Are German Americans seen as 'ethnic' in the South? (live in, suburbs)

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by Newarkbomb

German... isn't that the biggest ancestry make up of the white population?

Yes

[CleanCutHippie]

It is true that in the Northeast and Midwest when you ask someone their nationality they reply "German" or "Italian" for example whereas in the South they often respond "white" or "American". No answer is really wrong...lol

I think a big reason for that is the ppl up North are only a few generations at most removed from their European ancestry.

[Haver]

Yes, that's right. In the upper Midwest our ancestors mostly came between 1870 and 1910 or so. My Grandparents were from Norway and Germany, for example, [which gives me the right to immigrate to Norway...], and when King Olav of Norway visited in the 40's and 50's people standing at the rail stations he stopped at would shout out the villages they came from in the old country. Northern Minnesota is a witches' brew of eastern European ancestries, and during the great Depression 10,000 Finns from up north believed Stalin's propaganda and migrated back to Finland or to Russia.

[XXclimberX]

I would say someone of south eastern European heritage is considered ethnic in the south. But not German.

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Not entirely.

www.smhg.org

Moderator cut: see comment Scottish people speak English as their "native European language," therefore I fail to see how this disproves what Chicagoland60426 wrote. You don't hear people in the South speaking Polish, Slovak, Czech, German, Norwegian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Albanian, or whatever like you do in the Rust Belt or Northeast.

[krudmonk]

This country hasn't really distinguished between "white" populations in about a century.

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by XXclimberX

I would say someone of south eastern European heritage is considered ethnic in the south. But not German.

Care to decipher this gibberish for the rest of us?

[DeaconJ]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Moderator cut: orphaned Scottish people speak English as their "native European language," therefore I fail to see how this disproves what Chicagoland60426 wrote. You don't hear people in the South speaking Polish, Slovak, Czech, German, Norwegian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Albanian, or whatever like you do in the Rust Belt or Northeast.

You don't? Really? I've heard people speaking their native languages in many places in the South...I think you DO hear it.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by krudmonk

This country hasn't really distinguished between "white" populations in about a century.

Maybe where you are from.

Where I am from, "What is your nationality/ethnicity?" is the question asked after, "What's your name?" and before, "What do you do?"

Where I live now, that is rarely the case though I would say people around here are aware of and proud of their heritage.


ABQConvict

[Smtchll]

No, Germans aren't considred ethnic in the South. Many Southerners do claim European ethnicities. If I were to ask people here what their ancestry is, the majority would say Irish, followed by Native American, then German and English.