Are Americans really American?

Question

He vivido en los Estados Unidos toda mi vida y cuando encontramos con gente de aquí, una pregunta común, tarde o temprano, es decir, "¿Qué es su patrimonio?" Nosotros no decimos que somos americanos. Por ejemplo, yo soy inglés, irlandés, escocés, alemán, sueco, polaco, y de Noruega. ¿Son sólo americanos a personas de otros países? ¿Qué te parece?

I've lived in America my entire life and when we meet people here, a common question sooner or later is, 'what is your heritage?' We don't say we are American. For instance, I am English, Irish, Scotish, German, Swedish, Polish, & Norwegian. Are we only 'Americans' to people from other countries? What do you think?

Answer 1

We don't say we are American.

Well I sure as sh*! do. Unless someone is asking about my family ancestry or genealogy.

The question is not defined enough for me.

• I think all Americans who have lived overseas do. - lorenzo9 Nov 7, 2009

Answer 2

Hablaba en mi Español Clase de Chat yo di la clase, " Mi familia éramos Norte Americanos antes de los Estados Unidos". ¿Comprenden ustedes? En ingles:Speaking in my Spanish Chat class I said to the class, "My family was North American before the United States". So by residency we are are Americans living in the Western Hemispere.

Answer 3

But the prevailing opinion (based on genetic studies and archaeology) is that we're all "Africans" (despite the creation mythologies that have grown up in various places to compensate for the lack of recorded history).

The evidence for the prevailing theory may have more to do with the accessibility of fossils than anything else, which in turn may have more to do with geology than evolution. People were pretty much everywhere before recorded history, so that is a moot point. That being said, it is likely that modern humans did in fact originate in Africa, but it is far from a demonstrated fact.

Answer 4

Steveabn,

I agree that America truly is a melting pot and that there are few places in the world where so many different cultures co-exist. I am interested in your perspective on America being the most "prosperous" COUNTRY in the world. Define prosperous? Do you mean financial, culturally...

S