Is 'American' a nationality?

Question:Me and my friend were discussing this. I know that there are different ethnicities (ex. korean, indian, italian, etc.), but are American citizen's nationality American? I think that regardless of ethnicity, anybody born in America, and anybody who has a citizenship, is American. My friend disagrees.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Me and my friend were discussing this. I know that there are different ethnicities (ex. korean, indian, italian, etc.), but are American citizen's nationality American? I think that regardless of ethnicity, anybody born in America, and anybody who has a citizenship, is American. My friend disagrees.

NATIONALITY is that of whatever country you are born and raised in. If you were born and raised in Canada, then you are Canadian, regardless of your race, ethnicity, heritage, or genetic make-up.

RACE is a human population considered distinct based on physical characteristics (usually skin color).

ETHNICITY is a term which represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference or place of birth.

Of course, what else are you going to call someone born in the United States of America?

Yes, you are correct, anyone born in the United States of America, or naturalized as a citizen, is an American. They can check the box under Nationality: American

Score one for you, send friend back to the dictionary.
It is common here... we are always defining nationality, ethnic, and then we throw in dead ancestors to boot. Oh, and if we drift off into DNA, then we are talking haplogroups.
It gets fun.

Yes, it is. In fact many people will take offense to being told it's not. Most people in North America who's families have been here for more than a generation or two are a mixture of different ethnicities, and even if they're not, it's silly to try to make people feel they have to claim allegiance to a country other than the one they're born in.

Your friend might be confusing the correct words and maybe she means American is not an ethnic origin. Well it is for native Americans, so she is still wrong anyway.

yes your right on that .

u are right that why the illegal aliens what to come over here and have their kids that make the kids americans.. then they can stay too

Yes, it's a nationality. Your ethnicity and nationality are not the same thing. For example, you could be born in another country, but if you become an American citizen, and your birth country doesn't allow dual nationalities, then your nationality becomes American, regardless of your cultural background. I was born in the Dominican Republic, but because I can hold the dual nationalty, I have both nationalites. If you asked me what my ethnicity is, I'd tell you I'm Dominican, but I have both the Dominican and American nationalities.

Yes, there is nothing that sounds more stupid than to hear an American citizen born in this country say My nationality is Irish, Italian, German, Polish etc. Those things can be his heritage but not his nationality.

It all depends upon your definition of things. By law, any one born in the U.S. is an American; anyone born overseas of an American parent is an American; any one who is adopted by an American is an American; any one who becomes naturalized is an American.
But, that is the law; in actuality, most Koreans remain Korean de facto; most Russians, for certain most "Hispanics". (Same with all the others.) Being the descendant of Brits, Germans, etc., that came here centuries ago, I consider anyone who came here more recently than that as a "foreighner". (Yes, some of my ancestors were Native Americans, including Innuits and Eskimos!)

Yes. It is, for the reasons you accurately described.