Silly question to those of you who just became US citizens

[Waiting4GC 0]

Ok, this is a silly question and it is not my intent to offend anybody with this question. I know that getting the citizenship is a tough and long journey but when you are asked what nationality you are from.... What will be your answer?

I know I don't look like the typical caucasian american, when somebody looks at me the first thing they probably notice is that I may not be from here as I look more latino than anything else so I will feel weird saying that I am american and it actually just happened last night that we met knew people and they asked my nationality and I said I am "Paraguayan", then my hubby corrected and said no, she is American now...

So how will you answer this? I know that when filling out forms I will choose American, but it doesn't come naturally when I answer that question.

[DaniDimo 0]

Ok, this is a silly question and it is not my intent to offend anybody with this question. I know that getting the citizenship is a tough and long journey but when you are asked what nationality you are from.... What will be your answer?

I know I don't look like the typical caucasian american, when somebody looks at me the first thing they probably notice is that I may not be from here as I look more latino than anything else so I will feel weird saying that I am american and it actually just happened last night that we met knew people and they asked my nationality and I said I am "Paraguayan", then my hubby corrected and said no, she is American now...

So how will you answer this? I know that when filling out forms I will choose American, but it doesn't come naturally when I answer that question.

I am naturalized american but if somebody ask me what is my nationality I would say I am Yugoslavian, cause I have been born there.

[Tushar 0]

I would say I'm born Indian but I'm US Citizen now

[lucyrich 20]

The term "nationality" has a specific legal meaning. Anyone who is a US Citizen is a US national, in other words, has US nationality. A few US nationals aren't US citizens.

So once you're a US Citizen, you definitely have US nationality. Having US nationality doesn't necessarily preclude having nationality from some other country. For many people, the correct answer to "what's your nationality?" after naturalization is "I'm a dual national of the United States and <insert name of other country here>".

Of course, if you're not answering in a technical legal context, feel free to answer as you wish, the same as you might answer the question, "what's your citizenship?"

[NickD 202]

Ha, America, the big melting pot where since the 70's, race and sex has become a big issue with the ERA, in work or school, qualifications and ability became secondary to your race and sex as quotas had to be meet. Ha, I wasn't an equal opportunity employer by choice, it's the law, with all the other government agencies formed at that time, not one was formed to assure we could make a profit and still stay in business. They just found a zillion ways to spend our profits on all kind of common sense things.

I certainly would not describe myself as a racist, science has already proved we all come from a central source, but climatic conditions affected the color of our skin, but to dismiss a well qualified hard working person in favor of another much less qualified worker because of race is correct either. Race is an issue because our government makes it an issue. I am dismissing those that do segregate strictly on the basis of race and this is true in all parts of our country, but much more predominate in the southern states.

Ha, on application forms with the word Sex and a blank, do you answer yes or no, or only with the right person, or if you of the a particular profession, could state your rates. I think they mean male or female, most forms specify that today.

So what do we see on the N-400? RACE. But written in such a manner this is used for identification purposes only. Regardless where my wife was from, we fell in love, but purely out of interest, we discussed our roots. We are of both European decent that doesn't matter, but was interesting that our folks lived only with a few hundred miles of each other. Ha, it just so happens her grandfather got on a boat to South America, mine got on a boat to North America.

What our ancestors shared in common, they were adventuresome and liked to move around and that had a lot to do why we met in the first place rather than living their entire life in a small community. Ha, commented, since I bred purebred dogs for awhile, neither of us is worth very much as we both are mutts.

So when you get to the Race section in the N-400, you find you have one of five choices, White, Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. But you can select one or more, what if you are Jewish or Arab. And with all this ethnic cleansing going on in Africa and the Middle East, shouldn't there be a distinction as well? And have you honestly ever seen a white person? by definition, if you were to photograph a "white" person on a white background like the same form insist, your photo show be just a blank white image.

Certainly not much choice in race selection, and the word white for race is indubitably a slang term, who wrote this form? There are literally thousands of races on this earth, but all from a common ancestry.

Since my wife is from South America, debated whether we should select Are you Hispanic or Latino? box as yes or no, again a very subjective slang terminology. By true definition, a Latino is more of a cultural distinction rather than race and if Spanish speaking is in your heritage, you are considered Latino, but most refer it to as being a race.

Ha, glad I didn't have to fill out that form for myself, I am an alien from outer space, not even a box for me to check. But no doubt in my mind, whomever wrote that N-400 is racist. In America, we are not suppose to be that way.

[flavaofsummer 0]

Ok, this is a silly question and it is not my intent to offend anybody with this question. I know that getting the citizenship is a tough and long journey but when you are asked what nationality you are from.... What will be your answer?

I know I don't look like the typical caucasian american, when somebody looks at me the first thing they probably notice is that I may not be from here as I look more latino than anything else so I will feel weird saying that I am american and it actually just happened last night that we met knew people and they asked my nationality and I said I am "Paraguayan", then my hubby corrected and said no, she is American now...

So how will you answer this? I know that when filling out forms I will choose American, but it doesn't come naturally when I answer that question.

nationality means ur race when people ask u. they dont mean if u have an american passport or not..u look mexcican u should say im mexican. if ur born in the USA u say mexican american. other then that ur not american cuz america is not a RACE its a state with diff races all together.its the land of immigrants no one is american..even if ur white or black i dont care what u say u r not american u cant change ur race to saying ur american just cus u lived here 100 years ur still from somewhere else who came as an immigrant and lived here then forgot ur background..china india africa those r the countries that actually belong to one race..u cant live in china 100 years then say HEY IM CHINESE cuz u cant change ur face to fit in china just cuz u lived there 100 years..i hope u get what im saying cuz alot of people 4get who they r,,yeah america is nice and all u must be proud ur in a super power country but if someone told me im american by race i would think they r cheezy and a wannaBe and have forgotten their background.

[tammiandtom 0]

I asked my husband and he said if someone asked in passing, he would still say Scottish. He does have an accent after all.

[Cassie 8]

I will answer "I am a dual citizen, originally from Canada".

Edited May 4, 2008 by Cassie

[Waiting4GC 0]

Ok, this is a silly question and it is not my intent to offend anybody with this question. I know that getting the citizenship is a tough and long journey but when you are asked what nationality you are from.... What will be your answer?

I know I don't look like the typical caucasian american, when somebody looks at me the first thing they probably notice is that I may not be from here as I look more latino than anything else so I will feel weird saying that I am american and it actually just happened last night that we met knew people and they asked my nationality and I said I am "Paraguayan", then my hubby corrected and said no, she is American now...

So how will you answer this? I know that when filling out forms I will choose American, but it doesn't come naturally when I answer that question.

nationality means ur race when people ask u. they dont mean if u have an american passport or not..u look mexcican u should say im mexican. if ur born in the USA u say mexican american. other then that ur not american cuz america is not a RACE its a state with diff races all together.its the land of immigrants no one is american..even if ur white or black i dont care what u say u r not american u cant change ur race to saying ur american just cus u lived here 100 years ur still from somewhere else who came as an immigrant and lived here then forgot ur background..china india africa those r the countries that actually belong to one race..u cant live in china 100 years then say HEY IM CHINESE cuz u cant change ur face to fit in china just cuz u lived there 100 years..i hope u get what im saying cuz alot of people 4get who they r,,yeah america is nice and all u must be proud ur in a super power country but if someone told me im american by race i would think they r cheezy and a wannaBe and have forgotten their background.

Race and Nationality ARE NOT the same thing. One more thing I want to say is that not because people come from SouthAmerica they automatically look Mexican (Mexico is not even in the South American continent). In this case, the nationality of the person will be Mexican / Mexican-American and the race will be Hispanic/Latino. Also, Africa is not a Country but a Continent.

I will answer "I am a dual citizen, originally from Canada".

Cassie and everybody else how has given a similar answer, I think you are right. I just need to get used to it. Thanks for the replies.

Edited May 5, 2008 by Waiting4GC

[flavaofsummer 0]

Ok, this is a silly question and it is not my intent to offend anybody with this question. I know that getting the citizenship is a tough and long journey but when you are asked what nationality you are from.... What will be your answer?

I know I don't look like the typical caucasian american, when somebody looks at me the first thing they probably notice is that I may not be from here as I look more latino than anything else so I will feel weird saying that I am american and it actually just happened last night that we met knew people and they asked my nationality and I said I am "Paraguayan", then my hubby corrected and said no, she is American now...

So how will you answer this? I know that when filling out forms I will choose American, but it doesn't come naturally when I answer that question.

nationality means ur race when people ask u. they dont mean if u have an american passport or not..u look mexcican u should say im mexican. if ur born in the USA u say mexican american. other then that ur not american cuz america is not a RACE its a state with diff races all together.its the land of immigrants no one is american..even if ur white or black i dont care what u say u r not american u cant change ur race to saying ur american just cus u lived here 100 years ur still from somewhere else who came as an immigrant and lived here then forgot ur background..china india africa those r the countries that actually belong to one race..u cant live in china 100 years then say HEY IM CHINESE cuz u cant change ur face to fit in china just cuz u lived there 100 years..i hope u get what im saying cuz alot of people 4get who they r,,yeah america is nice and all u must be proud ur in a super power country but if someone told me im american by race i would think they r cheezy and a wannaBe and have forgotten their background.

Race and Nationality ARE NOT the same thing. One more thing I want to say is that not because people come from SouthAmerica they automatically look Mexican (Mexico is not even in the South American continent). In this case, the nationality of the person will be Mexican / Mexican-American and the race will be Hispanic/Latino. Also, Africa is not a Country but a Continent.

I will answer "I am a dual citizen, originally from Canada".

Cassie and everybody else how has given a similar answer, I think you are right. I just need to get used to it. Thanks for the replies.

this isnt history class. i dont need to get all technical with a person who doesnt remember their race after getting a usa passport i was keeping it REAL SIMPLE buddy thanx

[NickD 202]

I was just referring to the questions asked on the N-400, my wife is from South America of German/Spanish decent, medium brown hair, green eyes, very pale skin color and she does sunburn very easily.

My sister is interested in genealogy and did some tracing, we are Italian, French, Spanish, German, Polish, and Russian and since the Vikings invaded Sicily, some of that too. But my grandfather whose surname I have is from Northern Italy that was all French speaking at the time so our surname is Italian with a French influence. Ha, wonder at times if my mom played around, I am about a foot taller than my male relatives, light brown hair, blue eyes, and I really tan nice, but have to do it carefully, as will also burn. I can really fake a good Italian, southern, and British accent. Military listed me as a Caucasian, but I understand that is no longer in use.

At a dog show, I would be classified as a mutt, had a world class Shepherd male that I would get $3,000.00 for in stud fees, ha, I would be lucky to get a nickel if that much.

Have dated just about every race of woman, or nationality, that was never important to me, you either hit it off or you don't, never believed in soulmates until I met my wife. Ha, thou shalt not covet they neighbors wife, but is it okay that I covet my own?

My point is that this is America and race nor nationality should not be an issue, but it is, just read the N-400 application, so who is making this subject an issue? The political scene in this so called melting pot is sure making an issue out of it and those that are, should be very ashamed of themselves. Just like to see somebody leading this country that isn't a cheat, a liar, and a crook. That should really be the major issue.

[Waiting4GC 0]

I was just referring to the questions asked on the N-400, my wife is from South America of German/Spanish decent, medium brown hair, green eyes, very pale skin color and she does sunburn very easily.

My sister is interested in genealogy and did some tracing, we are Italian, French, Spanish, German, Polish, and Russian and since the Vikings invaded Sicily, some of that too. But my grandfather whose surname I have is from Northern Italy that was all French speaking at the time so our surname is Italian with a French influence. Ha, wonder at times if my mom played around, I am about a foot taller than my male relatives, light brown hair, blue eyes, and I really tan nice, but have to do it carefully, as will also burn. I can really fake a good Italian, southern, and British accent. Military listed me as a Caucasian, but I understand that is no longer in use.

At a dog show, I would be classified as a mutt, had a world class Shepherd male that I would get $3,000.00 for in stud fees, ha, I would be lucky to get a nickel if that much.

Have dated just about every race of woman, or nationality, that was never important to me, you either hit it off or you don't, never believed in soulmates until I met my wife. Ha, thou shalt not covet they neighbors wife, but is it okay that I covet my own?

My point is that this is America and race nor nationality should not be an issue, but it is, just read the N-400 application, so who is making this subject an issue? The political scene in this so called melting pot is sure making an issue out of it and those that are, should be very ashamed of themselves. Just like to see somebody leading this country that isn't a cheat, a liar, and a crook. That should really be the major issue.

I am with you on this one NickD.

Good luck with your Journey.

[churipu 4]

I will always say I am Italian, I might add I also hold US citizenship.

[Staashi 371]

My husband is from Argentina. He doesn't consider himself Latino or Hispanic, he is white and that is how he put it on the application. I'm sure he will say in the future that he is Argentine with U.S. Citizenship.

[Waiting4GC 0]

My husband is from Argentina. He doesn't consider himself Latino or Hispanic, he is white and that is how he put it on the application. I'm sure he will say in the future that he is Argentine with U.S. Citizenship.

I used to go to Argentine every other summer for a month when I lived in Paraguay. My family would alternate between the Brazilian and Argentine beaches. Sometimes we would go to Punta del Este in Uruguay.

Good luck in your upcoming interview.