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How do you "lose all organic connection to the culture of your ancestors" simply by calling yourself Latinx? You're surely not suggesting they abandon the tradi

How do you "lose all organic connection to the culture of your ancestors" simply by calling yourself Latinx? You're surely not suggesting they abandon the traditions, holidays, food, music, clothing, dancing, and all of the rest of their cultural connection, simply because of one label? I am an Irish-American who plays the music, hates the food, but if I wanted to call myself of "European" ancestry, that wouldn't abandon all of my musical culture, it may just be a trendy label in the zeitgeist.

barry-cotter 5y ago
He didn’t call himself European, or white, utterly anodyne words. He called his name Anglo-Saxon. That you didn’t immediately understand the difference shows that you don’t get it. Which is fine. If you’re not Irish and don’t claim to be that’s cool. You do you. Americans do their American thing, Irish people do their Irish thing and we all happily exchange cultures and products and talk shit about each other as humans are wont to do.
- hackeraccount 5y ago
  Knowingly or not it's not hard to take the point which is that "Anglo-Saxon" has lost any meaning beyond fair skinned at this point for the vast majority of people. Anyone reading the source knew what the author meant even those who were knew and were annoyed by the incorrectness. The comparison to "latinx" is apt though - I should see it as a flag but instead it's like nails on a chalkboard because it's everything I don't like about language policing.
  - username90 5y ago
    > "Anglo-Saxon" has lost any meaning beyond fair skinned at this point for the vast majority of people. Maybe in USA, I don't know anyone who uses it like that.
    - hackeraccount 5y ago
      Definitely in the USA. Ever since the first mongrel landed on this fair shore they've been trying to drum in an appreciation for History. It has not taken. People here must on some level understand that there is a past but they cannot keep any of it straight.
DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
> How do you "lose all organic connection to the culture of your ancestors" simply by I don't think there is such a thing as losing the culture but a development into a different direction after the fork (migration). A classic identity problem of the Indian diaspora or the Turkish immigrants in Germany or the Irish in Boston, or the Italian in NY is that they have retained many of the traditional values that were popular at the time in their countries before they left. But their old countries have moved on in every sense. These tribes then become more conservative because they feel like they have to defend their values from outside groups and from lack of new values that they can tie to their old labels. But what they "defend" no longer reflects the reality back in the old country. This leads to some strange (but IMO understandable behaviors) where the old is much more idealized than what their peers do back in the old country. E.g.: - Turkish AKP voters in Germany who only remember all the prosperity Erdogan has brought to an economically failing Turkey. - The 3rd or 4th gen Italians in the US are hardly Italians in todays sense of Italy (even their food is laughed at back in their own country. - Eventually the culture changes so much that it has no parallel to what it used to be. That is neither good nor bad IMO it just is a natural progression and adaption to their new environment. Shedding the old values and stories people tell themselves takes not years but generations. The odd thing about the US is that despite its many influences from all around the world it is still a country where many groups hold on to what they think are their roots while actually it's a constant state of change and no longer exists.

barry-cotter 5y ago

He didn’t call himself European, or white, utterly anodyne words. He called his name Anglo-Saxon. That you didn’t immediately understand the difference shows that you don’t get it. Which is fine. If you’re not Irish and don’t claim to be that’s cool. You do you. Americans do their American thing, Irish people do their Irish thing and we all happily exchange cultures and products and talk shit about each other as humans are wont to do.

hackeraccount 5y ago
Knowingly or not it's not hard to take the point which is that "Anglo-Saxon" has lost any meaning beyond fair skinned at this point for the vast majority of people. Anyone reading the source knew what the author meant even those who were knew and were annoyed by the incorrectness. The comparison to "latinx" is apt though - I should see it as a flag but instead it's like nails on a chalkboard because it's everything I don't like about language policing.
- username90 5y ago
  > "Anglo-Saxon" has lost any meaning beyond fair skinned at this point for the vast majority of people. Maybe in USA, I don't know anyone who uses it like that.
  - hackeraccount 5y ago
    Definitely in the USA. Ever since the first mongrel landed on this fair shore they've been trying to drum in an appreciation for History. It has not taken. People here must on some level understand that there is a past but they cannot keep any of it straight.

DyslexicAtheist 5y ago

> How do you "lose all organic connection to the culture of your ancestors" simply by I don't think there is such a thing as losing the culture but a development into a different direction after the fork (migration). A classic identity problem of the Indian diaspora or the Turkish immigrants in Germany or the Irish in Boston, or the Italian in NY is that they have retained many of the traditional values that were popular at the time in their countries before they left. But their old countries have moved on in every sense. These tribes then become more conservative because they feel like they have to defend their values from outside groups and from lack of new values that they can tie to their old labels. But what they "defend" no longer reflects the reality back in the old country. This leads to some strange (but IMO understandable behaviors) where the old is much more idealized than what their peers do back in the old country. E.g.: - Turkish AKP voters in Germany who only remember all the prosperity Erdogan has brought to an economically failing Turkey. - The 3rd or 4th gen Italians in the US are hardly Italians in todays sense of Italy (even their food is laughed at back in their own country. - Eventually the culture changes so much that it has no parallel to what it used to be. That is neither good nor bad IMO it just is a natural progression and adaption to their new environment. Shedding the old values and stories people tell themselves takes not years but generations. The odd thing about the US is that despite its many influences from all around the world it is still a country where many groups hold on to what they think are their roots while actually it's a constant state of change and no longer exists.