European and Asian Jellies: when someone gets citizenship in your country how do they or you refer to them?

Well, here, in America, if they are obviously 1st generation immigrant we just call them “Vietnamese,” or whatever, even if they are a naturalized citizen. I would think it would be about the same in Europe because we share such similar cultures. Subsequent generations probably wouldn’t be referred to as much of anything at all, except as an identifying factor.

Whether or not they would be thought of as a “real Italian,” would depend on the individual people involved and how racist they are and how damn ignorant. I dated a black guy for 10 years, he was born and raised in Selma, Alabama, who knows how many generations his family has been here. Helluva lot longer than mine. In his opinion, only white people qualify as “real Americans.”

I gave this a GQ. My father is from Mexico but his family is from Castille region of Spain. He is white and tall, unlike what we here typically think of looking like a Mexican. I’ve often wondered whether to say my father is Mexican or he is Spanish (meaning, “from Spain”). When I say he’s Mexican, people say I don’t look like a Mexican, meaning they think of Mexicans as being Indian looking.

If he were of Irish descent but he came from Germany, would I say he was Irish or would I say he was German?

Interesting. Was he born and raised in Mexico @jca2?

My mother is 100% Dutch. Her parents immigrated from Holland in the 20s. I don’t really consider myself “Dutch,” even though I talk about it. I was born in Texas, raised mostly in Kansas, so I’m a ‘Murkin.

Yes, @Dutchess_III.

@jca2 Where I was intending to go with the Q was in the Americas, since the countries are countries made up of immigrants, I think we readily call anyone who is a citizen an American. They might be both also, but basically anyone, from anywhere, any race, can be an American. I don’t really know how countries outside of the American continent look at it.

Although, interestingly, my FIL feels very patriotic towards Mexico, but the terms he uses for he and his wife when talking about themselves in Mexico are she is Mexican and he is Jewish. For instance if they tell the story of when they were dating, about how his family didn’t approve of him being with a Mexican girl, but what that means is with a Catholic girl. So, I’d say during his youth at least, the country maybe looked at Jews as not quite accepted in the same way, maybe that was true for some nationalities too?

I often say my husband is Mexican when asked, specifically because of the climate in America right now. Just to show any negative assumptions are probably full of misinformation, because he too does not “look” Mexican to most Americans. But, because of his name his family’s national original always comes up.

He feels wary about telling people he is Mexican here where we live in the time of Trump. First time in the over 25 years I’ve known him that he has ever hesitated. I say it without any reservations.

The reason I thought of the Q, was because when I recently did a lecture on birthright citizenship, and in my research Germany and Japan were mentioned in an article to be very strict about becoming a citizen. Imagine an Irish or black guy saying, “I’m Japanese.” The name of the country is the name of the people in a different way than an American is an American. Or, is it different? Maybe not.

My girlfriend thought about getting German citizenship, she has lived there so many years. She can get it, but has decided not to. Her parents are Pakistani, she looks Pakistani I guess. I don’t really think about, Ive known her since childhood. She “feels” American, she is American by citizenship, upbringing, and culture. She doesn’t identify with Pakistan. I guess she would also say a citizen of the world since she has lived so many places and doesn’t really see boundaries. She was born in Canada, but raised in America since she was a toddler, not leaving until she was an adult. If she became German would Germans call her German? If she had kids would they be referred to as German?

I wonder how much of which ethnicity we identify with actually is based, in part, on the color of our skin.

^^I think it mostly has to do with what ethnicity is talked about most, and traditions that are practiced like holidays, food, etc.

In Germany, I think it depends on how the person sees themselves. I have friends whose parents are from Turkey or Poland, for example. They speak perfect German and would usually be considered simply “German”, unless they point out they identify with another nationality. They all preserve their countries of origin by celebrating holiday traditions, visiting the respective countries, and speaking the language of their parents. When asked, they say that they consider themselves a mixture of different cultures and are happy with that.

I think most Germans are very sensitive to people’s need to identify with their background, while also wanting to “fit in”. It’s considered rude to call even brand-new immigrants “foreigners”, for fear of making them feel left out. Instead, we say “fellow citizen with migration background”.

Older generations are sometimes less politically correct. One of my friends was told by an elderly neighbour that her German is very good. She replied, “Thanks, so is yours.”

There is a mismatch between the law and people’s perception regarding this matter. The law generally accept everyone, but the people won’t accept them as easily. It has something to do with my country being so inclusive every native looks the same, so when a foreigner comes it’s very easy to spot. The foreigner is referred as their original nationality. They can never get to be regarded as a true citizen, no matter how long they stay.

There is a special type of “foreigners” called “Chinese-Vietnamese”. They are descendants of the Chinese people who settled down here for as far as the 19th century. Most of the time they blend in the crowd, because they look similar to the native and they can speak Vietnamese very well. The recent conflict with China put their neutrality at risk though, for quite a while.