Riker's American Nationality.

[T'Girl]

"The Defector"
Riker: I don't like it. I would've expected a greeting party.
Picard: You echo another noteworthy commander in a similar circumstances, Number One.
A countryman of yours, George Armstrong Custer when his Seventh Cavalry arrived at the Little Big Horn.
Riker: May we have better luck.

During the episode "The Defector" Picard basically refers to William Riker as a American. During the course of the series Riker pretty constantly refers to himself as a Alaskan which might lead some to believe that Alaska is a independent sovereign nation. Others hold that by the 24th century there effectively are no sovereign nations left in existence on Earth. That United Earth is a "One Nation" planet.

Is Riker a American national?
Does America (and other nations) still exist in the 24th century as a independent sovereign nations?

 

[Sibo191]

According to these 2 links, depending on which you prefer to follow I would say it does.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/United_States
or this
http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/United_States_of_America

But being a part of United Earth, I would say that it still exists but more like the individual states do today.

As far as Riker goes, I consider him American. I take him referring to being from Alaska, or calling himself Alaskan is pretty much the same as someone from Texas calling themselves a Texan, or someone from Virginia calling themselves a Virginian, and so on.

 

[Sci]

I think it's safe to presume that the United States still exists as a political subdivision of United Earth. And even if it did not, I think it's safe to say that the American culture and people who self-identify as Americans would still exist, even if the United States as a political entity did not.

 

[Timo]

...And even if that fails, we could always argue that there is a sub-group of people who remember "America" or the United States, even though this is highly unfashionable and in fact frowned upon, a bit like referring to the Confederacy or the Reich or the Empire. Picard could then refer to Riker's "nationality" in jest (as obviously there's jest there in equating Riker with Custer, and Stewart's delivery carries that across).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

Maybe Humans don't attach a lot of importance to their nationality as much as they do to where they are born. Maybe Picard considers himself French because he was born in France, but he may be closer to being European in actual nationality...

 

[Avon]

i bet people would like the french more if they had patrick stewart's accent

 

[iguana_tonante]

I think it's safe to presume that the United States still exists as a political subdivision of United Earth. And even if it did not, I think it's safe to say that the American culture and people who self-identify as Americans would still exist, even if the United States as a political entity did not.

Yeah, that's the way I see it as well. Group identities are always been layered. You are a member of your town/neighourhood, your city/county, your region/province, your nation/state, your union/country and ultimately a human being. Nothing strange about that.

 

[Caliburn24]

Picard's comment is just to poke fun about Riker's heritage.

Picard had had to listen to Riker go on and on and on about being descended from the greatest of all American presidents Sarah Palin.

And Picard saw his opportunity for revenge.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I can't imagine all people abandoning the concept of pride in their region, in their particular part of the world. That's even with United Earth and such.

 

[USS Excelsior]

His ancestors were Yankee Traitors and a Civil War combatant who was rescued by Quinn.

And in Lower Decks he was referred to as Canadian but grew up in Alaska.

 

[The Wormhole]

And in Lower Decks he was referred to as Canadian but grew up in Alaska.

Ten-Forward waiter Ben told Sam Lavelle that Riker was Canadian. When Lavelle asked Riker if he were Canadian, Riker flat out denied it, saying he grew up in Alaska.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Which brings the question: does Jonathan Frakes speak with the correct Alaskan accent when playing Riker? Having English as a foreign language, all accents (except the most obvious) are quite difficult to distinguish for me.

 

[The Wormhole]

Does Alaska have its own accent?

 

[iguana_tonante]

^ No idea.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Which brings the question: does Jonathan Frakes speak with the correct Alaskan accent when playing Riker?

There is no single "correct Alaskan accent". Like any other area, there are a wide variety of accents in that state. Some talk like Sarah Palin, some talk like a Midwest newsreader, some talk completely different from those.

 

[Kirby]

So Work grew up in Russia, and Riker grew up in Alaska.
I wonder if Riker could see Worf from his house.

 

[iguana_tonante]

There is no single "correct Alaskan accent". Like any other area, there are a wide variety of accents in that state. Some talk like Sarah Palin, some talk like a Midwest newsreader, some talk completely different from those.

Er, ok. Unfortunately, Sarah Palin, a Midwesterner and William Riker sound all the same to me. So, generally speaking, was Frakes correct in his accent, or it was completely unbelievable as an Alaskan?

 

[AdmiralGarak]

His ancestors were Yankee Traitors

Yankee Traders. As in merchants. And there's no evidence that his ancestors were actually 18th Century seafaring merchants. That was simply how the Ferengi were initially described.

 

[Sci]

There is no single "correct Alaskan accent". Like any other area, there are a wide variety of accents in that state. Some talk like Sarah Palin, some talk like a Midwest newsreader, some talk completely different from those.

Er, ok. Unfortunately, Sarah Palin, a Midwesterner and William Riker sound all the same to me. So, generally speaking, was Frakes correct in his accent, or it was completely unbelievable as an Alaskan?

What Mr. Laser Beam was saying was that there are Alaskans who have the American Midwestern accent that Frakes had as Riker, so, yes, in that regard, his accent was perfectly acceptable.

And Sarah Palin has a very distinctive accent -- one of the things you might notice about her is that when she's saying a word that ends in "-ing," she drops the "g." She doesn't say, "talking," she says, "talkin'," for instance.

 

[Sector 7]

Sarah Palin is a poor example of anything, except a crooked politician who quit her job. Her accent reminds me of the scene in Mrs. Doubtfire where Pierce Brosnan tells her, "Your accent seems muddled."