Hacker News Reader

Comment by anthuman | Hacker News Reader

American is a nationality, it is not an ethnicity. There is no "ethnic american" due to historic reason.

You are half-korean, so what is your other half? White? So you are half korean and half white.

You wouldn't say you are 100% korean and 100% white. That would be ridiculous right? Your ethnic history and composition can't add up to 200%. Even if you claimed to be 100% korean or 100% white, neither white nor korean people would consider you to be 100% white or korean.

That's my point. There is nationality and ethnicity. Those are two different things. A chinese person could move to germany and become a german citizen or national. But nobody would consider him an ethnic german.

View on HN

> There is nationality and ethnicity. Those are two different things.

Thank you! This whole top-level comment thread is just conflating the two.

Yup, there are 4 combinations in total. For example, a white American will see:

1. Someone of different nationality (eg: a white Australian)

2. Someone of different ethnicity (eg: a Black American)

3. Someone of both different nationality and ethnicity (eg: a fresh off the boat immigrant from India)

4. Someone of same nationality and ethnicity (i.e., fellow white Americans).

Now one may, in principle at least, accept that all these categories of people should be treated with impartiality and respect in every sphere of life ... however can they also sincerely report not feeling these identities as separate? I think this is what anthuman is getting at.

The conflation that is happening in this thread is between culture and ethnicity not nationality and ethnicity. When someone of mixed race says they are "all Japanese" they are obviously talking about their culture and not their passport.

Culture is tied to nationality. Do you have an example indicating the contrary?

Of course. Nation states have not been round that long. Just a few hundred years.

Jewish culture exists throughout the world. All religious cultures actually. Islamic culture.

Immigrants often retain many aspects of their culture when they move to a new country.

The US itself is a huge mismash of different cultures. People in the US are not bound by a single cultural identity. They are bound by the constitution and the principles and values it represents.

By the same token, Japanese is also a nationality as well as ethnicity. This is what it would mean, in context, for her to say she's all Japanese.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com