Quote Originally Posted by Kombucha
Let me clear something up, if you are born and live in Ireland, you are Irish. If one of your great grandparents came from Ireland but you were born and live in America, you are American. Not Irish.
America, unlike most other countries, is a mish-mash of people from all over the place. In fact, I haven't even seen any indigenous Americans for months. The vast majority of us are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. So people not only identify with their geographical nationality but also the origin of their ancestors, if for nothing but pity for the crappy boat rides they had to take so we could live here (and not, in the case of my ancestors, in a potato-less Ireland or other deplorable conditions in England or France). I'm an American because of where I was born but I'm Irish, English and French because of who I was born to. My people have resided on this continent for less than two centuries, but they lived for millennia in Europe, which is why I look European and speak a European language, even though I live in North America.