• 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.