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…”
So it is to avoid confusion when they write “PARIS, FRANCE” in films when they show the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre-Dame and the Louvre in establishing shots. Good to know 👍
Just googled quickly out of interest. There’s 14 pubs called Bird in Hand within 30 miles from my location, plus 2 restaurants and one bus stop with the same name.
When the Greeks were settling around the Mediterranean they founded many ‘New Cities’, (Neapolis). One remained a ‘new city’ for long enough for the name to evolve to Naples.
The Phoenicians did the same, in their language ‘New City’ was Qart Hadasht, we now call it Carthage. One of the Carthages in what is now Spain was conquered by Rome and to differentiate it from the Capital of the Carthaginians they called it Carthago Nova, essentially New New City.
Uhhh, buddy? Most of those were Europeans born in “city name” who moved and founded “new city name” because they were born in “city name.” This is a you thing.
I literally just used new prague as an example to my fiance over Christmas, about how we are super unoriginal in naming places in this country. Also hello fellow Minnesotan.
Tbf a lot of the ‘new[city]’ was given their names by the British empire expanding their land. Just look at Australian state names… The Americans doing this in more recent times are simply following suit.
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