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Is American an Ethnicity?

Is American an Ethnicity?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 19.1%
  • No

    Votes: 38 80.9%

  • Total voters
    47
On that we will disagree. We need an AMERICAN culture. One which embraces the fact that we are from different places, yet brings that all together into one UNIFIED and DISTINCT AMERICAN Culture. That is.... our own language (which we already have.... American English), our own traditions (which we already have), and a shared history (which we already have). It also requires that those who come here from outside abandon their former culture and take up the AMERICAN culture; which is why it is hard for me to believe that many immigrants can ever truly become AMERICANS.... it's very difficult to give up that old culture.
It is points of view like this that make me question the application of "free choice" conservatism. I'm not sure the view that government should stay out of one's personal decisions and the view that all people should conform to a single unified culture are even marginally consistent.
 
You're trying to tell me the cultural differences between the north and south of your country wouldn't have happened if America pursued a total isolationist policy? :lol:

I am suggesting that with an Isolationist policy, that there is a good chance it would never have come to what it did. If it HAD, then we'd have had what we should now have, which is a USA and a CSA. Two separate nations.


why should there be no communication nor travel between the USA and other nations?

Remember that comment I made earlier about the US being the last hope for decency in the Human Race? One cannot maintain that sort of culture/climate when one is constantly being bombarded with improprieties from outside.

I am starting to believe that ALL of these insane & ridiculous posts by you are just one big joke, and you are simply lampooning your vision of the most extremist right-winger possible.

Not in the least. I'm as serious as a heart attack.


It is points of view like this that make me question the application of "free choice" conservatism. I'm not sure the view that government should stay out of one's personal decisions and the view that all people should conform to a single unified culture are even marginally consistent.

Where have I ever claimed to be a "free choice" Conservative? I'm an AUTHORITARIAN.
 
^OK, I guess that would explain it then.
 
^OK, I guess that would explain it then.

Yeah. I was a tad surprised you hadn't caught onto that, since I've talked about it a number of times.
 
Yeah. I was a tad surprised you hadn't caught onto that, since I've talked about it a number of times.
Sorry, guess I haven't been stalking you to the degree I should. ;)
 
..Remember that comment I made earlier about the US being the last hope for decency in the Human Race? One cannot maintain that sort of culture/climate when one is constantly being bombarded with improprieties from outside....

seems like you are trying to justify and excuse people living a very isolated and closed lifestyle.

and yet, this forum includes members from all over the world. ironic huh?
 
seems like you are trying to justify and excuse people living a very isolated and closed lifestyle.

Yes it absolutely does. Probably because that's exactly what I'm suggesting.
 
I have to do this...Ive been reading this thread back and forth and I have to inject what some may consider sickening Patriotism...but I am dead serious

I dont care if being American is an ethnicity or a nationality...its what I am, its what Ive always been since my first breath...I fought for this country and I LOVE THIS COUNTRY and american is what the hell I am and I dont care who likes it or not...or what anyone wants to consider it..:)
 
America has a culture, several cultures to be exact. But no, we are NOT a seperate ethnicity. There is more to being an ethnicity than simply common language, dress, food, & music tastes.
 
America has a culture, several cultures to be exact. But no, we are NOT a seperate ethnicity. There is more to being an ethnicity than simply common language, dress, food, & music tastes.

That is what exactly ?
 
America has a culture, several cultures to be exact. But no, we are NOT a seperate ethnicity. There is more to being an ethnicity than simply common language, dress, food, & music tastes.

Like what? Certainly not physical appearance, because with some individuals it's very possible to confuse Mexicans, Italians, and Egyptians even though the Western convention is to put all three of them in separate ethnicities. Certainly not genetic place of origin, since people who trace their roots back to very geographically close locations may be considered different ethnicities (e.g. Israel/Palestine, or Spain/Morocco).
 
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Native American is and ethnicity. We stole their land and we call ourselves Americans even though we aren't.
 
I have to do this...Ive been reading this thread back and forth and I have to inject what some may consider sickening Patriotism...but I am dead serious

I dont care if being American is an ethnicity or a nationality...its what I am, its what Ive always been since my first breath...I fought for this country and I LOVE THIS COUNTRY and american is what the hell I am and I dont care who likes it or not...or what anyone wants to consider it..:)

I don't consider that sickening patriotism at all. You love your society, are proud of its achievements, and no doubt want to rectify its deficiencies. I call that genuine patriotism (as opposed to jingoism or nationalism,) and I consider it admirable. I feel much the same way about my own society.

Where patriotism becomes unhealthy (and something else), is when one considers one's own society inherently superior to all others, for no better reason than that one has been born into that society.
 
Like what? Certainly not physical appearance, because with some individuals it's very possible to confuse Mexicans, Italians, and Egyptians even though the Western convention is to put all three of them in separate ethnicities.

First of all, the important word has been bolded, as a generality Mexicans, Italians and Egyptians look different, secondly ethnicity isn't a western convention, you look at the attitudes of pre-WW2 Japanese society

Certainly not genetic place of origin, since people who trace their roots back to very geographically close locations may be considered different ethnicities (e.g. Israel/Palestine, or Spain/Morocco).

Ethnicity is a combination of race/genetics, location and culture. Hence the difference between Israelis and Palestinians, Spaniards and Moroccans.
 
Like what? Certainly not physical appearance, because with some individuals it's very possible to confuse Mexicans, Italians, and Egyptians even though the Western convention is to put all three of them in separate ethnicities....

are you talking about white Mexicans, black Mexicans, or Aboriginal Mexicans?
 
First of all, the important word has been bolded, as a generality Mexicans, Italians and Egyptians look different,

Not really. Let's look at three recent presidents. If you didn't already know the answer, could you tell which of them was Mexican, Italian, and Egyptian based on their picture?

felipe-calderon-hinojosa1.jpg ber.jpg mubarak-hosni1.jpg

Heck, Mubarak and Berlusconi look like they could be brothers...

secondly ethnicity isn't a western convention, you look at the attitudes of pre-WW2 Japanese society

Ethnicity isn't a Western convention, but our CONCEPT of ethnicity is most definitely Western (and more specifically, Anglophonic Western). We are the only culture that I know of which neatly classifies people into a few buckets (e.g. black, white, Asian, Arab, Hispanic, Native American, etc). I don't know too much about ethnic attitudes in pre-WW2 Japan, but my understanding is that it was basically "Japanese" and "everyone else." Which would actually support my point that ethnicity tends to be based much more on culture than genetics, ancestral place of origin, or physical traits.
 
Not really. Let's look at three recent presidents. If you didn't already know the answer, could you tell which of them was Mexican, Italian, and Egyptian based on their picture?

View attachment 67116193 View attachment 67116194 View attachment 67116195

Heck, Mubarak and Berlusconi look like they could be brothers...



Ethnicity isn't a Western convention, but our CONCEPT of ethnicity is most definitely Western (and more specifically, Anglophonic Western). We are the only culture that I know of which neatly classifies people into a few buckets (e.g. black, white, Asian, Arab, Hispanic, Native American, etc). I don't know too much about ethnic attitudes in pre-WW2 Japan, but my understanding is that it was basically "Japanese" and "everyone else." Which would actually support my point that ethnicity tends to be based much more on culture than genetics, ancestral place of origin, or physical traits.


People may if they have similar physical traits, and share the same cultural traits be assumed to be a member of a different ethnicity. But if they have different physical traits, no one is going to assume they are of the that same ethnicity. I expect that should an ethnic/genetic German move to Northern France and fully adopt french culture most people would assume he or she of french ethnicity. I dont dissagree with that. But that is more due to the mixing of ethnicities in Europe over the last 100 years or so where some of the individual ethnic traits are being blurred.

Western specifically anglo cultures are not the only ones to have ethnicity being an identifiable concept

The Japanese have it with the Ainu people not being considered Japanese. The causasus region has dozens of small ethnic groups developed over 100s of years of general separation from other regions. China has a few dozen ethnic groups, many more have been absorbed into the Han ethnic group. They have been identified as having different physical traits and cultural traits. India has probably hundreds of different ethic groups whose identity was not developed by the UK domination of it for a couple hudred years. But formed over a vast number of years. Sri Lanka just ended what was primarily an ethnic war between the Tamils and Sinhalese

Ethnic identity has a great deal to do with physical traits, not just physical traits
 
Native American is and ethnicity. We stole their land and we call ourselves Americans even though we aren't.

???

Read here: The Naming of America It's full of facts and fun tidbits of our rarely-taught true history (per the name 'America') etc.

From the article - this quote, I think, sums up how all of US have been ****ed over royally by this entire issues:
. . .For Carew, however, the "truth" he found in his reading of history becomes a source of rage: "Robbing peoples and countries of their indigenous names was one of the cruel games that colonizers played with the colonized…. To rob people or countries of their names is to set in motion a psychic disturbance which can in turn create a permanent crisis of identity. As if to underline this fact, the theft of an important place-name from the heartland of the Americas and the claim that it was a dilettante's Christian name robs the original name of its elemental meaning."

yeah - that sums things up pretty well.
 
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