how much does your nationality / race means to you?

[da_illest101]

I was just wondering

I trully never cared about mine and that always bothered my parents a bit. I don't speak the language, nor care to learn, I can't write it either. I can understand and read it though I never had to practice learning it. My mom always told me she would love for me to date an haitian girl to keep the race alive, well so far every girl I ever liked was from another race than mine. I told her that she should thank god that my sister isn't like me. Though at this point my mom would just be happy that I bring her a girl period.

It's funny when people ask me questions about my roots and I don't know much about it. Even funnier when people of other nationality knows more about mine than me and can actually speak creole while I don't give a damn about it.

My best friend, who is also haitian, feels the same way, so much that I know more about it than him and my very good friends knows more about it than me even though he is greek.

I have nothing against the haitian heritage, but I just don't care. To be honest I don't think I ever cared about any race or nationality. I got zero problem when someone talks to me about their race or even mine, I just don't care to go learn about it.

So are you pro your nationality or don't care either

 

[Graeme1988]

Hmmm... well I'd probably say both, really. In that I'm proud of my Scottish roots. Other than that I don't make a big deal about.

 

[9407]

My parents are Jamaican (black) and my mom has stated before that she doesn't want me dating a white girl (she doesn't like white people). Race/nationality doesn't really matter to me either. I'm attracted to all races of women.

 

[shakethelight]

I'm italian& irish which I think is pretty common. My mom thinks being italian is the greatest thing ever. I however wish I was native american and japanese. But race and nationality doesnt matter to me really.

 

[WeirdyMcGee]

I grew up not noticing a difference in people's skin.
I still don't, even now unless it's pointed out to me...
Like today at the store, mom whispered to me; 'there's brown people everywhere!' and I said;
"...what?"
haha

I'm (mostly) Metis/Irish but my blood is so mixed that there would be far too many different traditions and things for me to act upon even if I knew all of them.
Growing up with aboriginal grandparents, I was taught many things about culture on their side of the family.
It feels good to have that connection with my ancestors.
I'm not a person who believes 'my people' are any better than any one else's.
We all have to share this planet and I wish we could get along much better-- with eachother and with the planet itself.

I'm half aboriginal but I'm very white-- ghostly white-- and people often ask me if I'm Russian.
In college, people made fun of me for 'acting asian' and for having a 'black girl's butt'.

...am I just rambling now?
I think I am!

Anyway-- I am not really that concerned with nationality but I do think it's a good thing to keep cultures intact even if we aren't constantly living them.
Learn about all cultures, find what interests you and embrace them.

 

[Arrmina]

I. Care a lot about it but grew up totally confused guess that's why I'm in the state I'm I'm... I'm half Arabian n half German so tough to live

 

[ForeverTheWeirdKid]

I'm Jamaican but I was raised in Georgia. I was brought up around country people, sometimes I pronounce my words the worst way possible but I love my background. It was meant to be.

 

[superfluouslyme]

I don't quite know how to put my feelings. I care about my lineage and ancestory, but I think I am so far removed from it all that it doesn't have a huge impact on my life. People will take one look at my last name and say, "You're Italian, aren't you?" Well, duh - my last name is 11 letters long, has double Ls, ends in a vowel, and is virtually impossible to pronounce to those who have never seen it before. I'm Italian, Irish, French, Russian, and some other stuff. But other than my dad pretending that he knows how to correctly pronounce Italian words (gnocchi, anyone?), the cultures don't impact me. I'm American in every sense of the word. I wish I had ties to Italy and Ireland and France and Russia. But I don't think I ever will. Still, I proudly boast that I am Italian. If I meet someone who is of Italian heritage, I will call them my paisan.

 

[Phoenixx]

I really like knowing my family history and lineage too, and I am happy being a little bit of a mixed breed. (Italian, Irish, Scottish) I've mostly been raised into a few Italian customs though, since I grew up with my dad's family half my life, and I'm also happy with that. Yes like you, super, I like to boast I'm Italian too. :: But really, other than what I've grown up with, I don't exactly take everything too seriously.

People will take one look at my last name and say, "You're Italian, aren't you?" Well, duh - my last name is 11 letters long, has double Ls, ends in a vowel, and is virtually impossible to pronounce to those who have never seen it before.

^ Barely anyone asks me whether I'm Italian just looking at my last name. My last name isn't long at all though, it's very short with only 5 letters and it ends in a vowel. Oh, and even though it's short, people butcher it all the time. Sometimes I don't bother correcting people because I get tired of it.

 

[razzle dazzle rose]

I didn't think it meant that much to me, but I do know the language and I am aware of our traditions and history, although my parents are not traditional. Knowledge is important.

Now, the thing is that I have never felt like I was a part of this culture. First of all, I don't really "look" the part. Certain features of mine confuse people. Growing up most everyone assumed I was mixed with all sorts of races. Those comments made me feel like an alien and outsider, like I just didn't belong. I guess that is not surprising. I don't really care about all that now.

I don't group people by race, but more by their interests. While my race does not play a huge role in my identity, I do take pride in speaking the language.

 

[superfluouslyme]

^ Barely anyone asks me whether I'm Italian just looking at my last name. My last name isn't long at all though, it's very short with only 5 letters and it ends in a vowel. Oh, and even though it's short, people butcher it all the time. Sometimes I don't bother correcting people because I get tired of it.

I stopped bothering to correct people a long time ago unless they ask. It's just not even worth it. "Am I pronouncing it right now?" "Close. It's a long U." "How about now?" "The double Ls make a 'll" sound, not a 'y' sound." "How about this?" "Oh, **** off. Just call me Miss Jones."

 

[Roman Legion]

Since I am a citizen of the US and Ireland, I can say I have considered dropping my US citizenship and staying in the US.. If I go back to Ireland, there really isn't much for me there.. I guess I don't put much thought or care into my nationality or ethnicity.. I mean, what does it really matter anyway? If I could be a citizen of nothing, a stateless person; I think that would be the best.

 

[Solitudes_Grace]

I apologize in advance for the length and seriousness of my answer. It's just this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I will use the words "race" and "ethnicity," so, before I continue, I want to mention that race and ethnicity are two different concepts. Race is a group of people who share the same socially defined biological characteristics. Members of different societies create different racial groups, but I would argue that Americans tend to pigeon-hole people into four racial groups: White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American. Needless to say, the concept of race is irrational and stupid. Race is biologically meaningless; there is nothing natural about the existence of race. Race is purely a social concept. An ethnic group, on the other hand, is a group of people who share the same socially defined subcultural characteristics, such as language, nationality, religion, holidays, food, community affiliation, etc. Irish American, English American, French American, African American, Cuban American, Korean American, Russian American, and Mexican American are all examples of ethnic groups.

My nationality is American. As an American, I am speaking from an American perspective. My race is white in the sense that I am perceived by most people as white; however, I have American Indian/Indigenous American ancestry as well. As far as ethnicity goes, I am Irish American, Cherokee Native American, and probably a bunch of other stuff that I am not immediately aware of.

In the past, I did not care about my racial and ethnic background at all. I even rejected it. I didn't want to think that my past had any impact on who I was in the present, so I rejected my heritage. Relatively recently, however, I have learned that I was wrong. My heritage does have an impact on who I am today. I realize that the opportunities, experiences, and resources available to my ancestors were influenced by their racial and ethnic status. The opportunities, experiences, and resources of each generation in turn influenced the opportunities, experiences, and resources that generation's children had available to them. This process continued with each subsequent generation. Thus, the experiences and opportunities I have today are influenced in some way by each generation before me.

But race and ethnicity do not only affect me from the past. The truth is that race socially matters in America. Racial inequality is a brutal reality in America; although, many Americans will deny it. For example, the unemployment rate is much higher for Black males in American than it is for White males because of racial discrimination. I realize that my whiteness grants me unfair and unjustified opportunities, privileges, and resources simply because of something as superficial and meaningless as the pigment of my skin. For example, many store clerks are more likely to treat me with politeness and courtesy than they would if I was a Black male. For the doubtful, there is a plethora of social research that supports my assertion.

Ethnicity matters in America today as well. Ethnic inequality is another brutal reality. Again each ethnic group has different access to resources and opportunities. For example, the rich are disproportionately made up of people with an English American background. Each ethnicity has stereotypes attached to them. For example, Mexican Americans are often stereotyped as criminals (Fun fact: the crime rate is actually much higher for native-born American whites than it is for first and second generation Mexican immigrants).

Obviously, my American nationality also influences who I am in the sense that I have been socialized into American culture.

I am not proud of my nationality, race, or ethnicity. There is absolutely no reason for me to feel pride, but there is a reason for me to be aware of my race, ethnicity, and nationality because these things influence who I am today, where I stand in the social structure, and how people will interact with me. They inform me about myself, and they inform me about the society I live in. It is for these reasons that my awareness of my nationality, ethnicity, and race is important to me. Again, just because these things are important to me does not mean that I am also proud of them.

Sorry for the length. I need to stop treating everything so seriously.

 

[How_slow_the_Wind]

I'm half white/half-asian. I see myself as ethnically neutral, as I don't really have a racial culutral identity that I fit in with. I sort of wish I did, though. Australian culture is kind of boring in of itself and I think I'm part of the problem, haha!

 

[Hellhound]

It means nothing to me. The only thing I like is having an accent. I love accents.

 

[Gaucho]

I'm nothing special, i don't care much about my country if I'm honest, i was raised in another country. i don't feel any special attraction to any of those 2 countries.

 

[Rembrandt Broam]

It doesn't really matter at all to me. We're all just human beings living on the same lump of rock, and any differences are completely superficial when you get down to it. If more people looked at it that way, maybe we wouldn't spend quite so much time and energy fighting one another.

 

[Waybuloo]

Well it seems to make me stand out a lot and sometimes it would be a talking point when I meet an Australian. I don't know why they always ask me where I was born, like I had to justify being an Australian who wasn't white. I should ask the same to anyone who isn't Aboriginal. The British see that I am different but they don't ask where I was born or what race I am. Thank god they have better manners, bar of course the drunken louts or those men with a fetish for Asian girls. Get lost.

I guess I don't have much of a national identity to make much fuss about me being non white.

 

[Waybuloo]

I apologize in advance for the length and seriousness of my answer. It's just this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I will use the words "race" and "ethnicity," so, before I continue, I want to mention that race and ethnicity are two different concepts. Race is a group of people who share the same socially defined biological characteristics. Members of different societies create different racial groups, but I would argue that Americans tend to pigeon-hole people into four racial groups: White, Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Native American. Needless to say, the concept of race is irrational and stupid. Race is biologically meaningless; there is nothing natural about the existence of race. Race is purely a social concept. An ethnic group, on the other hand, is a group of people who share the same socially defined subcultural characteristics, such as language, nationality, religion, holidays, food, community affiliation, etc. Irish American, English American, French American, African American, Cuban American, Korean American, Russian American, and Mexican American are all examples of ethnic groups.

My nationality is American. As an American, I am speaking from an American perspective. My race is white in the sense that I am perceived by most people as white; however, I have American Indian/Indigenous American ancestry as well. As far as ethnicity goes, I am Irish American, Cherokee Native American, and probably a bunch of other stuff that I am not immediately aware of.

In the past, I did not care about my racial and ethnic background at all. I even rejected it. I didn't want to think that my past had any impact on who I was in the present, so I rejected my heritage. Relatively recently, however, I have learned that I was wrong. My heritage does have an impact on who I am today. I realize that the opportunities, experiences, and resources available to my ancestors were influenced by their racial and ethnic status. The opportunities, experiences, and resources of each generation in turn influenced the opportunities, experiences, and resources that generation's children had available to them. This process continued with each subsequent generation. Thus, the experiences and opportunities I have today are influenced in some way by each generation before me.

But race and ethnicity do not only affect me from the past. The truth is that race socially matters in America. Racial inequality is a brutal reality in America; although, many Americans will deny it. For example, the unemployment rate is much higher for Black males in American than it is for White males because of racial discrimination. I realize that my whiteness grants me unfair and unjustified opportunities, privileges, and resources simply because of something as superficial and meaningless as the pigment of my skin. For example, many store clerks are more likely to treat me with politeness and courtesy than they would if I was a Black male. For the doubtful, there is a plethora of social research that supports my assertion.

Ethnicity matters in America today as well. Ethnic inequality is another brutal reality. Again each ethnic group has different access to resources and opportunities. For example, the rich are disproportionately made up of people with an English American background. Each ethnicity has stereotypes attached to them. For example, Mexican Americans are often stereotyped as criminals (Fun fact: the crime rate is actually much higher for native-born American whites than it is for first and second generation Mexican immigrants).

Obviously, my American nationality also influences who I am in the sense that I have been socialized into American culture.

I am not proud of my nationality, race, or ethnicity. There is absolutely no reason for me to feel pride, but there is a reason for me to be aware of my race, ethnicity, and nationality because these things influence who I am today, where I stand in the social structure, and how people will interact with me. They inform me about myself, and they inform me about the society I live in. It is for these reasons that my awareness of my nationality, ethnicity, and race is important to me. Again, just because these things are important to me does not mean that I am also proud of them.

Sorry for the length. I need to stop treating everything so seriously.

I agree with you. Whenever you hear about Americans saying something about someone, it's always African American, black, Asian American, Asian or something like that, never just an American.

 

[hidwell]

I think it is good to know where you come from, history is very interesting and can teach us many lessons. Coming from northern Europe I class my self as having Celtic origins, of which I find the history of my ancestors truly fascinating.