Actually, I do think this is a NORTH American thing. Most Canadians I know Identify themselves ethnically by where their parents, grand parents, or even great grandparents came from (in addition to saying they are Canadian). This used to be more true in the U.S. as well. People want an ethnic identity, and there is quite a lack of specific things to ethnically identify Americans.
That's not a criticism, but how can one nation that is so vast have singularly identifying things for the cultural ethnicity. You can't expect a black stay at home mother of 5 from Alabama to culturally identify with a single white male professional from New York to culturally identify with each other.
While I understand that every country deals with this sort of thing, I don't believe it is on the same scale as it is in the U.S.. This is a vast nation with cultural differences that are enormous. Additionally, most people here in the U.S. can point to somewhere else in the world that is significant in some way to their family, and so, to identify oneself as "Irish" even though it is generations ago is relevant in the American cultural scene.
I look at the success of such movies as, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," as related to this. So many people in the U.S. are craving a specific culture they can call their own, when one is portrayed in a movie (as it was in My Big Fat Greek Wedding), people jump all over it. People here crave culture, as there is a shortage of it here.
So don't poop on Americans for digging up their "culture" from generations ago. It is a North American phenomenon, and it's hard to understand and explain.
