British man is fed up with idiot making fun of him and his country, and calls him to account

Almost every country has stereotypes about its people. Americans are stupid, Brits like to eat crumpets and drink tea, and Irish are drunks who like to start fights. Why did I mention these three specifically? Well, because they are particularly relevant to this story.

A British-Irish guy took to Reddit to vent his frustration over a recent encounter with an American. The guy kept harassing the guy with British stereotypes, claiming that he had the right to do so because he was of Irish descent. Unfortunately, all it led to was an epic Irish-off, after which the onlookers accused the author of being a dick. So he went online to find justification.

A man kept throwing insults at a British man based on stereotypes, justifying it by saying he had Irish ancestors

Image credits: mstandret / envatoelements (not the actual photo)

But the man didn’t want to do it, because he was Irish himself.

Image credits: Evisa Express / flickr (not the actual photo)

Image Credits: Kindly-Discussion270

Most Irish people agree that Americans of Irish descent have much in common with them

Image credits: RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo)

Many people in the US have Irish ancestry. Over 31.5 million people claim Irish ancestry, which means that one in ten Americans is of Irish descent. Irish Americans are second only to German Americans in terms of numbers, proudly taking first place with 43 million.

Americans who call themselves “Irish” have long been a subject of debate. Does Irish ancestry count as Irish? Shouldn’t they just call themselves “Americans”? According to a poll, Americans think they have a lot in common with the Irish. And perhaps that’s why they deserve to call themselves Irish.

59% of Americans with Irish ancestry say they look like Irish people in Ireland. The Irish are also largely in agreement, with 55% agreeing. But when it comes to who has the right to call themselves “Irish,” things get a little trickier.

People with both parents being Irish are safe, as 61% of Irish people say it is okay for Americans to describe themselves as “Irish.” They are less welcoming to people with only one Irish parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent. If someone has only one grandparent, 51% of Irish people say it is okay to describe themselves as “Irish-American.”

Irish heritage is still important to many Irish Americans

Photo credits: Joaquin Carfagna / pexels (not the actual photo)

Perhaps the problem is semantics—what Americans actually mean when they say “I’m Irish.” In reality, most Irish Americans don’t want to describe themselves merely as “American.” The same poll found that 40 percent of those who say they have Irish ancestry feel that their heritage is at least somewhat important to them.

Many do not claim to be “Irish” but would like to call themselves Irish-American. Some travel to Ireland in search of their roots, visiting their ancestral homes and connecting with the homeland of their grandfathers or great-grandfathers.

When Rosita Boland, a writer for The Irish Times, traveled to Boston and spoke to people who identified as Irish-American, she discovered that when Americans say they identify with the Irish, they mean those who came to the U.S. many years ago and settled there. Not the Irish who live in Ireland. “Ireland itself, the land, is the abstract, romanticized receptacle of dreams and green fields, and the place that will soothe a lifetime of pain,” she writes.

People associate certain characteristics with certain nationalities. For many Americans, Irish ancestry means hard work. “The Irish were oppressed both abroad and at home, but they overcame stereotypes to dominate both American law enforcement and the Mafia,” writes Sarah Moran, a journalist and Irishwoman living in New York. “If you claim Irish ancestry, you can secretly say, ‘I came from nowhere, I worked my way up.’”

America is a melting pot of different cultures, races, ethnicities, and nationalities. If you don’t have indigenous ancestors, saying you’re American doesn’t really describe your heritage. When historian Philip Gleason tried to describe American identity, he said, “The universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who wanted to be an American.”

“He’s not an ‘Irishman’, he’s a Yank,” people noted in the comments, siding with the author

However, other commentators felt that both guys were acting like idiots here

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