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Post by librarylady on Jul 23, 2017 20:23:54 GMT
In the USA, it is currently accepted practice to hyphenate ones ethnic/cultural/racial background in describing a person.
Mexican-American
Irish-American
Africian-American
etc.
I wonder--do other nations do this?
Also, as an aside, I was watching a documentary about WWI. In that documentary, they said Woodrow Wilson encouraged everyone to drop the hyphen (apparently it was popular prior to WWI). He wanted everyone to call themselves Americans as it would create a feeling of unity as the nation faced war with other nations.
I heard that and was amazed that we (the US) had returned to hyphens about 90 years later.
I also think Wilson was right. IMO, adding the hyphen creates "groups" rather than the unity of all being called the same thing.
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wellway
Prolific Pea
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Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
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Post by wellway on Jul 23, 2017 21:43:48 GMT
Not that I'm aware of.
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Post by hop2 on Jul 23, 2017 22:07:49 GMT
Not really. I used to see it quite often when I was a kid, mostly Italian and Irish Americans
But now even those don't seem to do that unless it a festival
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:51:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2017 23:43:23 GMT
Your responses would be more interesting if you would include the country, or at least the continent you live in.
I have often wondered the same as the OP.
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Post by lesley on Jul 23, 2017 23:52:01 GMT
I'm not really aware of this either. My nephew and niece are half Scottish, half Mauritian, but they never referred to themselves as anything other than Scottish, even though they spend a lot of time in Mauritius.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 23, 2017 23:58:27 GMT
I'm Australian - No I've never heard or seen that here.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:51:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 0:29:06 GMT
I've often wondered why you ( the US ) did this as I've never heard of any other country doing it. We certainly don't refer to anyone here as African - British or any other heritage hyphenated with British. It's just odd IMO you're either American or your not.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jul 24, 2017 0:38:54 GMT
Having lived in several other countries, and known expats from many additional countries, my experience has been is that only the Americans differentiate by labeling with hyphens. But I've noticed that Americans in general love to label. No one has just a child, they have a gifted child, a special needs child, an ADHD child, etc. From the looks of it, there are no average American children left.  And it's not just our children, but many other things. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't because we are more competitive than other countries? Then again, this is a very large country so maybe it comes from a need to feel a bit more special? I really don't know but it would make for an interesting study. |
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Dalai Mama
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jul 24, 2017 1:00:02 GMT
I've often wondered why you ( the US ) did this as I've never heard of any other country doing it. We certainly don't refer to anyone here as African - British or any other heritage hyphenated with British. It's just odd IMO you're either American or your not. In Canada, we go almost entirely the other direction. Unless our roots are British (the default?) we typically describe ourselves based on ethnicity. My friends will say they're Chinese/Greek/Italian/Samoan/Trini - regardless of how long their families have lived here. Never hyphenated, though - the Canadian part is just understood. |
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Country Ham
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Post by Country Ham on Jul 24, 2017 1:04:32 GMT
My family back in Canada despise "african" being hyphened to their names because they happen to be "black". My experience is that it's an american thing mostly. Since becoming a US citizen a few years ago now I suppose I could be called Canadian-American but that sounds stupid to me.
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AllieC
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Post by AllieC on Jul 24, 2017 3:52:11 GMT
I have never seen hyphenation used in Australia and it is rare for anyone to be referred to by race at all.
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Post by gar on Jul 24, 2017 7:14:36 GMT
I have never seen hyphenation used in Australia and it is rare for anyone to be referred to by race at all. Ditto for the UK. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:51:30 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 9:25:57 GMT
I've often wondered why you ( the US ) did this as I've never heard of any other country doing it. We certainly don't refer to anyone here as African - British or any other heritage hyphenated with British. It's just odd IMO you're either American or your not. In Canada, we go almost entirely the other direction. Unless our roots are British (the default?) we typically describe ourselves based on ethnicity. My friends will say they're Chinese/Greek/Italian/Samoan/Trini - regardless of how long their families have lived here. Never hyphenated, though - the Canadian part is just understood. I can understand that, many here will do the same from the ethnicity part. The difference is that they're all countries that they culturally or socially identify with, either born there and moved to Britain or their parents/grandparents etc have emigrated to Britain at some time or another. They never hyphanate it with British though. Africa is a continent and not all black people are historically descendants of the African continent. I've never heard anyone describe themselves as European-American. I would imagine there are far more of them than there are African-American. |
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inkedup
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Post by inkedup on Jul 24, 2017 10:10:34 GMT
My father is a naturalized U.S. citizen (born in Mexico). My mother is American by birth. We have always called ourselves Americans. No hyphens.
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Dalai Mama
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Post by Dalai Mama on Jul 24, 2017 10:59:51 GMT
In Canada, we go almost entirely the other direction. Unless our roots are British (the default?) we typically describe ourselves based on ethnicity. My friends will say they're Chinese/Greek/Italian/Samoan/Trini - regardless of how long their families have lived here. Never hyphenated, though - the Canadian part is just understood. I can understand that, many here will do the same from the ethnicity part. The difference is that they're all countries that they culturally or socially identify with, either born there and moved to Britain or their parents/grandparents etc have emigrated to Britain at some time or another. They never hyphanate it with British though. Africa is a continent and not all black people are historically descendants of the African continent. I've never heard anyone describe themselves as European-American. I would imagine there are far more of them than there are African-American. Same here - black, white, Asian, native - never hyphenated because, again, the Canadian part is irrelevant. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2017 19:26:24 GMT
I'm in the Netherlands, and I've never seen anyone do this.
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Post by lucyg on Jul 24, 2017 19:43:38 GMT
I like the ethnic/cultural identifiers. They don't deny our American-ness, but celebrate our melting-pot character. I enjoy our diversity.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 24, 2017 19:50:57 GMT
In Canada, we go almost entirely the other direction. Unless our roots are British (the default?) we typically describe ourselves based on ethnicity. My friends will say they're Chinese/Greek/Italian/Samoan/Trini - regardless of how long their families have lived here. Never hyphenated, though - the Canadian part is just understood. I can understand that, many here will do the same from the ethnicity part. The difference is that they're all countries that they culturally or socially identify with, either born there and moved to Britain or their parents/grandparents etc have emigrated to Britain at some time or another. They never hyphanate it with British though. Africa is a continent and not all black people are historically descendants of the African continent. I've never heard anyone describe themselves as European-American. I would imagine there are far more of them than there are African-American. So in the UK they'll just say they're Chinese with the British assumed and in the US they say Chinese-American? I don't really see how that is all that different. |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 24, 2017 19:57:18 GMT
I can understand that, many here will do the same from the ethnicity part. The difference is that they're all countries that they culturally or socially identify with, either born there and moved to Britain or their parents/grandparents etc have emigrated to Britain at some time or another. They never hyphanate it with British though. Africa is a continent and not all black people are historically descendants of the African continent. I've never heard anyone describe themselves as European-American. I would imagine there are far more of them than there are African-American. Same here - black, white, Asian, native - never hyphenated because, again, the Canadian part is irrelevant. But we need to separate race from ethnicity. I've never heard anyone called Asian American. Typically people use the hyphenated when their discussing their or their ancestor's ethnic heritage - Greek, Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian etc. It wasn't used with race at all historically - people used White, Asian (although I guess if we're being historical, Oriental) Indian and Negro. When those groups wished to be referred to as Native American and African American - people began adopting that language. |
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Post by librarylady on Jul 24, 2017 20:06:09 GMT
I THINK it is because the USA is such a new nation compared to what has been going on for thousands of years on other continents.
Unless your family is from the native tribes--then all of us came from somewhere else. I don't think it was used so much until about the 1970s and then suddenly it was everywhere (the hyphens).
Personally, I liked it when we were just Americans and no hyphen.
I also think the African-American label began when some complained about the label "black."
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Post by bc2ca on Jul 24, 2017 20:08:36 GMT
I've often wondered why you ( the US ) did this as I've never heard of any other country doing it. We certainly don't refer to anyone here as African - British or any other heritage hyphenated with British. It's just odd IMO you're either American or your not. In Canada, we go almost entirely the other direction. Unless our roots are British (the default?) we typically describe ourselves based on ethnicity. My friends will say they're Chinese/Greek/Italian/Samoan/Trini - regardless of how long their families have lived here. Never hyphenated, though - the Canadian part is just understood.  DH & I are both first generation Canadians. I always refer to myself as Canadian, he always says Greek. In Canada everyone understood him to mean he had Greek heritage. When we moved to the US he continued to say he was Greek and was confused/surprised that people thought he was born in Greece. He isn't happy that our children refused to be identified as Greek. They are Canadians by birth and Americans through naturalization and none of us have every referred to ourselves as Canadian-Americans. I really dislike the hyphenation and think it acts to reinforce a them vs us attitude, not the melting pot where we all blend into Americans. Where does DD's best friend who has two grandparents born in China and two born in Mexico fit? Or her half-sister with two Chinese born grandparents and two Jamaican grandparents? |
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Post by bc2ca on Jul 24, 2017 20:15:14 GMT
I THINK it is because the USA is such a new nation compared to what has been going on for thousands of years on other continents.Unless your family is from the native tribes--then all of us came from somewhere else. I don't think it was used so much until about the 1970s and then suddenly it was everywhere (the hyphens). Personally, I liked it when we were just Americans and no hyphen. I also think the African-American label began when some complained about the label "black." But this isn't done in Canada, Australia or New Zealand. All countries younger than the US with a similar diverse immigration profile.  |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 24, 2017 20:20:50 GMT
I THINK it is because the USA is such a new nation compared to what has been going on for thousands of years on other continents.Unless your family is from the native tribes--then all of us came from somewhere else. I don't think it was used so much until about the 1970s and then suddenly it was everywhere (the hyphens). Personally, I liked it when we were just Americans and no hyphen. I also think the African-American label began when some complained about the label "black." But this isn't done in Canada, Australia or New Zealand. All countries younger than the US with a similar diverse immigration profile. But it sounds like in Canada at least they do - they just leave off the Canadian. Above Dalai Mama mentioned her husband referring to himself as Greek - how is that different than someone in the US saying Greek American? ETA - oops it looks like it was YOUR husband. I still don't understand the difference? |
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Post by littlemama on Jul 24, 2017 20:27:42 GMT
I THINK it is because the USA is such a new nation compared to what has been going on for thousands of years on other continents. Unless your family is from the native tribes--then all of us came from somewhere else. I don't think it was used so much until about the 1970s and then suddenly it was everywhere (the hyphens). Personally, I liked it when we were just Americans and no hyphen. I also think the African-American label began when some complained about the label "black."The funny thing about this is that every black person I know refers to themselves as black.
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Post by anniefb on Jul 24, 2017 20:31:34 GMT
No hyphenating here in New Zealand either.
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Post by bc2ca on Jul 24, 2017 20:56:22 GMT
But this isn't done in Canada, Australia or New Zealand. All countries younger than the US with a similar diverse immigration profile. But it sounds like in Canada at least they do - they just leave off the Canadian. Above Dalai Mama mentioned her husband referring to himself as Greek - how is that different than someone in the US saying Greek American? ETA - oops it looks like it was YOUR husband. I still don't understand the difference? I think it is because the ethnic qualifier is a personal choice. If someone asked DH about his heritage, he would say Greek. If they asked me I would say he is Canadian. I would never say he is Greek or Greek Canadian. The qualifier is not being put on you by others. I hope that makes sense. My American friends with Mexican heritage call themselves Americans not Mexican-Americans. The qualifier is coming from someone else, not them. |
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RedSquirrelUK
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Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Jul 24, 2017 22:56:30 GMT
In Britain, anyone who is born in Britain has a nationality of British, whether we are white, black, yellow or sky-blue-pink. (That is, unless they are Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish, in which case they are allowed to call themselves Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish - it's only the English who seem to be required to be politically correct. ::roll eyes:: )
If ethnicity is required for medical or identification reasons then there is no hyphen. I just went and looked at a couple of job application forms that include "equal opportunities" information, and they mention White and Asian, White and Black African, White and Black Caribbean. The term "mixed race" is used a lot, and means no more or less than it says - nothing derogatory. However, I seem to remember on Who Do You Think You Are? when they featured Alistair McGowan and it turned out that he had Indian ancestors, he was described as Anglo-Indian, which is hyphenated.
I think it depends on the context it is used here, maybe?
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Post by lucyg on Jul 24, 2017 22:57:17 GMT
But it sounds like in Canada at least they do - they just leave off the Canadian. Above Dalai Mama mentioned her husband referring to himself as Greek - how is that different than someone in the US saying Greek American? ETA - oops it looks like it was YOUR husband. I still don't understand the difference? I think it is because the ethnic qualifier is a personal choice. If someone asked DH about his heritage, he would say Greek. If they asked me I would say he is Canadian. I would never say he is Greek or Greek Canadian. The qualifier is not being put on you by others. I hope that makes sense. My American friends with Mexican heritage call themselves Americans not Mexican-Americans. The qualifier is coming from someone else, not them.And my Mexican-American husband (both parents born in the U.S., and his mother's family had always been here) used to just call himself Mexican. Now granted, he died over 20 years ago, but it was always a noticeable thing back then, too. I don't know a single Latino person who refers to him or herself as just American (in the normal course of events, I'm not talking about if you asked about citizenship or something). They all call themselves Mexican-American or (other Latin American nationality)-American or Latino/Latina or Hispanic or just plain Mexican, especially within a heavily Latino community. Also: It seems like if people are talking about "nationality," they're specifically talking about country of origin/ethnicity/race/religion ... these very cultural (sometimes physical) differences that make us who we are. Why would we NOT say Mexican-American, Irish-American, Ashkenazi Jewish, etc.? What's the point of discussing these topics if you're going to gloss over people's ethnicity? Aside from discussions about patriotism and things like that that specifically involve citizenship, under what other circumstances do these topics come up where people would want to talk about being American but dislike the use of (ethnicity)-American? |
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Olan
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Post by Olan on Jul 24, 2017 23:10:52 GMT
I also think the African-American label began when some complained about the label "black." The funny thing about this is that every black person I know refers to themselves as black. First generation Americans wanted to distinguish themselves thats why the hyphenated-American was created. Most black people are fine being referred to by black or African American and use them interchangeably. I don't think dropping them would make for a more inclusive society though.
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AllieC
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Post by AllieC on Jul 24, 2017 23:13:15 GMT
I like the ethnic/cultural identifiers. They don't deny our American-ness, but celebrate our melting-pot character. I enjoy our diversity.
We don't use these identifiers (Australia) but celebrate our melting pot too. My city of 50,000 people has residents from 60 different countries. We generally just accept people as being people, celebrate all the differences but no need to identify (unless people want to).
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DH & I are both first generation Canadians. I always refer to myself as Canadian, he always says Greek. In Canada everyone understood him to mean he had Greek heritage. When we moved to the US he continued to say he was Greek and was confused/surprised that people thought he was born in Greece.
