Canadian-American

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Canadian-American is a person living in the United States who was born in, raised in, or possesses ancestral ties to 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 immigrated to the United States.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Canadian-American is a term that is rarely used by Canadians within the US to refer to themselves because Canadians do not hypenate themselves; however, it is increasingly used in demographic study and in media references.

1 Canadian-Americans and U.S. nationality law
2 Canadian-Americans as a subculture
3 Study
4 References
5 See also
6 Further reading
7 External links

[edit] Canadian-Americans and U.S. nationality law

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.^[4]^[5] 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^[6], 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).

[edit] Canadian-Americans as a subculture

Since the term Canadian itself refers to a nationality rather than an ethnicity, the term cannot be considered 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. A Canadian-American, even when asked by an American of similar ethnicity what city of town he or she is "from", in citing one that is not in the U.S., distinguishes himself or herself. The resulting lack of the assumption of "sameness of national origin" gives rise to the resultant visceral feeling among Canadian-Americans as to the self-identity of the group.

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-Américain”. And, to be sure, the accent with which residents of Stanstead, Quebec speak Canadian French is markedly different from that with which the residents of Derby Line, Vermont speak American English.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] English-Canadian Americans

The identity and experiences of Canadian-Americans in the U.S. are considered by some to be quite divergent. Some believe that white, English-speaking Canadian-Americans can choose to assimilate to mainstream American culture quickly, because some believe that these Canadian-Americans can often "pass", or be perceived by others as, a native-born white American. The likelihood that this is true, given that a Canadian-American must distinguish himself or herself from other Americans by recounting his city or town of origin as being one outside the U.S., is cast into doubt, although often enough Canadians are recognized by quirks in their pronunciation of American English.

Additionally, U.S. Constitutional law distinguishes between native-born American citizens and naturalized U.S. citizens in qualifying persons under it for certain high offices. For example, the Canadian-American Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, cannot reasonably seek election to the office of President of the United States because, constitutionally, she is disqualified from holding that office, because the "most American" a Canadian-American could ever be, by definition, is one holding the legal status of being a naturalized U.S. citizen.

[edit] French-Canadian Americans

The experiences of French-Canadian Canadian-Americans are believed by some to resemble that of "white ethnics" in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Canadian-Americans of African origin

Some believe that Black Canadians may or may not choose to identify with Black American culture--but some believe that notwithstanding this, they will inevitably be affected by what some consider to be "U.S. race politics".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Aboriginal Canadian-Americans

Aboriginal peoples in Canada may identify strongly with the tribal ancestry over and above any nation-state-derived identities. As a consequence of Article 3 of Jay Treaty of 1794, official First Nations status, or in the US Native American status, also confers the right to live and work on either side of the border.^[7]

[edit] ‘Re-emigrating’ Canadian-Americans

Some believe that recent immigrants to Canada from nations such as China and India may also choose to again emigrate to the U.S. in search of better employment ("economic migrants"), and in that case, some believe that their experiences are more similar to recent Chinese and Indian immigrants to the U.S., than to that of "old-stock" Canadians.

[edit] Study

There are some institutions in the United States that focus on Canadian-American studies such as the Canadian-American Center in Maine ^[8] or the Center for Canadian American studies in Washington. ^[9].