swordcane
Junior Member
~quappuccino~
Posts: 116
|
Post by swordcane on Oct 15, 2007 23:13:42 GMT -5
^Agreed
I think a large part of white Americans (WAs) feeling like they have no culture is because, for whatever reason, their parents never really taught them about their heritage. For a period of time in America's immigration, the immigrants that were coming over were focused on assimilating and just becoming "Americans". But now it's more acceptable and even preferable in some parts to both be American, and know where you came from. When a WA sees people celebrating their heritage, I guess they can get to feeling a bit plain-jane. I don't know, I'm sure it's complicated, but do feel like people who just sit there and want to be treated like they're special and unique are both ignorant and lazy. Ignorant of all the negative stuff that comes with being different which is one of many reasons people learn to take pride and and celebrate that which sets them about from the WA majority. Lazy because everyone has a wealth of history in their past, and if your parents and grandparents don't teach it to you, it's up to you to learn it on your own.
I'm sure I'll have more to write when I'm not so tired.
/ramble
|
|
|
Post by JohnCoolYoungHistory on Oct 15, 2007 23:28:00 GMT -5
America is its culture in its own.
If I have friends from overseas, I would definitely try to expose them to to truly American towns like New Orleans, places in Alabama and Texas, places I think you would label as "uncultured".
The culture that is Boston and Jersey, New Yorkers and the Old South and them country boys- these are all so unique to Americans and offer a lot of diversity not found in other countries.
I do agree with you to a small extent though... just a small extent.
|
|
cm
Junior Member
Posts: 68
|
Post by cm on Oct 16, 2007 0:16:11 GMT -5
LOL
|
|
|
Post by JohnCoolYoungHistory on Oct 17, 2007 4:23:19 GMT -5
Watch a Streetcar Named Desire, go to France, and then tell me New Orleans is really French culture. Flat out something else in its own right, something American
You're forgetting most of these white americans have been here for generations. I doubt your grand kids will retain anything your parents have taught you as well - it's only natural to retain less and less over the years as you are submerged into a new environment.
Unfair argument on your part
|
|
|
Post by EA Observer on Oct 17, 2007 11:37:49 GMT -5
Even if you consider the U.S. as old as when the first English settlers arrived, it's still only about 300 years old, so it will take longer for it to develop culture that could be seriously taken as truly its own - if ever.
|
|
|
Post by Altan on Oct 17, 2007 21:22:35 GMT -5
1492 is when the America started by European standards. And that is what you are programed to believe right EA Observer.....yes ....WRONG! Homie the Clown could of told you that 15 years ago!
|
|
swordcane
Junior Member
~quappuccino~
Posts: 116
|
Post by swordcane on Oct 17, 2007 22:31:33 GMT -5
Are there really any White Americans upset about this to begin with?
|
|
|
Post by Flat Top on Oct 19, 2007 0:41:09 GMT -5
Okay I can't stand this anymore. Americans are mixture of all races. First we have the Natives, then came whites, they brought slaves. Natives and whites mixed creating mestizos. In the Southwest Hispanic mestizos were created, and then Filipino/Chinese Asians came in the 1760s. By then almost all the "RACIAL" groups had arrived on what is present day US. All the races in the US are OLD IMMIGRANTS. Yes, we have a lot of latinos, Asians, Africans, and "white" former Communist immigrants today but guess what none of these races are NEW in the US. So what does this mean? We have always been influenced by other cultures. Guess what, it's not particular to the US. Do we honestly think that the Philippines is the same place it was pre-Hispanic Catholic or pre-Islam? Were they eating longanisa, leche flan, and pineapple BEFORE the Spanish colonized Latin-America? Was Ireland always such a devout Catholic country before 600? Did the Irish always eat the potato before the Europeans colonized the New World? Did Italian grandmothers in 1153 have fantastic tomato-based spaghetti sauce recipes? Were Vikings Lutheran Norwegians who lived in a peaceful society advocating human rights? Did the British have tea time in year 1000? I can go on and on. The States government is erroneously often thought of as based on ancient Greece but it was also highly influenced by *gasp* the Native-American Five then Six Nations www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/As far as food we have native American foods like blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, corn, turkey and maple syrup. Like any other food, any race can enjoy them. Many whites enjoy soy sauce, egg roles, gyros, bagels, and tacos just like many non-whites enjoy hot dogs and hamburgers. Jazz has Afro/New Orleans roots. Guess what? All races enjoy jazz. BTW New Orleans isn't French. It's a hybrid of French, Spanish, and Afro. Creole food is not French. Cajun is not Creole. Cajuns are descendents of Acadiens but they have a different cuisine from France and Acadia. Those Northerners from Canada had to adapt to Louisiana so they used crawfish and sugar cane (yeah, very French). Jambalya is so French or Acadian. Then there's gumbo from Afro-Native American influence. The US does have national costumes of sorts like Cowboy style (originally from Spanish haciendas which was adapted in present day Latin-America like gauchos in Brazil and Argentina and the vaqueros in Mexico and central America), the Puritan look, Hawaiian, Southern belle, or Native-American. Were Maria Claras and barongs always part of Filipino history? Do present day Filipinos dress like their negrito ancestors? It's normal for a nation to have different diverse regions and cultures creating a "nation." Southern Germanic Brazil isn't the Carnaval mulatto/zambo/mestico culture we picture. Also a culture doesn't end at a nations border. There is overlapping. The Thai/Malysia, Acadian Maine/Canada, Southwest/Mexico, Italy/Austria, borders share similiarities because you can't just draw a line and poof, there's a new culture. Lastly there are many white-Americans who are aware of their ethnicity and have relative back in the "Old Country" Many 4 or 5 th generation Scandinavia-Americans visit Scandinavia. Where I live 1,2,3,4 + generation kids and adults study Danish at the Danish school on Sundays. St. Olaf's college in Minnesota has a Nordic Studies and Norwegian program www.stolaf.edu/academics/departments.htmlIn my town, the Irish group has Irish language classes held at a pub. They perform a lot of Appalachian music which has a lot of Anglo-Celtic origins. We have quarterly ceilis (means party) where we dance, it's like square dancing. I advise to read about different cultures. You will see how rich US cultures are. Whites are capable of eating rice, massaging, martial arts, and becoming Buddists. Asians are free to drink milk, listen to country music, be Southern Baptist, and attend baseball games. Blacks eat tacos, pad Thai, and become Muslim. Latinos can enjoy yoga, biscuits and gravy, and origami. You will realize other nations outside the US aren't culturally pure either and very different from hundreds of years ago. I can go on and on. So in conclusion I don't understand your point, Gohan.
|
|
|
Post by jefe on Oct 19, 2007 8:22:16 GMT -5
I can go on and on. So in conclusion I don't understand your point, Gohan. I'm glad someone finally said this. But unfortunately, he may try to explain it AGAIN in the same non-sensical illogical manner. Obviously, Gohan has a very thin awareness of the breadth of American culture and history and has not been exposed to many aspects of American society. It is completely ridiculous to suggest that 5th generation white Americans are more removed from their ethnic roots than a 12th generation African-American. And a person labelling themselves as purely "American" from Arkansas will hit a very noticeable culture shock when they step foot in Everett, Washington, or Worcester Massachusetts - and vice versa.
|
|
|
Post by EA Observer on Oct 19, 2007 10:33:16 GMT -5
While the White American majority adopted or developed some culture unique from their original European (mainly British) cultures, it's still much like those, albeit with small modifications. I doubt very much that they will wholeheartedly embrace the non-Western values and cultures in a large scale, despite the ever-increasing ethnic minorites and diverse cultures in America. If anything, a high-profile, mainstream, American conservative such as Patrick J. Buchanan has already been screaming a xenophobic alarm to the White Americans about the impending doom of America and Europe as they have known and want to fight to preserve and protect at all cost: "White Americans, already a minority in California, New Mexico and Texas, will be an aging, shrinking minority in the United States. America will become a Third World country." buchanan.org/blog/?page_id=4"The West is Dying. Collapsing birth rates in Europe and the United States, coupled with population explosions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are set to cause cataclysmic shifts in world power, as unchecked immigration swamps and polarizes every Western society and nation." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_the_WestThink he's just another oddball KKK crackpot? Think again, because he speaks for many white "silent majority" who are your friends, colleagues and politically correct, polite neighbors across America and Europe.
|
|
|
Post by SecretAsianMan on Oct 19, 2007 20:36:37 GMT -5
^They were saying the same thing more than 150 years ago especially in California in regards to the yellow peril. Again cultures always change and while they change they are always complaining. Whites did not eat spaghetti and guacamole as much 100 years ago. Whites change, blacks change, Asians change, we all change. If whites are in peril then non-whites are in peril because they will "assimilate" and lose their so-called culture. It's silly to think whites are losing. We are all losing and gaining culture. This is all over the world unless you are from a tribe of 30 in the Amazon jungles. What I've always found interesting is how the notion of America as a racial and cultural "melting pot" has evolved over its history (and the resulting intellectual debates). Even more fascinating to me is that many Americans seem to have to be reminded of the multitude of cultures (not just Western European) that have played a part in creating what many people consider mainstream American culture, as if it were some startling revelation. I often wonder how different things would have turned out in America had it not gone through such a protracted, "apartheid" period.
|
|
|
Post by EA Observer on Oct 23, 2007 14:26:12 GMT -5
^They were saying the same thing more than 150 years ago especially in California in regards to the yellow peril. Again cultures always change and while they change they are always complaining. Whites did not eat spaghetti and guacamole as much 100 years ago. Whites change, blacks change, Asians change, we all change. If whites are in peril then non-whites are in peril because they will "assimilate" and lose their so-called culture. It's silly to think whites are losing. We are all losing and gaining culture. This is all over the world unless you are from a tribe of 30 in the Amazon jungles. What I've always found interesting is how the notion of America as a racial and cultural "melting pot" has evolved over its history (and the resulting intellectual debates). Even more fascinating to me is that many Americans seem to have to be reminded of the multitude of cultures (not just Western European) that have played a part in creating what many people consider mainstream American culture, as if it were some startling revelation. I often wonder how different things would have turned out in America had it not gone through such a protracted, "apartheid" period. There's no doubt that Latin America, i.e., Central and South America, has been much better at melting diverse cultures and ethnicites than North America has been.
|
|
|
Post by dapper on Oct 23, 2007 15:19:32 GMT -5
That's b/c all those things you say that everyone who comes here does are American culture, and it is dominant, which is why those who try to hold onto ethnic traditions only watch them erode as the next generation comes up identifying more with American culture than that her parents left behind to get here in the first place.
|
|
|
Post by arfnarf on Jun 27, 2008 14:13:06 GMT -5
Americans have a lot to answer for. Bush in particular.
|
|
conorsoccr23
Junior Member
EAN Spelling Bee Winner!
Posts: 158
|
Post by conorsoccr23 on May 25, 2010 16:18:31 GMT -5
there is really no such thing as white america white people dont feel a bond with each other, they seperate them/ourselves by nationalities lik irish, italian, german ect. white america doesnt exist in the mind of a white person
|
|