Chimigan said:
Hello,
I wonder what the child of parents of two different races or nationalities is called!
Thank you
Hello,
I am a child of whose parents came from a different country. I was born and raised in the United States. My parents were born in Mexico, but immigrated to the United States when they were 2 years old and later became naturalized U.S. citizens.
Growing up in the U.S. there are a lot of different ethnicities, races, and family heritages that people identify as.
For me:
Nationality - American
Ethnicity - Mexican
Nationality means the country you were born in. In the U.S you can become a naturalized U.S. citizen, and there is also dual citizenship.
For example, if someone was born in Ireland (their nationality would be Irish) and if that person wanted to migrate to the U.S and become a naturalized citizen, but still wanted to be a citizen in Ireland. You have the option to have dual citizenship in both countries. So, their nationality would be Irish & American.
Ethnicity - is a ethnic group that is normally based on similar traits, such as a common language, food, heritage, maybe religion, and cultural similarities within the group. It can include a geographical connection to a particular place.
For example, for myself (Mexican):
Language - Spanish (& English; I am fluent in both languages)
Food - Mexican traditional dishes: molé, posolé, birria, albondigas, & others
Heritage - Mexican
Geographical connection - Mexico & Spain(from my fathers side; but I don't identify myself as Spanish, I recently found out that my last name came from Spain and I have ancestors from Spain that migrated to Mexico. I just say I'm Mexican)
Heritage means ancestors of a person, and what they identified with.
Race - is similar to ethnicity, but relates more to the appearance of a person, like the color of their skin, genetic traits such as hair, eye color, bone and jaw structure.
For example, (this example will include true events that have happened to my mom and I) - if a person were to see a female with light skin, blonde hair, and blue/hazel/green eyes you would think she is "white" but maybe she isn't. She could be another race. My mother has dyed blonde/dark brown hair (was born with dark brown hair), light skinned, and hazel eyes and sometimes people ask her if she is "white" and she replies "no I am Mexican" and people are taken back because to them she looks white; I get the same reaction because I look like my mom except I have dark brown hair(I've never dyed my hair).
Okay now back to your question regarding how a child of 2 different nationalities or races are called:
I will give you a real life example of how I identify myself as (even though both of my parents are from the same country) but later I will give you an example of a friend whose parents were born in 2 different countries.
(In the U.S) for example, When a person asks me "what are you?" Sometimes, this is how people ask what your ethnicity is, & some ask "what is your ethnicity" (which is the proper way to ask) but I understand what they are asking. I will say "I am Mexican" because both of my parents are from Mexico and my family heritage is Mexican.
Heritage means ancestors of a person, and what they identified with.
For the last, maybe 200 years my family has lived in Mexico until my parents were the 1st generation of our family to (& other family members; not all) immigrate from Mexico to the U.S. Some of my parents siblings & cousins were born in the U.S (they were the 1st generation) then after my parents met and had me I became the 2nd generation of my family to be born in the U.S.
I do not say I am Mexican-American because I don't want to identify myself as that. Also, to me it sounds like I have dual-citizenship in America & Mexico, which I do not (& neither do my parents). So I just say "I am Mexican".
There is no such thing as saying "my race is American" because we are a country of immigrants with many ethnicities from countries around the world. Again, "American" is a nationality not a race/ethnicity/heritage.
I do not say I am American because I just don't identify myself as that if I am in the U.S. But, if I am in a different country (for example: England) if someone asked me "where are you from?" I would say "America". Then if they asked "what is your ethnicity?" I would say "I'm Mexican". But typically many of us (or people I have had conversations with) in America will say our ethnicity to identify ourselves. For example, people will say they are: Mexican, Japanese, English, German, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Irish, Persian, Pakistani & more.
Some will say their race, for example: white, Latino/Hispanic, black, Asian, Pacific Islander and more. I explained what race means in the beginning.
Some people have a lot of ethnicities (10, is the most I have encountered for one person). So they prefer to say a few of their ethnicities or a race they identify with. For example, if a person's ethnicity was Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Guatemalan. The child will say a few of their ethnicities, maybe just 1 (ex: if both of the child's parents are half Cuban then the child will say "I'm Cuban" [which is an ethnicity] because they have more Cuban heritage than the other ethnicities) or maybe they will say I am Latino/Hispanic (which is a race)
In the U.S. when you fill out applications for school, doctors office, or jobs they usually have a question that says " fill in the circle of your race" and you will see a list of races like I said above: white, Latino/Hispanic, black, Asian, Pacific Islander, other ____, and more. So you fill in the circle of the race that you identify with the most. I am "Mexican", so I would fill in the circle that says "Latino/Hispanic"
If a child has parents from 2 different countries and 2+ ethnicities. For example, I have a friend that was born in the U.S., so her nationality is American. Her mother is Mexican and her father is White (that is a race not an ethnicity). Her father's heritage/ethnicity is English and Irish. Her father was born in America and her mother was born in Mexico and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
If my friend was asked "what is your ethnicity?" or "what are you?" my friend would say "I am Mexican, English and Irish" or sometimes the she will keep it short and say "I am Mexican & white". It honestly just depends on her or anyones preference that have many ethnicities.
If a person asked her, "where are your parents from?" She'll reply, "my mother is from Mexico & my father is from the U.S."
If she is asked which parent is Mexican, English, or irish? She will say "my mother is Mexican and my father is English and irish".
Some people are mixed with a lot of ethnicities so they may not want to say every single one everytime someone asks. I have another friend who has 10 ethnicities, so to say each one just takes a long time or they just don't feel like saying each one so they'll say 2-3 ethnicities just to keep it short or identify with a race(s).
I hope this helped answer your questions and maybe others too. I apologize if this is really long, but I hope it helped you understand how daughters/sons identify themselves with parents born in different countries, ethnicities, and nationalities.
