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Do other countries have hyphenated citizens?

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by jdclyde

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I have been seeing this for a long time now, and it always amazes me the things people will do or say to separate themselves from the whole.

Here in the US, we have African-American, Chinese-American, Irish-American, German-American, Armenian-American and Japanese-American and a many more I am sure. I was surprised to find a wiki page dealing with this as well, almost as if they knew I was going to make this post.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphenated_American
[b]
As this is a global community, does anyone see this anywhere else, or is it unique to the US?
[/b]
I have my own ideas on this, but will refrain for a bit so as not to lead the discussion.

21 replies

by jamesrl

In fact I would argue that we have had hyphenated longer than US. We have had French Canadian and English Canadian since before the country was formed (before confederation, upper canada=english ontario, lower canada=french quebec).

A difficult usage here is a word to describe people whose ancestors are from africa. Black was common, then there was a movement to African American, or Afro Canadian. And while some are descended from american slaves, many more came to Canada from the Caribean, from other Commonwealth countries, and they resent the "american" lablel. So some call themsleves Black, some african Canadian, some african american.

One of our Prime Ministers in the 50s was noted to be solidly against the idea of hypehnated Canadians. But since then its been gradually accepted.

I'm sure there must be similarities in the UK, as they had quite an influx from former colonies.

James

by gadgetgirl

we've had hyphenated citizens for a long time.... including British/Irish....., so it's really world wide. Ethnicity is seen to be promoted through this - you're promoting ALL parts of your genetic make up.

Having said that, it would appear these days in this country, that "English" is now in the minority.

Strictly, I suppose I should denote myself as Scottish/English......but I'll stick to Geordie, thanks! :D

For a minute, there, when I read hyphenated citizens, I thought you were going to discuss the latest "thing" about women keeping their own surname, and adding their husbands name onto the end.....

Let me tell you it makes for a real mouthful at times, and some kids don't deserve what they get..... Ma ended up with a forename, middle name (which was a surname anyway, family tradition) and a double barrelled surname (ok, the last was Smith, that's why they went double barrelled in the first place) but she still says she was four years old before she could say her own name properly! :D

GG

by jdclyde

we've had .... citizens ... long time.... so it's really ........ is seen to be promoted through this - you're promoting ALL parts of your geneticS .......

Strictly, I suppose I should denote myself.....but I'll stick .....For a minute, there.

when I citizens, I thought you were going to .... the latest "thing" about women keeping their own ..... and adding their husband....onto the end.....

Let me tell you it makes for a real mouthful at times.

tradition and a double barrelled .....that's why they went double barrelled in the first place.

]:) :0 :x

by protiusx

I think the whole hyphen thing is load of bunk. Why is it that people can not redily identify with their national heritage rather than their ethnic heritage.
What is the deal with the NAACP? Racist? Yes it is.
How about the United Negro College Fund? Racist? Yup you bet - completely!
How about the "Miss Black America Pageant"? Racist? Totally!
Why is it that we shout so loudly against racial discrimination and yet we turn a blind eye to these racist organizations? If you ever have a question whether an organization is racist just ask yourself is it based upon race? I mean put the shoe on the other foot - What if there were a "Miss White America" pageant or "The United White people College Fund"? Ridiculous you say? I agree.

by jdclyde

on if we should allow discrimination for any government jobs under the guise of "affimative action".

It is called a civil rights act, and there has been some contention as many in this country have come to think that "civil rights" only means for blacks and minorities.

The opponents to this bill have done everything they could to keep it off the ballot, from contesting the excess of signitures to asking the courts to remove it.

It is still on the ballot. Every effort to keep this from going in front of the population of Michigan has failed, and it is going to be very interesting on how this vote will go. Being a mid-term election, voter turnout is usually pretty sad in Michigan, but I am betting between voting for the governor and this, turnout will be higher than normal.

And yes, if you had the NAAWP, you would be seen as a hateful biggot. I don't know why if your not white, it becomes acceptable.

As for the hyphenated population, it is a joke meant to devide the country rather than bring it together.

by protiusx

This state has consistently been on the forefront of race equality for a long time now. There was an article in the news a few years back where some students at Michigan State held a mock back sale where the prices of the items were scaled on race. Items were more expensive for white people and less expensive for Asians and black people. People freaked out and it made a big stink. The students were attempting to point out the flaws of race based admittance standards and I think they got their point across. There was another story of a white student from a college in Texas who as a lark started the white middle class kids college fund and actually had people donate money to it. His lark was an attempt to show the hypocrisy and racism of the NAACP and the United Negro College Fund. I think he got his point across too.

by rfink

State sponsored racism and distrimination has gone on long enough. Given that Michignn is turning into a Democratic wasteland, I expect the proposal to fail. :(

by onbliss

Race, ethnicity, groupism or whatever is and will be part of human nature. Nations are boundaries created by humans, and hence identification and pride needs to be reinforced (brainwashed) more than the identification of natural traits or historical bondings.

Humans of all colors - VIBGYOR+WB can not escape their natural tendencies and traits. As civilization and societies mature we can only aim to train ourselves to be not hateful or discriminaters.

One reason why a heterogenous society keeps changing its national boundaries in shape and size through out the history.

One of the ways heterogenous groups will co-exist peacefully is if they have a strong common tie in the past - language, culture, anscestors, religion etc. Another way is brute force. And the third way would be knowledge and awareness of how we are all the same yet different and we have to co-exist this planet.

When the external influencing factors are removed, then humans start their alignments into comfort groups.

ps:Same argument holds good to religions.

by shellbot

its true :)

If you were here right now i'd smack ya for that though, because i just know you had a very very smug, self appreciating look on your face when you typed that one!

off topic..
Levi (see my avatar) has starting bringing home presents..god bless him..we've had enough mice this week to make a decent dinner of, if we were so inclined ]:)

Except for the one i found in the flower bed..mmmmmmmmm maggots..
god..that was so gross!!!!

by onbliss

I guess the practice is prevelant more in the developed western countries than elsewhere.

Just as James alluded, it is as a result of the influx of people from former colonies and other immigrations.

In South East Asia, people associate more to their clan, tribe, ethnic roots when it comes to domestic issues. When it comes to the international issues, then they associate with their country. But it depends on different groups, their status in society and other factors.

by dsm5

When I lived in Europe for 13-14 years, there was almost none of that. Only with the advent of US-style PC garbage in the UK did that begin to crop up slightly in England. It is still very rare on the continent. We actually have very little of that in Canada, which is surprising given the general level of PC enforced consciousness up here; though perhaps there is more in Quebec, but nobody outside of Quebec pays any attention to them, anyway. You see it every now and then in Canada, but not as much as it dominates the US.
That it dominates the US consciousness is surprising given Teddy Roosevelt's strong opinion on that matter back around the turn of the previous century, when he noted, more or less, that you can have one country and and one set of loyalties, but not two. He did not have a very high opinion of that trend that was coming out at the beginning of the 20th century.
To my simple view, it is either that one has a distinct level of faith in their cultural home, or they have a relatively small opinion of themselves that they need to don another cloak of identity to help them feel larger or belong to a broader identity that better suits their personal needs.
My problem, having a couple of citizenships and having lived in a lot of places is that the only home I have is where my wife and children live. I suppose that makes me a national of whatever country we're living in at the time because there aren't enough hyphens for our family. Between us there are three countries of birth, five languages, and children living in four countries. At one point or another, hyphens are meaningless, eh?

by jdclyde

ALL use of hyphens for this is meaningless.

What race an I? Human race.

What country do I live in? USA.

That makes me an American.

The country some of my past relatives may or may not have come from is not relevent, any more than every colored person HAS to have been dragged out of Africa.

I see it as a way for people to control other people. If you can create a common enemy, it is easier to gather power for yourself. go ask Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton about that one.

by lmayeda

In Hawaii, the first (white) foreignors to arrive were called Haoles. When the Hawaiians married Haoles and had kids, the kids were happa (half) haole. Then the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, samoans, etc arrived and we had Chinese-Hawaiians, Japanese-Filipinos. By now we are a poly-glot of Hawaiian-Chinese-portuguese-spanish-german ...etc. Too-many hypens to list. But what's funny is that whenever any of us go to the "mainland" or overseas ... we're all first "Hawaiians" regardless of whether we have an ounce of Hawaiian blood in us ... and then we're all Americans too. I think hyphens exist because people are proud of their differences and I see nothing wrong with that.

by jdclyde

Remember the homosexual marrage got shot down in flames and it wasn't even close.

The NAACP and other groups associated with them are madly doing anything they can to get this removed off of the ballot. They are running scared, and with good reason.

We in Michigan have the highest unemployement in the country and the worst economy. (Thanks Granholm!) It is one thing to be a dumb bleeding heart when times are good, but when EVERYONE is having a hard time, it becomes more of an "everyone out for themselves". Are you likely to give someone special treatment based on the color of their skin if you need a job yourself? Not likely.

by rfink

What the government fails to realize is that when give one group a preference you are by definition decriminating against the other groups. I agree with you. The only good Democrat is an unelected one.

by techexec2

Sorry, JD, wrong again (I know you hate that :p )! Once again, [b]blaming Granholm (and Democrats) is not supported by the facts[/b]. You don't have to be a Democrat partisan to know this. I'm not. Republicans are not the solution either.

THE FACTS PROVE GRANHOLM IS NOT TO BLAME

Unemployment in Michigan was 3.2% in March 2000 and rose to 6.6% by July 2002, [b]four months before Granholm (D) was elected as Governor[/b] (3)! The governor running things during that period (1991 to 2002) was John Engler, a Republican (1). [b]Should John Engler (R) be blamed?[/b]

The historical lowest unemployment rate in Michigan was in Mar. 2000 at 3.2% (5). [b]Should John Engler (R) be given credit?[/b]

The historical highest unemployment rate in Michigan was in Nov. 1982 at 16.9% (5). The governor was William Milliken (Republican) from 1969 to 1982 (1). [b]Should William Milliken (R) be blamed?[/b]

In Michigan, Democrat governors have been in office for only 12 of the last 44 years (1). [b]Republican governors have run things for 32 of the last 44 years[/b] (1). Should Republicans be blamed?

WHY IS UNEMPLOYMENT SO HIGH IN MICHIGAN RIGHT NOW?

I don't claim to have all the answers. But, here's what I think:

Michigan is (was?) a manufacturing state, right? I suggest that it is FEDERAL economic policies that drive manufacturing offshore that are to blame. And, it is FEDERAL economic policies that have helped Toyota, Honda, and Nissan beat GM and Ford into the ground. Of course, problems [i]inside[/i] GM and Ford helped.

In the entire USA: [i]"During the January 2003 through December 2005 period, 3.8 million workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least 3 years."[/i] (6) [b]During this period, the entire federal government was under the control of the Republicans[/b]. Should Republicans be blamed?

EPILOGUE

I don't think it is correct to blame Republicans or Democrats for Michigan's current unemployment problems. Democrats should not drink the partisan Democrat KoolAid. [b]Republicans should not drink the partisan Republican KoolAid[/b] (in bold, just for you). The sooner both sides realize this, the sooner we can start fixing our many and growing problems.

P.S. You're still my buddy, even though you're [b]wrong[/b]! :p B-)

REFERENCES

(1) Michigan Governors, 1835 to Present
http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_20826_20829-54132--,00.html

(2) Bio - Jennifer M. Granholm
http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168--57920--,00.html

(3) Michigan Unemployment Insurance At a Glance
http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/pub167%2Epdf

(4) Michigan State Profile (taken from 2006 Alamanac of American Politics)
http://election.nationaljournal.com/states/mi.htm

(5) U.S. Dept of Labor, Unemployment Highs/Lows by State
http://stats.bls.gov/web/lauhsthl.htm

(6) Displaced workers, 2003-05: reason for job loss (USA DOL BLS)
http://stats.bls.gov/opub/ted/2006/aug/wk2/art05.htm

-----

From (4):

[i]"[b]From 1993 up through October 2000, Michigan's unemployment rate was lower than the nation's in almost every month[/b]. Then, with the national recession, unemployment shot up above the national average, as might be expected in a manufacturing state. But the national recovery that took hold in 2003 did not seem to take hold in Michigan. Unemployment averaged 5.3% in 2001 and 6.2% in 2002, about 0.5% above the national average--not alarming for a recessionary period. But Michigan's unemployment was 7.3% in 2003 and 6.8% in 2004--about 1.3% above the national average; Michigan was the only state to lose jobs in 2004. In December 2004 Michigan unemployment spiked to 7.3%, 1.9% above the national average and the third-highest in the nation"[/i]

edited: sue me

by jdclyde

Hawaiians and Alaskans all seem to stand out of the main group. The way of life is so different that they just are seen that way. I have never heard of them refered to as a Hawaiian-American though.

Some would do this out of pride, I think most are just sheep following dishonest people that WANT there to be divisions between groups.

by tinareidrowe

Canadian, I live in NZ and have gone to a harrasment course ut on by my work, apparently it seems because I do not classify myself as a kiwi-Canadian I am a bit odd. But I am only Canadian. I live here for now, but not for-ever. I am a hienz 57, a mixture of my fore-fathers. I am only and just 100% Canadian no matter where I go. I was the only person in 25 that did not hyphenate my cultural background The only time I use a hyphen is when I say North-American. And that is when I hear kiwi's diss Yanks :-) Just to make them think a bit more of what they say.

by jdclyde

took a bit to figure out what you were saying, because of the puctuation in the title. :0

It really is good to see people stand up and be proud of why THEY are, instead of trying to identify themselves by what their ancestors were.

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