Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Skaldskatan t1_ir9jqzw wrote

Reply to comment by booksandmints in Where did the English language REALLY come from? by MagicRaptor

I am not English, but why would Anglo-Saxon have negative connotations? I am fairly interested in European historian and like to watch ie Dan Davis and “survive the jive” but have never heard anyone mention this.

3

booksandmints t1_ir9ko2k wrote

Until maybe two years ago, I hadn’t heard of it either (I live in the UK). It seems that it has mostly been a problem in the US, where the term “Anglo Saxon” came to gain white supremacist meanings, along with nationalism and racial purity, etc. Abhorrent, of course. But in the UK (and I suppose parts of Europe?) “Anglo Saxon” broadly refers to the time period between the end of the Roman period and the beginning of the Viking Age, and doesn’t have the same horrible meaning that it does in the US. It was news to me when I first heard about that, but I’ve since read more. In her recent book Buried, Dr. Alice Roberts has a whole postscript section about the use of the term and how its meaning has changed over time across the world.

10

calamitouscamembert t1_ir9mzl6 wrote

Some people probably say it as another word for white British (or of that ancestry), so it's probably because of who is or isn't using that terminology.

6

Fit_Sandwich9551 t1_ir9nfzx wrote

In the U.S. "Anglo-Saxon" identity connotes racial purity and is a longstanding racist concept and buzzword.

5

Uptown_NOLA t1_ir9uhtn wrote

I'm here in the states and am well read and have never heard that as well, so you're not crazy.

edit:clarity

4

cuicocha t1_irao0iw wrote

Another well-read American here. This is the first I ever heard of Anglo-Saxon being a racist buzzword (as described here). Not denying that it exists, just that the racist buzzword use is not how I'm used to hearing it used. The racist use seems illogical to me because the term excludes Germanic or Nordic heritage, which modern racists usually are fine with.

I've heard Anglo-Saxon used in a few senses in American writing, none of which make any sense or actually pertain to Anglo-Saxon ethnicity (i.e., not Norman, Norse, or Celtic):

  • In global politics, "Anglo-Saxon world" basically meaning the close ties between US, UK, Australia, NZ, and Canada
  • Especially in the northeastern US, describing white families with British colonial roots, as opposed to heritage in post-independence immigrants (as in White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, "WASP"), usually with the implication of upper class, "respectability", education, and a certain uptightness or reserve
  • In the southwestern US, "Anglo" meaning English-speaking Americans with roots elsewhere in the US, as opposed to the hispanic and indigenous people who were already there before the Mexican-American war (not common anymore in my experience).
5

elmonoenano t1_irbw950 wrote

Back in the hey day of "scientific" racism there were a lot of claims that were made about Anglo-Saxon people vis a vis other groups. Most of it is pretty easily rejected, even by the 30. Just better tools of linguistic analysis, genetics, and basic standards in stuff like anatomy got people to reject stuff like phrenology, which had served as the basis for a lot it.

But, the racism associated with the term got worked into a lot of stuff, like immigration law and the medical profession. It mostly now is associated with stuff like keeping Jewish people from receiving refuge from the Nazis or slavery or sterilizing people of color or lower classes or colonialism.

0