Are Americans Immigrants?

Someone said something in another post that actually kind of annoyed me, and now I'm curious. How many of you non-Americans actually believe that all Americans are immigrants? Why do you think that?


And Americans, do you believe yourselves to be immigrants? Why or why not.


This may just be nationalism speaking, but I'd have to say American is a very highly established country. I know we're not top in much of anything on a worldly scale, we're still a legitimate country who's citizens have the right to call themselves American rather than immigrants. I understand that, as far as genetic makeup, the average American is a mix of several different ethnicities, but if you're born and raised in America, you're American imo. I also know that we were originally colonists, and later immigrants, but that was 300 or so years ago! Plus, most national groups have started as immigrants to their present-day national boundaries. For example, the Native Americans (or Indians, whatever you want to call them) originated from Asia.. so some time down their bloodlines, their ancestors immigrated through the landbridge connecting present-day Alaska and Russia.


What do you think?

 

I think i understand what you are saying. I am a American Citizen but is anybody really a American? My Ethnicity is Black so obviously my roots are probably back to Africa So i think the only real Americans are the first Race of people found On America which are Native Americans.

 

Depends how much of a smart arse you are.

If I was born here, then the only place I immigrated to and out of was the country I was born in, and my mothers womb.

If however one is talking about ancestry, then we all originate from Africa.

 

i would hardly compare 300 years of colonization to the thousands of years ago that my native peoples immigrated from Asia.

that is like a Jewish person claiming to have the right to Israel simply because they were born there. They still kicked a bunch of ppl out using force.

 

We all lived on the same continent millions of years ago, so yeah.. we kinda are. o.o

 

The difference in time is hardly relevant. They immigrated and after a few generations became native. We immigrated and a few generations later, we're now native to America. If you were born and raised in an area, that's your culture, your nationality.

300 years is very young for culture, which means we don't have a specific culture besides extreme industrialism and a common desire (in some cases, obsession) for material things, but that doesn't mean we don't have the right to label ourselves as a true and native culture. Not the original native culture, but nonetheless.

 

I believe North American's (White People no racial) are immigrants, everybody actually. But if i were to count anybody in USA it would be native americans simply because they were here before the now Americans.

 

Rome was there before many of the current day European countries.

 

I have to agree with the OP.

Being an American isn't necessarily that your ancestors came from there. What it means to be from somewhere, to be a native of a place, is that that is where you were born, and grew up. That is where your concept of right and wrong was instilled, that is what culture you would consider yourself to be most a part of.

 

ok. yes the individual people are literally native to the country.

but you can not simply take this literal translation and apply it to something without examining the zeitgeist that it is used in.

for example,
how many people would say that a mexican baby just born inside us borders is just as much a native as an actual native american. it is ludicrious.

 

You seem to be responding with an extreme bias on this matter. What I'm saying IS literal. We are not immigrants because the meaning of immigrants is "a person who has moved to another country who was not born, nor previously settled there". I was not moved to this country, I am a legal citizen of this country, and I was raised in this country. Therefore I am an American from America. I may actually be Norwegian in nationality due to where my great great great grandparents (true story) came from, but that doesn't affect where I come from today.

I'm 100% positive when a full American is asked "where do you come from?" they will not respond by saying "I'm an American immigrant and my family moved to America 300 years ago!"

 

well then, if you want to argue whether or not some ppl have moved (or immigrated) across national boarders within their lifetime, why not just be up front about it?

you asked what I thought. I think that you can not use the word immigrant without taking into account the context in which the word is used.

this is like asking the question, are homosexual people fags?
you would probably say no, because fag literally means either cigarette or a bundle of sticks.
(i admit, it is not a pretty example, but it gets the point across)

 

I'm not arguing whether some people have moved. I'm arguing that the majority of America's population is comprised of people who have not immigrated to the United States, but were rather born and raised here. Making them native to the land. Making them not immigrants..

 

wow, the first sentence completely contradicts the rest of that post.

you are not arguing whether osme people have moved, you are arguing that the majority of the american population have not moved. hmmmmm

immigrate: to enter and usually become established.
moving: to enter another place and usually become established

 

I'm not. My family has Native American blood from my moms side. Cherokee and Blackfoot to be precise. So much so that my great grandfather was offered land on a reservation. I believe I am 1/8th or 1/16th. Of course some of my ancestors must be immigrants.

 

Then let me restate. I'm not arguing the fact that some people immigrate to America (the minority groups that you see today). I'm arguing that a majority of the people have not immigrated, and are therefore native to the land.

 

that is what i have been saying....der.

you are arguing that:

that is from my previous post.....der


i feel like im talking to a wall

 

Anywayyyy back to constructive debate

So do you say you're not an immigrant because you've got Native American blood in you, or because you were born and raised here, despite your distance ancestors? I'm 1/16th Quinault by the way! Do you claim benefits? 1/16th is too finite for the Quinault nation to accept :[

 

immigrants are not measured commonly by whether or not they have been born here. it is usually judged by how well they have assimilated into canadian culture, how well they exemplify typical traits of canadians, how well they speak english, how long their ppl have been here, ect.

with respect to many of these qualifiers, i am not viewed as an immigrant.

 

Both actually. I consider myself a Native American because I have ancestors on both sides of my family from well-known tribes. I am at least 1/16th of something from my father's side(his parents are divorced so I don't really talk much about his heritage), though my mother's grandfather was the one that was offered land on a reservation. My grandfather on my mom's side is 1/4th. I do not know my exact percentage of Native American, but I do know that I am also Scott-Irish, Dutch, and Native American (forgot what tribe) from my mother's mother's side. I do not claim any benefits yet, But I haven't tried to. My mother received student aid. You can look at my grandfather from my mom's side and tell he's a Native. His skin tone and facial features are a dead giveaway. Ya know the bump on the nose? We have that too.