>>17420980Americans are most certainly their own ethnic group at this point. We have a separate culture, history, worldview, and genetic makeup, which is a amalgamation of different European groups. “American” as a term, however, is too broad because it naturally seems to include all the other ethnic mystery meats of this country that we clearly aren’t talking about. The term “White American” actually captures the group we’re talking about. You could also say “European-American.”
Nonetheless, I would describe this ethnic group genetically as being primarily of Northwestern European ancestry, but it includes any American of European descent that looks white—white being something we all intuitively understand. People with ancestry from Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland, Britain, the Low Countries, and France most certainly fall into this category. However, I also think the Slavic, or Eastern European, migrants who settled in the 1900s also fall into this category very neatly. You would scarcely be able to guess these people aren’t from the other groups in most cases. An anecdotal example would be this guy who I know who is quarter Hungarian, but has blonde hair and blue eyes. So, the key distinguishing feature of this group is that 1) they are entirely of European ancestry and 2) they easily pass the white-looks test. The introduction of some non-Northwestern but still European blood doesnt disqualify, in my view. Almost all European descended Americans fall into this ethnic group of White American. The ones that do not are ones like Italian-Americans who would classify but don’t because they are a more specific group that still differs culturally. They still choose to cling to being “Italian-American,” thereby separating themselves from other European-Americans. The ones that don’t claim this and assimilate better and intermarried Northwestern Europeans for generations would fall into White American though.
