it is not as though I went to school on a horse in a red schoolhouse. But...even so, I had family that lived in deep east Texas, where it was about as rural as you could get. It is difficult to live in Texas and not get a sense of the past, either from the Western point of view, or the growing pains era from about 1950 onward.

The other thing that you gain as a native Texan is a rather odd sense of the size of things. It is not uncommon to drive an hour to get somewhere in the same city...and it's not because of the traffic. Driving from one of our cities to another will almost certainly take longer than that. A three-hour car ride is really no big deal to us. Being in Texas, you are constantly aware of its sheer magnitude.

It is because of this that I can say my only traditions that I carry from the "old country" are a love of Bass Ale, Guinness, and whatever that stuff they serve at the Hofbrau Haus in Munich is. Slainte! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[jba]

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I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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wow how old are your parents.

[jba]

my ethnicity is a mishmash of white Europeans. Some were present in the U.S. pre-civil war, mostly in new york, ohio, and illinois. My paternal line immigrated to the US from South Africa during the mid 1800s. But most came from Europe (primarily Britain) in the 1850s-60s. all of my ancestors were mormon pioneers that settled in the Salt Lake valley between 1847-1870ish.

this was definitely the overriding factor in the culture that I grew up in - the religion/theology actually was a fairly small part of it. Growing up almost every little thing was tied in some way to the church and lots of traditions and stuff were based on the experiences of the early pioneers. For example, every family was required to store a one year supply of food in case of emergencies. Whenever I complained about something as a kid the common response was "don't complain, your great great grandfather had to pull a handcart 2000 miles and he didn't complain" I worked on a church farm (the food went to those who needed it) one night a week growing up. People in other neighborhoods worked in the cannery processing the food. My boy scout group was affiliated with the church. Growing up I usually spent most of sunday, a couple hours two nights a week, a weekend a month, and a full week each year doing stuff with the church (only about 3 hrs/week was actual church-y stuff).

Now it doesn't affect my life much at all. I've been out of Utah for about 7 years and I don't associate with the church or any members outside my family. I don't like or agree with the theology at all, but I definitely miss the structure and community sometimes. sometimes I miss it a lot.

[Dids]

I'm a white American.

My mom's side of the familish is swedish, welsh and english.

My Dad's side hasn't been traced well. Probably a lot of scandanavian and some german.

Beyond very broad stuff, I have basiclly no culturel connections to Europe at all. I don't indentify as anything other than "American" (and even then, in terms of how I self-identify, that's not a huge part of it).

[tsearcher]

English/German

I was born and raised and live in the U.S.

The English side(Father's) of my family has been in the U.S since the late 1600's. My mother was a German immigrant and came to the U.S when she was in her 40's. She always had a thick accent.

I can understand German but can't really speak or read it. I have never been to Germany. Nevertheless, when people ask me my ethnicity, 95% of the time I will say German and leave out the English part. I've just always thought of myself as German.

As far as traditions, I keep them up as best I can. Most of the traditions revolve around Christmas and food. I love German pastries and candies. I never learned to like American candy (except for fig newtons and Reeses peanut butter cups).

[guids]

-Sicilian, on both sides

-A fairly big one, I live in st louis' "little italy", etc

-Both sets of grandparents came over from sicily.

-Yes, kind of, Columbus day isnt an "old country" tradition obv, but it is a big day here, Feast of St. Joseph, 2 or 3 la festa's sprinkled in there throughout the year etc. Mainly though, I spend most days over with my cousins and uncles at my dads place BS'ing, eating etc.

[J.A.K.]

Irish on my dad's side and Native American (Cherokee) on mom's side. My great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee so I am closer to that bloodline than the Irish.

But I don't play up any of that...just American.

[Coffee]

Obligatory for guids (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU9OrGbbYnY)

[wet work]

-I'm mostly German with a little Dutch, which I just recently discovered.

-doesn't really play any real role in my life.

-I think my great-grandfather/grandmother(on my moms side) came over in 1905.
(i think guids linked that ellis island site and I saw that there were only 25 people with my last name which I thought was kind of interesting as other names in my family
had a couple or few thousand)

- I don't really maintain any traditions, heck I'm not even really a fan of the food.

[Freakin]

I'm german & irish.

My wife is thai.

I am embracing thai culture, not german or irish.

[samjjones]

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As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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GR - was your mother born in Argentina?

[BPA234]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
50/50 Sicilian & Irish


- How big a role does it play in your life?
Plays no role at all.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

Completely removed, 3rd generation.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

None at all.

[cjmewett]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?

I was born in the States and spent my entire childhood and young adulthood in Texas. My dad was born and raised in Wales, my mom in Canada. Dad's grandparents were English immigrants to Wales on his father's side and Welsh way back on his mother's side. Mom's grandparents immigrated to Canada from Ireland on her mom's side and Scotland on her dad's side. So I'm 100% British isles whitey.

- How big a role does it play in your life?

As a kid I think I felt more British than American, as the way I was raised was much more like a Welsh child than a Texan one. I don't think there's anything particularly significant about this culturally, just little things about the way we ate and how we talked and drinking tea from an early age and stuff like this.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

Answered above. First-gen American.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

I drink a lot of tea and watch a lot of soccer. That's about it.

[pokerraja]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?

Indian. My parents are both from India. I was born here
in the US.

- How big a role does it play in your life?

It's a big role anytime you are a 2nd generation immigrant. Both of my parents speak hindi at home, and naturally me and my siblings also learned hindi. My mom cooks almost exclusively Indian food for my dad.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

Actually I think being a second generation immigrant causes the most confusion. My parents are obviously very Indian and us children going to school in the US are exposed to American culture at school and then Indian at home. Looking back, it caused some weird moments throughout child hood. But as I got older I got much more comfortable with both identies and fused them into one.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

Yes alot.

[miajag]

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- What is your ethnic / cultural background?


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Irish/English on my mother's side, Russian Jew on my dad's side.
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- How big a role does it play in your life?


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I'm Jewish enough (mom converted before marrying my dad) that most Jewish girls won't get disowned for dating me.
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- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)


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My father's grandparents came over in the early 1900s to escape pogroms/persecutions/etc. Mother's side has been here since the 1700's.
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- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

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Nope.

[Taraz]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
Persian/African-American. My mom was born and raised in Iran and moved here for her residency after med school. My dad grew up in Los Angeles and never left.

- How big a role does it play in your life?
Pretty big. Being black comes with a whole host of issues in society. I have a huge Persian family and I grew up 3 blocks away from my grandparents. So I can speak Persian (Farsi)and I have a lot of experience with Persian culture.

It's weird, when I'm out doing my every day activities I feel more like a black guy, but when I come home and am hanging out with all my family I feel very Persian.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

My mom is a first generation immigrant. I don't know much about my dad's side, but slavery kind of makes it difficult to trace things back too far.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

I guess. I drink tea and I like Persian food. I can cook a little too. I kiss a lot of my family on both cheeks every time I see them. There's probably more, but I can't think of anything huge at the moment.

[jba]

taraz,

Were there any racial tensions on your mother's side?

[kipin]

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As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

[/ QUOTE ]

GR - was your mother born in Argentina?

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I think I see where you are going with this...

[Taraz]

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taraz,

Were there any racial tensions on your mother's side?

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As in were they concerned he was marrying a black guy? Not at all in her immediate family. Maybe some of her cousins or something. Her brother (my uncle) is married to a black woman too.

A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that my grandparents were both Baha'is and believe in multi-culturalism, the elimination of prejudice, etc.

[Ray Of Light]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?

Jamaican... although I was born and raised in England

- How big a role does it play in your life?

A very big role.. being black, in a country where I am a minority, carries with it a whole lot of ugly issues in regards to how I am treated by certain members of the wider community.

And being from a Jamaican background, there are a whole host of extra prejudices about my community that really grate me, since all those prejudices are actively holding my community back, (i.e. Daniel Negreanu, I was NOT at all amused).

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

Both of my parents and both sets of grandparents and great grandparents were all born and raised in Jamaica.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

I cook a lot of traditional Jamaican dishes, and I also love listen to some reggae and lovers rock... I also have an (inexplicable) love for cricket /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[orange]

I am curious about the ethnicity of the forum.

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
100% Chinese, born and raised in the U.S.

- How big a role does it play in your life?
A small part. My mom and Dad grew up in the U.S. too, so my family definitely isnt FOB. My mother still cooks alot of Chinese food (grandparents owned a restaurant) and we still stick to many chinese values (ie. hardworking/heavy emphasis on school/etc). But overall, me being chinese is not a huge role in my life. All my friends are white.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)
Pretty far. I don't know anyone from China. I know i have family somewhere, but have never met/talked to.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?
Not really.

[hanster]

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
Wow I'm going to be the first Chinese to post in this thread? I am fully Chinese (Taiwanese. Mainlanders who escaped to Taiwan after Mao took over). My parents were both born in Taiwan. My dad moved to Shanghai after the divorce so I've lived there for a bit.

- How big a role does it play in your life?
It's actually not that big of a deal since I go to a college where it's predominantly Asian (40% Asian, 38% White, etc. I still have a tad accent when I speak English. People just assume you're some kind of math whiz when you go to class and during exams other people would try to peek at my exams. For work, my employers generally thought us as hard-workers who are too smart to be employed at that place (from what I've heard). When I go play basketball in the gym I am always never picked because I'm the average Asian guy.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)
I'm the first generation for my immediate family, I guess. My dad moved here at the same time I did. My grandma lived here for 25 years but we don't really keep in touch with her here.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?
Yes. I still try to celebrate the holidays whenever I can (New Year, Moon Festival, etc). I love Chinese food. I'm superstitious.

Yea Chinese pretty much fit the general stereotype.

[hanster]

Ugh I just saw Orange's thread. To add on to my post, I'm a fob.

[Golden_Rhino]

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I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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wow how old are your parents.

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My mom is 61 and my dad is 58. My mom was born in Argentina to German parents, and my dad left Italy at the age of 5.

[Golden_Rhino]

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Actually I think being a second generation immigrant causes the most confusion. My parents are obviously very Indian and us children going to school in the US are exposed to American culture at school and then Indian at home. Looking back, it caused some weird moments throughout child hood. But as I got older I got much more comfortable with both identies and fused them into one.

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I know what you mean. It's hard having parents who are off the boat because not only do you have a generation gap with them, there is also a cultural one. The best thing about immigrant parents is the way they speak English /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Golden_Rhino]

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As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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GR - was your mother born in Argentina?

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I think I see where you are going with this...

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LOL. As do I. My Grandparents left Germany before the Hitler era. So, no; I don't come from Nazi's escaping justice. (but I am pretty sure that there were a few of them in my mom's hometown b/c it was like 95% German and they could fit in well there).

[ElDuque]

Why do you always have to bring race into everything??

[Golden_Rhino]

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Why do you always have to bring race into everything??

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Because I am part German, and it's how we roll.

[pokerraja]

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Actually I think being a second generation immigrant causes the most confusion. My parents are obviously very Indian and us children going to school in the US are exposed to American culture at school and then Indian at home. Looking back, it caused some weird moments throughout child hood. But as I got older I got much more comfortable with both identies and fused them into one.

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I know what you mean. It's hard having parents who are off the boat because not only do you have a generation gap with them, there is also a cultural one. The best thing about immigrant parents is the way they speak English /images/graemlins/smile.gif

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lol. /images/graemlins/smile.gif