Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere
I am pretty sure there is more British ancestry than German ancestry in America. But no doubt German ancestry is very common and has a plurality in Pennsylvania and the Midwest.
Yet nobody ever speaks of a "German diaspora" in the US and there are no "German" neighborhoods. I doubt many people in Milwaukee would say "I'm German" (they might say German descent) but lots of people in Boston will say they are Irish even if they're fifth generation Americans whose ancestors came in the 19th century.
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Yes, it's interesting how some ethnicities keep at least some traditions going for quite a few generations while some seem to have largely abandoned them.
I've read several things which pointed out that the two World Wars killed a lot of the sense of ethnic pride certainly among Germans, but it even affected other immigrant groups such as the Dutch in western Michigan. Not sure why some groups, such as the Irish and Italian, were able to resist early 20th Century efforts to discourage "foreign-ness." I think the Irish got away with it because they already spoke English so nobody really minded them. Not sure why the Italians were able to resist it - maybe because they had such popular food?
And yes, there are a few German neighborhoods and towns, in the Midwest and elsewhere. Of course they aren't what they used to be, but they're still there.