Sounds like they still live here. And sounds like they were a homogeneous mass. There were differnt cultures living together and to choose a word they used, is a nice gesture, but still it was the whites who decided which one to pick
Hey, that’s just not true. Sure, the name of my state is Wisconsin, but we also have names based on “What it was called by the French, but pronounced wrong,” like Beloit (“buh-loit”), Butte des Morts (“boo-da-more”), and Lac Courte Oreilles (“la-coo-der-ray”).
I don’t live in America but I think most would consider themselves Americans. They are proud of the flag and the constitution and stuff. In the 1600s, you wouldn’t have figured a white person when someone said “American”. The whites were Brits or Germans or French, but not American. The natives were Americans.
My point exactly. They aren’t Italians who happen to live in America but Americans with Italian heritage. And I’m not talking about first or second generation but like “white” people in general. The concept of whiteness exists since they started to be Americans.
No, but white people didn’t identify as Americans before that. Neither did they think of themselves as white but as Brits or what ever.
The concept of whiteness only makes sense when it’s in contrast to other, non-white groups. “We are Brits and the Germans aren’t” morphed into “We and the Germans are white and the natives and slaves aren’t”. Hope that makes sense.
Americans consider themselves Americans, but especially in the early days of the melting pot, cultural identity, and specifically that heritage was important. That’s why Americans are always saying they are Irish or Italian or whatever. The actual people from those countries laugh or get defensive about Americans who have never left the US claiming that heritage, but there’s a reason behind it.
It’s weird. Someone once told me her husband was German after I mentioned I lived there for a while. So I asked where they’re from, maybe I knew. “From Mississippi…”
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