• machiabelly [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Honestly that sounds like a better description of how it's used, but traditionally it has always been short for white anglo saxon protestant.

        • Florn [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          It comes from a time when being German or Catholic made you less white

          • machiabelly [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            German? Thought it was Mediterranean or irish. Like that great gatsby conversation where mr asshole talks about how everything good in the world comes out of northern europe.

            • Florn [they/them]
              ·
              edit-2
              3 years ago

              They were certainly viewed more favorably than the Irish, but they weren't whiter than white if that makes sense.

            • NaturalsNotInIt [any]
              ·
              3 years ago

              Until like the mid-20th century, American-ness was specifically tied to being "Anglo" and "Protestant". Pre-WW1, German Americans were definitely seen as a little "off", especially if they were Catholic. Those heathens didn't speak English, they drank (remember late 19th century America, good Protestants didn't drink), celebrated Christmas with too much gusto like a bunch of Roman savages, they worshipped their evil Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin, a demigouge who allowed Socialist rabble-rousers to intimidate him into a welfare state.