Kiss me, I’m Irish-American. Don’t mind me, I’m, er… English-American? - blog

I've been thinking about why sometimes the English (and the Irish) give Americans grief for claiming to be "Irish" or "Irish-American," so I came up with this blog post examining the issue. Why don't English people get a parade too?

http://expatclaptrap.com/kiss-me-im-irish-american-dont-mind-me-im-er-english-american/

Your blog posts are always enjoyable to read, this one makes you think a bit.  A couple of points came to my mind....

1)  In response to - "There are no German Day parades in America where people go around eating wurst, singing along to oompah music while loudly proclaiming “Kiss me, I’m German.”   

One word -  Oktoberfest.....  ?

2)  On a more serious note, it is interesting that those of English and German descent aren't really considered on par with those who's ancestors came from Ireland, Scotland, etc.  I wonder if it's the difference between being forced out due to economic and political realities and going toward something better because you choose to..... (which is really what you pointed out already)

I really won't miss those green milkshakes at McDonald's though.....   

I think your "British-Americans" were called WASPs once upon a time.  As they were top dogs there were no special days for them.

I've been chided by some of my British friends (DH included) about describing myself as Irish-American, alongside other things.  I honestly don't know why other people care so much about how I perceive my heritage.  It doesn't make the Irish any less Irish.  Let it go...

Ohio has quite a large German-American population and a lot of people I know would describe themselves as such.  Ethnic identification in general seems to be quite popular in my area.  Perhaps it's different elsewhere?

Anyways, we can all be a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day! 

I am American-born and so was my mother. My father was born and raised in Mexico. I have four Mexican-born grandparents. Due to my heritage, I'm eligible to obtain a Mexican passport. So I consider myself to be half American and half Mexican. You would be surprised to hear all the criticism I get because of that and how I live in the USA and should only consider myself only American. Yet, no one says anything about a person who says they are Irish American yet their closest Irish-born relative was a great great grandparent. I guess a rule for one and not others.

Central Texas has many communities with German heritage: Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, come to mind.

Hmmm….I enjoy you’re blog posts but I don’t agree with your analysis here.

There are German-American parades in many US cities, usually in October to coincide with Octoberfest, as Becca notes. Search for ‘Stueben Parades’, and you’ll get several results. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago all have celebrations.
See http://www.germanparadenyc.org/

Stueben Day may not be as well known as St Patrick’s day but after two world wars against Germany, I can understand why German-Americans may be a bit more understated in celebrating their heritage. If history turned out differently, I think on the third or fourth Saturday in September, everyone would be hoisting a stein on Stueben Day.

Many people also don’t realise that the Columbus Day parades are celebrations of Italian culture. For me the parade was never that important, mainly because it was about political power, plus there are  so many Italian feast days in New York, that every day was Italian day for me.

In my opinion, there are no Anglo-American day parades because the English and the Dutch both similar Protestant cultures were the first to arrive and together later formed the ‘establishment’. There’s no need to celebrate your culture or heritage when your culture is essentially the only one that exists. All the nationalities that followed were mainly poor/working class, most often Catholic and usually marginalised by the establishment.