Jun 15 2009
Why Isn’t There an “American Day Parade” In Other Countries?
As I got annoyed walking to Penn Station seeing all the folks gearing up for the Puerto Rican day parade a thought ran into my head (and the annoyance was at Penn Station not the Puerto Ricans). Given all the other country parades that we have here in New York City, why aren’t there “American Day” parades in other countries?
Sure at the surface it seems easy. America is a melting pot of sorts (although it’s really Manhattan) and it houses the people from other countries more so than they do us. We simply don’t have much of a presence in other countries like other countries do here.
But I’d have to imagine there’s gotta be some country out there that has a nice little community of Americans. Preferably rednecks. Or even just a bunch of Guidos from Brooklyn.
See how that country feels when a bunch of huge sunglassed, collared up assholes are playing techno and bopping around like morons for 8 hours.
Fine, Puerto Rico, Poland, Ireland, etc etc. Great. You’re from there. Do we really need to have a parade about it?
And this isn’t to be racist or anything like that. I think parades celebrating a “people” from any country really don’t need to exist. Holiday parades, fine. I get that. But why do we need an entire day to celebrate the fact that you’re Irish, Mexican, Chinese, whatever?
OK, St. Paddy’s day can stay though. I love seeing drunk cops. But still, that’s probably more of a holiday anyway.
*And yes I know Puerto Rico is an American territory but come on guys. It’s not really American.
Even More Uncoachable Stuff
if their country is so great then why aren’t they living there.
Because there’s so much space in America. That’s why the first settlers moved here unobtrusively without upsetting the indigenous population
Seriously though, America is a huge place with a ‘democratic’ system. That means we have room for huge amounts of immigrants. Coupled with the fact that America was built by immigrant populations, you get a welcoming and very attractive place for people to move!
American’s don’t really emigrate to other countries and form large colonies. North America geographically has most things that the rest of the world can offer so why move elsewhere? The only thing for Americans to escape from is the American government. The only thing for Americans to escape to is older and more varied cultures.
Puerto Rico is an American territory. Its not an independent country. Your ignorance is blinding.
Who cares if they are an American territory…in fact it makes it even dumber. Why celebrate only one area of the country? It is insulting to the rest of us. We don’t have Texas parades or any crap like that…and that would probably be a lot more fun than most of these other ones.
The question I have is why don’t they parade in their neighborhood? Nothing is more annoying than walking out of my apartment and over to Madison Square Park and having it overflowing with people from Brooklyn and Queens. Why not have the freeking parade in Brooklyn or Queens? Heck take it up north to Spanish Harlem if you just have to have it on Manhattan. Why are you coming to my neighborhood to parade?
As an American living in Ireland, I have come to realize that people like you are the cause of why other countries don’t celebrate an ‘American Day’. The people of most countries have a fairly low opinion of Americans. The ignorance of that feces you spouted above only adds to that low opinion.
And why is there anything wrong with people celebrating their heritage? It is part of who they are. If it bothers you, you don’t have to participate.
And should you really want to know why there is not an American parade in other countries, it is because we have spread so much misery around the world that there is hardly much to celebrate. It is us who should quiet down and listen to other nations from time to time.
Greetings from Bangkok!
You sound like Berlusconi, when he declared that it was “un-Italian to eat anything but Italian food”. So, let’s ban Puerto-Rican celebrations because they are un-American. What’s next? Ban Oktoberfest celebrations all over the country because they connect to German traditions and heritage? Ban Mardi Gras because it is a French and Italian tradition? Ban St. Patrick’s Day?
@2003 – Hey man, I’m just sayin…
@Pat – couldn’t agree with you more buddy. America sucks balls.
Why the hell would Americans be living en masse abroad? We don’t. America rules, we don’t move away. Sure, businessmen get sent overseas but not enough to have a parade.