Christopher Columbus, Italy, Ethnic Background General Discussion

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No, I had never even HEARD of it until I was in college. No one in North Dakota or Minnesota associates Columbus Day with some sort of Italian heritage day.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Inspired by some discussion on AAD and IRC.

I'd be very surprised. European hardcore scenes tend to stick to the same "throw away all your heritage and the baggage with it" values of the American scene.

Also I'm pretty sure that no one in it gives a f[inks] about Christopher Columbus, although to be fair I understand that's mostly true amongst all Italians.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Obvious for me. My subculture and who I associate with because of it is FAR more important than my heritage, ancestry and stupid bullsh[inks] like "tradition" and all that nonsense.

I am Christian, hardcore and liberal in that order. Ethnicity doesn't even come into the equation.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not entirely sure what the difference would be, for me, and that would probably be true for more people who are minorities... But I'll vote for ethnic identity since I also feel connected to Jews who don't adhere to the same Jewish lifestyle/"subculture" as I do.

Uh hardly true for all, I know that all Jews in the hardcore scene would answer that over their Jewishness.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The two are not always empirically separable, you know?

They are in the US.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The two are not always empirically separable, you know?

They are in the US.

Lolno. Maybe for some Italian Americans, Irish Americans or WASPs, but not for everyone...

You do realize I don't fall into any of those categories, and neither do most whites in the region in which I live, which is one of the most disconnected from ethnic identities and cultures in the country?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

train, I think what needs to be understood (and that probably doesn't surprise you) is that I hold my association with the hardcore scene and that subculture above all else. But here's the thing: Why wouldn't I? Let's imagine I was an Italian-American. Why would I feel a greater affinity to the people who just happened to have ancestry from the same country as me, than the people who I actually hang out, do things with, and share in common an extremely esoteric subculture and lifestyle that affects all aspects of life, and fuels my politics? And it's not just my scene either this applies to, think of the people who go cosplaying at conventions for another example. I'd imagine they'd think the exact same way.

You seem to understand this, but many (including oddly enough it seems most European posters, despite the fact that the hardcore scene and conventions full of cosplayers certainly exist in Europe too) don't.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For the record another factor you got to consider is my German-Swedish ethnic background, which is pretty normal around these parts and yet no one makes a big a fuss about it as Italians do. The Scandinavian equivalent is Lief Erickson Day, which as noted ALREADY does exist but is far less known, well that's why. It has maybe some Lutefisk dinners in some small Minnesota and North Dakota towns, not some massive through downtown Minneapolis. I'm guessing your average Scandinavian-American isn't even aware of it.

And the closest thing to a German holiday is Oktoberfest, which plenty of non-Germans also go to just as an excuse to get drunk.

BTW I've never eaten lutefisk. In fact I've eaten far more Italian food than Scandinavian or German food.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Columbus Day comes from a time when white ethnics were still discriminated against. White ethics are not discriminated against anymore.

White ethnics don't EXIST anymore.