Canadian-American

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canadian-American refers to a member of that group of people living in the United States who were born, or raised, in Canada. The term is particularly apt when applied or self-applied to people with strong ties to Canada, such as those who have lived a significant portion of their lives in, or were educated in, Canada, and then emigrated to the United States. Note that the term Canadian-American may or may not describe a naturalized United States citizen, depending on the individual's personal preference. For example, a prominent Canadian-American, Peter Jennings, declined to be naturalized until late in his life, having resided for many years in the United States. Particularly owing to Canada's proximity and affinity to the United States, and the more commonplace transitioning of individuals to reside on either side of the Canada-United States border, occasionally a Canadian-American who is born in Canada and who is accorded United States citizenship through the jus sanguinis need not be naturalized but need only assert his or her United States citizenship (this is not exclusive to Canadian-Americans, as such can be true of the children of U.S. citizens born anywhere in the world).

Since the term Canadian itself refers to a nationality rather than an ethnicity, the term is decidedly not an ethnonym. Canadian-Americans, as a group, desire to and do integrate and assimilate into American culture and society to a great extent; this is a result of the great similarities between Americans and Canadians culturally. It is the resultant visceral feeling among Canadian-Americans that have given rise to the self-identity of the group. Of course, as some French Canadians number among those whose self-identity in the United States is Canadian-American, it should be noted that in Canadian French, the term for Canadian-American translates to "Canado-Américaine".

The identity and experiences of different Canadian groups are the US quite divergent. White, English speaking Canadians can choose assimilate to mainstream American culture quickly, and they can often pass as a native-born American. French Canadian’s experiences are more like of other "white ethnics" in the US. Black Canadians may or may not choose to identify with Black American culture but will inevitably be affected by US race politics. Native Canadians may identify strongly with the tribal ancestry over and above any nation-state identities. Recent immigrants to Canada from places like China and India may also choose to re-emigrate to the US in search of better employment, and in that case their experiences are more similar to recent Chinese and Indian immigrants to the US, than to old-stock Canadians.

[edit] Star-Spangled Canadians: Canadians Living the American Dream

A definitive, and perhaps seminal, treatise on Canadian-Americans is Star-Spangled Canadians: Canadians Living the American Dream (ISBN 0-00255767-3). Written by Jeffrey Simpson, the book explores the differences and similarities between Canadians and Americans, and the impact these have had on the self-identity Canadian-Americans have, from the perspective of a wide range of academic disciplines. Importantly, the book anecdotally explores the areas of American culture and society in which Canadian-Americans have and have been integrated and assimilated.