Can you be a native of America/United States of America if you are not Native American?
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Anonymous
| I’ve seen this pop up in the recent Queen threads and at other times related to someone being a “descendant of Americans” for instance. With time, as America ages will the definition of being a native of America change? |
Anonymous
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Aren’t people native to the place where they were born?
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Anonymous
Not necessarily. Most in the U.S. are occupiers. |
Anonymous
That's just silly, and I suspect you are trying to pass yourself as some kind of leftist. You are a native of the country in which you are born, although few Americans would refer to themselves as "native Americans" because the term "Native American" refers to the indigenous people who inhabited this country prior to the arrival of European colonists. |
Anonymous
No, most in the U.S. are Americans and some are immigrants and some are tourists or visitors. There are also American Indians, some of whom are citizens of two countries, the U.S. and their own nation. Sovereign citizens might be considered occupiers, if you wanted to get technical about it. But since they're illegitimate, it seems like a silly point. |
Anonymous
| Most of us are living on stolen land. |
Anonymous
That’s a little silly. If you are born in a place and always lived in a place, that is where you are from, that is your home of origin. |
Anonymous
| Is it so embarrassing that Columbus Day is still celebrated. It should banned entirely. |
Anonymous
Do you mean every human being, all 7.7 billion of us? You said "most of us". Who is not? |
Anonymous
+1 It depends on how you define native, of course. But since there are "Native Americans," it's weird to call yourself "native to America." I think people usually say "first generation immigrant" or "born the USA" or something like that if they want to say they were born in the US. |
Anonymous
| It also depends on how you came to be in an area. If you or your ancestors were an occupying presence and took the area by force, it's disingenuous to say you a native. If were born into the existing culture and integrated with the people, language and customs etc, then it is more acceptable to say you are a native |
Anonymous
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New Oxford Dictionary definition:
“a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not.” So, yes, people are native to wherever they are born. |
Anonymous
There are American Indians or more properly, the specific tribe. Of course most Americans are native to the U.S. Where else would we be native to? |
Anonymous
What a ridiculous oversimplification. |
Anonymous
| Also it was not America until the late 18th century, so native "Americans" were not from "America" anyway (but we are probably). |