What do you say when Americans tell you they are Scottish?

[wee carrington 33]

So micmac, you're moving to America. Jump forward two generations. Would you feel irritated if a grandchild or great grandchild of yours had heard stories about you and wanted to know more about you and maybe the town where you came from? It's just a curiosity about one's roots.

America is a land of immigrants. My roots are German. Many German immigrants settled in rural Texas and married other Germans and so on for generations. I have many relatives still living near the same area. It was interesting enough for me to go to the town in Germany where the families originated, so tiny somebody had to lead us there. We walked around the church and grounds where they had lived as children. There were gravestones older than America. We were invited in to a gathering next door that happened to be the town museum. I smiled when I saw all the men outide eating together, while the women ate separately. It was so much like my childhood memories of my kinfolks in rural Texas. Herr Mueller gave me a lovely book and showed me on a map where my paternal ancestor's land was. It was a lovely day. I don't speak German or like German food or think Germany is all cuckoo clocks and beer steins and bratwurst. But like it or not, my ancestry is German.

And the really weird thing I experienced while driving all over Europe--- I felt this sense of comfort in Germany that I didn't feel in other countries. I'd see old ladies that reminded me of grandma and and my great aunts. And the German accent felt oddly familiar. Guess it just recalled nice childhood memories of lovely people with German accents who baked cookies.

We Americans can't go back very far without running out of Americans, so we have to jump the pond to know the rest of the story. Don't take it in an offensive way.

Well said as usual Nich-Nick!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

In the 12 years I lived in Britain, simply saying "I'm American" would suffice for my heritage for the most part. I have a slightly unplaceable look about me that might have the occasional person dig a little deeper, but it hardly ever happened. I found it refreshing, and now that I'm back in America I cringe when people ask me where I'm from and the answer "Connecticut" will not suffice. Being from New England says much more about my outlook and temperament than where my ancestors were born!

Honestly, I wish Americans could just get over this, or at least stop needling when people refuse to roll out a nine-generation-long disquisition on their genealogical roots.

/grump

[micmac 6]

So micmac, you're moving to America. Jump forward two generations. Would you feel irritated if a grandchild or great grandchild of yours had heard stories about you and wanted to know more about you and maybe the town where you came from? It's just a curiosity about one's roots.

America is a land of immigrants. My roots are German. Many German immigrants settled in rural Texas and married other Germans and so on for generations. I have many relatives still living near the same area. It was interesting enough for me to go to the town in Germany where the families originated, so tiny somebody had to lead us there. We walked around the church and grounds where they had lived as children. There were gravestones older than America. We were invited in to a gathering next door that happened to be the town museum. I smiled when I saw all the men outide eating together, while the women ate separately. It was so much like my childhood memories of my kinfolks in rural Texas. Herr Mueller gave me a lovely book and showed me on a map where my paternal ancestor's land was. It was a lovely day. I don't speak German or like German food or think Germany is all cuckoo clocks and beer steins and bratwurst. But like it or not, my ancestry is German.

And the really weird thing I experienced while driving all over Europe--- I felt this sense of comfort in Germany that I didn't feel in other countries. I'd see old ladies that reminded me of grandma and and my great aunts. And the German accent felt oddly familiar. Guess it just recalled nice childhood memories of lovely people with German accents who baked cookies.

We Americans can't go back very far without running out of Americans, so we have to jump the pond to know the rest of the story. Don't take it in an offensive way.

I am talking people raking back hundreds of years. Robert the Bruce lived in the 13th century! And I would not expect my grand children even to tell people they were Scottish. They would have one Scottish grandparent. That's it! My children will be half Scottish. I think being American is cool enough on its own without having to tell everyone where your ancestors came from. I don't mind people wanting to know about their heritage. But when people who have got Scotland in there somewhere centuries back tell me that they themselves are Scottish it annoys me!

[beejay 123]

In the 12 years I lived in Britain, simply saying "I'm American" would suffice for my heritage for the most part. I have a slightly unplaceable look about me that might have the occasional person dig a little deeper, but it hardly ever happened. I found it refreshing, and now that I'm back in America I cringe when people ask me where I'm from and the answer "Connecticut" will not suffice. Being from New England says much more about my outlook and temperament than where my ancestors were born!

Honestly, I wish Americans could just get over this, or at least stop needling when people refuse to roll out a nine-generation-long disquisition on their genealogical roots.

/grump

When I used to live in the middle east a lot of my American friends who were not white used to get questioned to no end on where they were 'really' from. When introducing one friend of mine to a local he would not stop asking where she was from until she admitted she happened to be adopted from Korea. He was then satisfied to think of her as Korean even as we both tried to tell him she was American and had no connections to Korea. At the school I worked at there were parents who wanted their children to be in classrooms taught by Americans. I saw numerous parents try and move their children out of my friend's classroom because she was "Indian" and not American. Granted her parents were from India, she frequently made trips there, could speak Hindi as well as her parents regional language but she was born and had grown up and gone to school in the U.S. Her teaching credentials were all from the U.S. She was absolutely American but to many of the parents (mostly the Indian and Pakistani parents) she was Indian. It was blatant racism at work but luckily she just saw it as avoiding having to deal with high maintenance parents.

My point is that every country and every culture has it's own understanding about how to judge who 'you' are. I think you just need to have a strong understanding of your own sense of self (like the poster who feels greater affiliation with NE over their ancestral heritage) and try to rise above other people trying to put 'you' in terms they can understand.

[micmac 6]

When I used to live in the middle east a lot of my American friends who were not white used to get questioned to no end on where they were 'really' from. When introducing one friend of mine to a local he would not stop asking where she was from until she admitted she happened to be adopted from Korea. He was then satisfied to think of her as Korean even as we both tried to tell him she was American and had no connections to Korea. At the school I worked at there were parents who wanted their children to be in classrooms taught by Americans. I saw numerous parents try and move their children out of my friend's classroom because she was "Indian" and not American. Granted her parents were from India, she frequently made trips there, could speak Hindi as well as her parents regional language but she was born and had grown up and gone to school in the U.S. Her teaching credentials were all from the U.S. She was absolutely American but to many of the parents (mostly the Indian and Pakistani parents) she was Indian. It was blatant racism at work but luckily she just saw it as avoiding having to deal with high maintenance parents.

My point is that every country and every culture has it's own understanding about how to judge who 'you' are. I think you just need to have a strong understanding of your own sense of self (like the poster who feels greater affiliation with NE over their ancestral heritage) and try to rise above other people trying to put 'you' in terms they can understand.

Weird! I guess it is just a cultural thing. I know people in this state particularly enjoy it because there are so many Mormons and genealogy is very important to them. It makes me interested in tracing mine so I have an answer when people ask. My mum's side did it and they all seemed to be inter related people from the same small fishing town in the Highlands. Maybe my dad's side will be more entertaining :-P

Its funny because there was a boy in my year at School whose parents were Indian but I never saw him as anything other than Scottish with Indian parents. He was born in Scotland and spoke with the accent. Suppose it's a personality thing how you see others.

[beejay 123]

I am talking people raking back hundreds of years. Robert the Bruce lived in the 13th century! And I would not expect my grand children even to tell people they were Scottish. They would have one Scottish grandparent. That's it! My children will be half Scottish. I think being American is cool enough on its own without having to tell everyone where your ancestors came from. I don't mind people wanting to know about their heritage. But when people who have got Scotland in there somewhere centuries back tell me that they themselves are Scottish it annoys me!

The funny thing is, if they are raised as Americans your grandchildren probably will identify as being part Scottish. But if they grow up in Scotland and have a grandfather that happened to be from America I'm guessing they wouldn't identify as being part American. That's the thing about culture it's all about where you go up.

People can get very funny and very specific about lineage and blood lines here. You should see when it gets into Native Americans having to prove blood ties for certain tribal benefits. There are requirements by tribes for what percentage you need to be in order to identify as a member. It can come down to having to prove that you have 1/4 or 1/8 or even 1/16 (depending on the tribe) native american "blood". Then that will determine whether you *are* or *aren't* able to identify as being from that tribe.

That's not to say I'm not with you on how silly it can seem especially when you end up getting really far removed from the land of your ancestors but it is part of the fabric of this country. And in some families it's formed a large part of their ethos and you will never be able to convince them that they aren't that, even if they have no contact with anyone from that country. In those situations, I prefer to think of it as a created 3rd culture (not fully American, not fully other country) that becomes an Americanized version of the ancestral country's culture.

(Sorry for replying so much but I like this topic and I like the concept of culture and identity)

[micmac 6]

haha Its fine. Ive been on all day cause I can't work while I wait for AOS. Good way to pass the time! Yeah having a direct influence in your upbringing will give you more of an idea of Scotland than if you have to google it and stuff. That is one of the points I tried and failed to make in my first post. A lot of people seem to care about clans and stuff, when I have very rarely heard any Scottish people in Scotland actually discussing clans unless they work in tourist shops. Modern Scottish culture and history is just as interesting, and it is something I will try to promote for sure!

It has been interesting to hear American perspectives on it.

[beejay 123]

I do get where you're coming from though as I have people who try to hook my husband up with friends because they know people who are Filipino. But when I ask they usually weren't actually born or have ever been to the Philippines nor speak the language. I recognize the gesture and understand where they are coming from because I am from the US but it really isn't the same thing.

Not to stereotype but all the Scottish people I have known, *real* Scottish people not just of Scottish decent , have all been a lot of fun. Would love to go there. Do you really have hairy cows?

[Justine+David 218]

It's an interesting concept, the way Europeans and Americans view this topic...

When I was on an exchange program in Germany, my partner's heritage was Polish, although she was born in Germany. I said, "So, you're Polish, right?" "NO! I'm German." "But your family is originally from Poland..." "It doesn't matter." It didn't really make sense to me, but it's just a difference in culture. Over here, we talk about our heritage more than our citizenship.

Hence, African-American, Latina/o, Hispanic, Asian, etc etc. We don't say, "Oh, I'm an American." It's more, "I'm a quarter this, an eighth that, half this..."

I suppose Europeans speak in terms of their citizenship and which country they feel they have allegiance to. My own personal background includes Slovak, Irish, French, and Native American. I identify myself largely as Native American than any other, but I don't think there's anything wrong in saying that I have some Irish blood in me.

edit: But don't worry! I would never ask an Irish person if they knew my great-great grandmother's family!

Edited November 15, 2011 by Justine+David

[qwerty1974 11]

You know I'm not certain this is just an American occurence. My grandparents are Irish and growing up if you met someone who was Irish I'd likely say 'Oh I'm a quarter Irish too!' despite never at that time having been there. Its just human nature to identify and align yourself with things, in fact the other evening I overheard my daughters friends, all very English, arguing over who was most French (like, if you are willing to go back, oh, about a thousand years!). For sure it makes more sense for Americans to do this given their almost very recent history. Once I have moved, my childrens children are very welcome to say 'we're British', even if they haven't stepped a toe on British soil as there's a lot more to heritage than just it's lived experience I think. Agreed, if EVERYONE is related to Flora McDonald then THAT'S a bit suspicious If anyone I meet tells me they're British i'll be quite happy to know they infer that they see some value and pride in my own homeland, i'll smile, even IF they claim to be directly related to Henry VIII!!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Interesting... LOL

I was just reading the latest remark posted and the ad at the top of the page says---

Ancestry.com

Who will you discover??

Well hmmmm... maybe Henry VIII or Napolean or Robert the Bruce or.....

[beejay 123]

Interesting... LOL

I was just reading the latest remark posted and the ad at the top of the page says---

Ancestry.com

Who will you discover??

Well hmmmm... maybe Henry VIII or Napolean or Robert the Bruce or.....

Thought this QI clip was kind of appropriate.

Relevant question starts around 6:12

edit: Not talented enough to figure out how to embed. Have to click on link, sorry

Edited November 17, 2011 by beejay

[Robert&Karen 264]

It doesn't upset me, it is just mildly irritating. There is more to Scotland than kilts, Braveheart and whiskey. Haha.

WHISKY! There is no E in real Scottish Whisky! :dance: :dance:

[cmoore25 4]

Interesting topic. I just had this conversation with my mother the other day. I had been finding it very strange that lately, when somebody found out my fiance was from Scotland, they'd respond with a HORRIBLE Scottish accent - or - say they were Scottish. It wasn't bothering me - but it made me ponder why people would claim to be Scottish if they didn't even know the relatives that were from there (oftentimes they were so many generations back they weren't alive at the same time). I don't claim to be English even though my father and his parents and so on are from England (I'm first generation here) and I was exposed to the culture/language (watered down, of course) growing up. I always say I'm American when asked. If questioned further, of course I would say English and American (my mom is from the south).

But, after reading this, it gives me an understanding for what people mean/are doing. Interesting!

[wee carrington 33]

All of you (Scots) can look forward to Pixar's "Brave" coming out in theaters next year!