[vaalmerruutel]

People is not very representative here, maybe bewcause it is a forum about race. In reality any city of Europe is more cosmopolitan than any city of America.

How many people with a burqa have you seen in Chicago or Boston?

I actually have not toured many US states…

So you feel the same than a Canadian or an Mexican.

I consider everybody in the Western hemisphere "Amerikaner". It simply refers to the continental history & geography. The culture is another aspect. Mexicans and Canadians really do sequester much of their cultural inspiration from US progression. They obviously have unique/different cultures. But the US has led the hemisphere in terms of cultural progression, probably due to the multi-cultured, and genetic variances.

Latinos/Hispanics obviously have different cultures, Catholicism for starters. I don't even know how/if Protestantism has affected Mexican culture, for example. Canadians essentially are transplanted Scandinavians, Brits, and Frenchmen. They remain very isolated… but their culture has become unique too. It is all part of the New World ideologies and such.

Nationalism reigned supreme in the West. European ethnocentricism still exists, yes, but has transformed in the West… each contributes to greater versions of old (European) cults. The "New World" simply is very different nowadays…

What I've noticed from ABF is: white-Euros in the US abandoned ethnic identity for racial identity. Ethnic mixing became rampant throughout US history. Thus the perception of Ethnicity and Race differs between the West and East. How people within the US retained the concept of Ethnicity is through sub-cultures. But these are very intricate and minute details of Amerikan culture.

People obviously perceive race & ethnicity on different terms, per culture and location. Geography and genetics obviously are important, too. For example, I would consider 'Aframs' an ethnicity. But this may not make sense in 'European' terms. Because the US culture and sub-cultures are also different progressions apart from European history. Furthermore the US is split by geographic regions: West Coast, Rocky Mountains, Southwest, Midwest, Great Lakes, South, East Coast, and Northeast. Racial designations became more important; because larger spreads of land and ethnicities required larger generalizations in order to instill a sense of Nationalism.

In terms of Nationalism, the US mostly is made of whites, blacks, mixed-races, Native Indians, Latinos/Hispanics, and a minority of East Asians too. Most people in the US are uneducated about anthropology. This is a general fact everywhere though. As such, many specific ethnicities or people can become confused on racial terms. For example anybody in South/Central Amerika simply is "Latin" to the untrained person here. It probably isn't true on technical terms, but, people think in such generalizations.

'Ethnicity' really is an incorrect term west of the Atlantic… it mostly applies to Europeans through the factional warring of European countries throughout the ages.

---------- Post added 2011-06-10 at 01:27 ----------

A good example of culture transition is "Soap Operas". I believe Soap Operas began in the US (?)… but Latins/Hispanics picked that up and really enjoy Soap Operas too, haha. I recommend watching a Spanish/Mexican Soap Opera for experience. They are very dramatic…