language and accent question about Napoleon

[Meneldil]

If you're talking about immigrants who went to America, you could not be more incorrect. Cultural identities and traditions are very strong here and specific regional traditions from small areas of Germany, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Korea, Japan, China, etc. are all observed here on a regular basis by people who know exactly where their families come from. In fact, I don't know a single American who doesn't know what country their family originated in and have some personal cultural affiliation to that origin.

I actually find all this retard, if you excuse the language.

I've studied in Canada for 1 year, traveled around in Ontario, visited New-England and stayed almost two weeks in New-York, and I've grown tired of all these people who label themselves as "Italian", "German", "Ukrainian", "Russian", "Irish", "British".
Most of them can't even properly point to said country on a map, don't speak a single word of "their country" language, don't have a clue about what the culture of Germany, Italy, Ireland or Russia is. Yet, they keep mentioning it every 10 minutes, like a buzz-word used to make them look cool. Ridiculous.

I remember a discussion I had at a bar someday. Some Canadian girl of chinese origins stated that she was Canadian, and not Chinese. Some other dude here got mad, told her she was Chinese before being Canadian, much as he was "Italian before being Canadian". He got really anal about it. Too bad the italian people I studied with kept making fun of his self-proclaimed italian-ness. He indeed couldn't speak a single italian world, and the only things he knew about Italian culture were "Pizza", "Cheese and Wine" and acting like a Guido-wannabe.

From an european perspective, it indeed looks stupid. I mean, I can understand Natives, Japanese, Chinese, Latinos, Haitians or even French-canadians. All those belong to "oppressed minorities", or have to deal with racism, or arrived in North America only lately. But man, if your family arrived in the US a century ago, if you can't speak italian and if don't know where Italy is on a map either, then you're not italian. Get over it.

Similarly, most people assumed I was a french-canadian when I introduced myself as a french. Newsflash, french-canadians aren't french, despite all their attempts to present themselves as such. They're canadians who speak french, whether they like it or not. What was even more sad was the way many french canadians idealize France as the new Israel (that is not true for Québecers though), as the promised land that should support their fight against the evil-anglo saxon imperialism. In Ontario, introducing you as a french immediately makes you a left wing radical.
Most people belonging to leftist student associations think of themselves as french, even if they hardly speak a single french word. Similarly, presenting you as a french likely means you're a leftist.

It feels like north americans indeed have an historical inferiority complex, and feel the need to belong to another national identity group. I know I was puzzled by this behaviors, and so were most of my foreign student friends, whether they came from Europe or from Asia.

Edit: Thinking about it, it's quite similar to the way many people whose parents came from Northern Africa label themselves as "Moroccan", "Algerian" or "Tunisian". They've never been there, hardly speak the language, and are frowned upon if not openly disliked by their supposed maghrebi country mates.
What causes this, I don't know. I would be interested to read any study or book about this will to identify to a foreign group, to a distant country.