Nationalities

[SA]

African American, but raised in Oz.  There's some Spanish and Scottish floating around in there from my father's side (he was born in the Carribean) but my mother's pure chocolate.

I don't consider myself "black", which is bothersome when all the teens and twenty-somethings expect me to identify with my "ethnicity" (usually by being sexy and superfly - which I am, but that's beside the point).  None of my friends are black, and they generally describe me as "the whitest guy they know", by which I suppose they mean well spoken and the only twenty year-old within fifty miles who doesn't wear his pants below his butt crack.

[Nomadic]

My citizenship is American, Oregonian to be precise. My ethnicity though is extremely varied though much of it is concentrated in one part of the world. I am 1/4th sottish and also have bits of English and Irish in me as well as some welsh (or so I am told). There are also bits of German and Polish as well as some Native American (my dad has enough of that blood in him to qualify for the checks). While I consider myself solidly an American, I identify well with my scottish heritage (and take great pride in it).

[Elemental_Elf]

If we're talking about ethnicity/heritage then I may as well put myself out there. My mom's side is heavily Dutch, mostly originating from a small town called Berg (near the border with Belgium and Germany. She also has a little French and Belgian in her, which makes sense, given the location of Berg. On my father's side, things are much more sketchy. My Dad's Father doesn't know much about his family's history, other than being English (trust me, my teeth (pre-braces) will attest to that, lol) along with a little French. On his mom's side, things are also sketchy but she does know she (and thus I) am descended from the Scottish Clan of Grant , as well as a little English and French. given the information I have, I believe I am: 1/4 Dutch, English & French, 1/8th Belgian & Scottish. So yes, I'm fairly 'white bread' as my friends with more 'exotic' heritages tell me :P

[Jürgen Hubert]

You guys should just become a 4 state (at minimum) federation and get it over with. Ya'll have been dragging your feet on this issue, IMO. Better to be a federation than 4 independent nations all under the thumb of the EU.

Has the EU evolved into an Evil Empire while I wasn't looking?   ;)

[Matt Larkin (author)]

You guys should just become a 4 state (at minimum) federation and get it over with. Ya'll have been dragging your feet on this issue, IMO. Better to be a federation than 4 independent nations all under the thumb of the EU.

Has the EU evolved into an Evil Empire while I wasn't looking?   ;)

It's Evil Umpire. That's what the "U" stands for JH.

And if we're doing ethnic descent now (which I guess more Americans need to describe since we can't take it for granted), primarily Irish. With some English, a little Cherokee, and probably some other stuff I don't know about.

[Ninja D!]

Earthian.  Because I don't believe in countries.

[Kindling]

Yeah, on the whole "under the thumb of the EU" thing... personally I think we (the UK) should stop considering ourselves somehow aloof from the rest of Europe. You look at an atlas and we're a part of Europe. We need to sort ourselves out and properly embrace the EU.

[Biohazard]

I want to say my Canadian nationality is traced back through English, and then German or some sort of Slav ancestry, but I don't know - never done a check, and you all know how easily someone can take a different name, especially way back when (when they were practically being handed out).

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Why do people care so much about what geographical location and/or tribal group they're from?

Note: I'm just asking.

[Llum]

Because some people like having a heritage, which partly means knowing where your ancestors came from. Another thing is good ole familial pride that some people trace back tons of generations.

I would also like to point out that your heritage does have an effect on you wether you like it or not, its something that effects us, so I guess most people embrace it.

[Nomadic]

Why do people care so much about what geographical location and/or tribal group they're from?

Note: I'm just asking.

What llum said. Like I mentioned, I take pride in my Scottish (and to a lesser degree native American) ancestry. It is something I research and am fascinated by.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Earthian.  Because I don't believe in countries.

Unfortunately, countries believe in you.

Why do people care so much about what geographical location and/or tribal group they're from?

I used to wonder about that myself. Then I actually lived in other countries for a time (six months in Scotland, three weeks in Thailand, two months in the United States), and I realized that being born and raised in a particular country means you start out with a whole range of cultural assumptions and behavior which you don't even notice as something unusual until you've come into extended contact with people from other countries.

My current place of work was fairly instructive in this as well. We've got two Brazilians, one Indian, one Russian, and one North Korean. And the only other German among the scientific assistants comes from a Moroccan family. Each of us has his own set of cultural assumptions and behavioral norms built right into us, and this has shaped all our personalities - and how we interact with each other.

Places of origin matter because they are part of what we are.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

Places of origin matter because they are part of what we are.

Only if you let them be.

[Superfluous Crow]

Although i seem to be bringing it up an awful lot i don't care that much about my nationality. I'm actually kind of bitter about not growing up in an english-speaking country. Not that my country is bad in anyway, pretty good place in many ways, i just can't stand all the national pride (especially when it comes to sporting events, although it should be noted I'm not that sporty).

[Steerpike]

[blockquote=Silvercat Moonpaw]Only if you let them be. [/blockquote]Amen.  Maybe (ironically) it's just because I live in Canada - a very multicultural place where nationality and ethnicity don't matter as much compared to many parts of the world - but I've always resisted the notion that place automatically defines a person.  Certainly to the extent that it does form part of who someone is, it's only a part.  I just really don't like all-encompassing identity labels: I think that humans are way too complex to be summed up through a few elements.  We're too complex, and our identities are mysterious even to ourselves.