I'm one of those. I tend to think it's been an attractive heritage to claim since WWII--it's got all that romantic mythology and persecution
USian persecution recently enough that it's still a factor in the Aggressive Celtic Pride seen in some USians of Irish Descent, in point of fact. (USians of Scottish Descent, in my experience, tend to only get aggressive about it if drinks are being selected, or if their name happens to be Ian Bruce (McRealLastName) and they happen to be my brother.)
Before making blanket assumptions about USian history, do a little research on it.
Hey, on that note, I'm going to go read
The Gangs of New York,
all about the Civil War draft riots and Irish gangs.
Or maybe
Stanley Basic Wiring.
hmmm.
Stanley Basic Wiring is more depressing.
-Signed, needs to rewire house ASAP.
What medieval sources are you thinking of here?
Sources, who needs sources when you can't drive in this country for medieval castles!
? Which answers my question not at all. You were citing "the medieaval tradition of damsel in distress" as a source for the girl-gets-munched-by-monster trope so popular in pulp horror films.
From my own experience, Americans are very very very keen on celebrating their Scottishness or Irishness or Whateverness, even when it's many generations in the past. Ceilidhs and tartans and the whole bit. Have you
seen
how big the St Patrick's day celebrations are? Whole rivers get dyed green, for heaven's sakes!
And beer, too. I really think the Irish should sue for defamation.
I always think ofAmericans of Irish and Italian descent (the Catholics) and possibly Greek as being very prideful in their heritage because it wasn't so long ago that we had the first Catholic President. And I don't believe we've had an Italian-American president ever. And it certainly wasn't too long ago that they were semi-segragated into neighborhoods. Certainly in my mother's time.
My school had a whole lot of kids with Irish ancestry. This created problems for the rest of us on St. Patrick's Day, because if we didn't wear green, it was, "Hey! You're dissing our heritage." If we did wear green, it was "You're not Irish! You have no right to that green shirt." (I usually went with something like a white t-shirt, jeans, and leprochaun barettes.)
I think that most people here are aware of their own cultural heritage, and whatever the cultural heritage of their particular section of the country is. There was a dance studio near where I grew up that offered Irish step dancing. When the state started requiring that all elementary school kids learn Spanish, one town nearby protested because they wanted their kids to learn Polish or Italian. In American History class, we learned about all the waves of immigration, and how they shaped the country. I don't really see anyone rejecting their heritage.
the name is not theirs to brand
Yes and no. They certainly have no right to demand payment if someone uses the last name McDonald as a last name. But if my name was Pepsi & I created a new soft drink and wanted to market it under my own name, I'd be SOL.
Whole rivers get dyed green, for heaven's sakes!
Crazy Americans!
I do feel better, I guess I was feeling undervalued. I'll pass on your regards to Scotland in general.
Actually, Zoe, there is a TON of Celtic pride in the US, some ersatz and some not. All up and down the east coast, especially, from Boston to the Appalachians. America is not lacking in acknowledgement of Celtic cultural heritage, even if some of that acknowledgement would probably scare the modern Irish and Scots.
Agreed. As I understand it, for instance, the IRA gets more funding from Irish-Americans than from Irish-Irish (even if adjusted for per capita or per income or such like), and St Patrick's Day is a much bigger event in NYC or Bostin than in Dublin.
