Americans seem to have two views of immigrants: the oft-romanticized view of their ancestors just stepping off the boat and the stereotypes of illegal immigrants, overpopulation and of the ever-present and ignorant phrase, “Why can’t they just learn to speak English?” The view no one seems to have is the right one.
I’m an English immigrant. When I first moved here, I had plenty of full-blooded Americans proudly proclaim, “I’m English too!” I found this very confusing until I finally worked out what Americans meant by this: They’re not English — their heritage and family are English.
I feel this needs to be the mantra for those who list off about 10 different nationalities (“I’m English, Polish, German, Jamaican and Spanish!”), the “Italians” who’ve never been to Italy, the “Irish” with Boondock Saints tattoos and who say things like, “I can drink so much because I’m Irish,” and everybody else who’s actually American.
If you’re a first-generation American who is constantly submerged in your family’s culture or religion and whose entire family speaks the language and celebrates the culture, then that’s one thing.
But if you’re the “Irish” person who’s never met an Irish relative and who doesn’t know the difference between Northern Ireland and the rest of the country, then give up the jig already.
My uncle is Irish, actually lives in Ireland, went to jail for getting extremely drunk and almost killing someone in a bar fight, got out, broke both legs in a motorcycle accident, received a huge settlement and lived happily ever after. Now are you sure you don’t just want to call yourself American?
For people who are actually foreign, integrating into American life can be a painful thing. I originally had a very strong English accent, and while I obviously spoke the language here, I did have to learn to speak “American-English.”
No one could understand my Hull/East Yorkshire accent, which meant I had to copy American pronunciation of words such as “banana,” “can’t” and “aluminum,” and change “rubbish bin” to “trash can.” Sometimes I still have to ask, “What’s that word in American, again?” And when I’m tired, I’m very likely to accidentally use the wrong word, such as saying “porridge” instead of “oatmeal.”
I had to make a conscious decision to start spelling words the American way — “favorite” for “favourite,” “theater” for “theatre.” I can still weird people out with my beans on toast, Yorkshire puddings and Marmite sandwiches. Most days now, you wouldn’t even be able to tell that I’m English. I’m fully integrated: American accent, American education and all.
But at the end of the day, losing your identity hurts. It’s hard to hear about England from an American perspective and listen to drunk girls fake horrendous English accents. And that’s why I’m OK with people not “just learning to speak English.” It’s important to hold on to who you are.
So, natural-born Americans, just be glad you don’t have to live through some kind of identity crisis. Be an American with an interesting heritage, and feel free to be proud of that heritage. Just don’t confuse the two.
Bethany Wynn is a junior French and sociology major. She can be reached at wynn at umdbk dot com.
