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How important is your ethnic background to you? I am such a duke's mixture (as far as I can tell) that it makes me 100% American. What about you? Does it matter?

tioteo 8 Mar 25
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34 comments

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2

It is kinda interesting, but that's about it.

8

Well, there's a lot of ethnic culture and foods that are most definitely an important part of who I am. It's not just about ancestry, I count the close bonds I still maintain with folks in my old hometown. Now to be fair, I grew up in a heavily ethnic area, so my perception of what my background means to me will always filter through that lens. I am an American, but I have strong Eastern European roots that I am comfortable and proud to possess.

6

I am comfortably an American mutt, too. I DO love being American. And, I'm second generation, raised in a culturally-sensitive household. My father wanted us to be as tough as his Spartan ancestors. But it's my mother's family (Ashkenazi Jewish) that still 'speaks' to me. My Jewish great grandfather was killed in his bed, a bayonet through the heart in Poland and my great grandmother was hauled off to the gas chambers with 3 of her daughters and their families, my mother's cousins. Genocide lives in the bones of the descendants. I care about the Jewish people and I care about all minorities subjected to hate, discrimination and ultimately genocide. I see ethnicity for its commonalities rather than divisions.

5

Does it matter? Not really, however, I was born in Germany and so have dual citizenship. Something I may need to take advantage of. LOL! =]

Take me with you!

I just got a box of some of the best ginger cookies ever, from Germany. Germans do ginger baked goods right!

5

It’s so unimportant these days. Especially in America. Whenever I see “which ethnicity?” And “what race?”, I wonder why they don’t just ask me my skin color, nose size, and eye slant.

Marz Level 7 Mar 26, 2018
5

My ancestry is important to me only that it helps me to understand where I've come from. My ancestors were mainly Ashkenazi Jews who escaped the pogroms in Eastern Europe at the turn of the 20th century, and anyone who didn't get out before WWII, there's probably not much left to document them. Yet I'm very frustrated with Jews who use the Holocaust as justification for belligerence, because I look at as another sad genocide and my response to it as the way to respond to other atrocities as well. Jews may say "never forget," and I agree - but let's not forget any of them.

5

I have no interest whatsoever in my ancestry. What I am doing now is what matters. When those ancestry.com commercials come on, I can't help but shake my head. What do the shades from the past have to do with me?

Of course, you don't need to care about your ancestry, but for some of us, we enjoy discovering our personal history. Tracking your family through the civil war and other events, their movements from when they arrived in the country where it was, how did they get to where you were born, their occupations. It brings them alive, makes them real. The shades of past are bits of your ancestors that made you. You can ignore it or embrace it.

@BeeHappy I was just looking at the dress uniform my great great grandfather wore in the Civil War

@BeeHappy I agree.

4

It really doesn't matter to me at all.

4

I embrace being a cultural Jew. Its wonderful to see others take pride in their ethnicity. We love the foods, music, dances and traditional dress from different ethnic groups. Diversity is the key to the growth of the United States despite what Trumpty Dumpty is trying to so making it a white, Christian, nation.

4

Not important.

4

I'm not especially interested in my ethnic background. And those DNA tests that presumably give greater detail about distant origins likewise don't impress me. I see no way that such information benefits me or changes anything about my life or who I am. It's not even a passing curiosity for me.

3

Does not matter at all. However I must say that I am a member of the privileged class being a straight, white, male.

3

Well, since most people get nationality and ethnicity mixed (they think are synonyms) and some, also add religion to the cocktail....let me tell you I was born in Argentina and the rest of my family -siblings included- was born in France...so I am an Argentinian with roots that remount to Bretagne, I lived in South America half of my life and now I enjoy USA.. What am I?

Yes, ethnicity is important to me.

What are you? A decent human being? I think that's probably it.

3

I am proud of my cultures, but saddened by many things my ancestors did. Then again, I am the product of thousands of generations of mistakes and wars and slavery and history

3

I like to know the history of my family

3

My DNA says that I am am a mixture of German, Scotch, Irish, English, 3.0 percent Neanderthal, !.0 percent Scandanavian, !.0 perent southern European (probably Spanish), a trace African, and a Trace of either Pima or Aztec Indian.Does it matter? In what sense? I am who and what I am.

So what kind of whisky was your ancestor? Talisker? Dalwhinnie? Auchentoshen?

@ailurophile Huh?

@wordywalt Scotch 🙂

3

It's interesting to see where I have come from, what my ancestors may have done and where they have been, but it's unimportant to me. I don't have white pride or Scottish, irish, english, french, german pride...that is just what makes up my physical traits. I identify with being white and American, but my ethnicity is not the important part of me.

3

"duke's mixture" have not heard that one, I am a Heinz 57, so I guess it may be similar. I was born in Australia, both my parents were, my mother was adopted, so who knows before that, my fathers side is all over he UK and Europe though both his parents were born here. I cannot and do not consider myself anything other than Aussie. My kids are 25% American, but their grandfather was only 1st generation, Belgium and France before that. So it certainly does not matter to me.

3

My first ancestors arrived in the US circa 1775 and the latest circa 1875. From what I know of my genealogy I'm Basically Scottish, Welsh, and British. Probably some other European as well, I just don't know. In my day to day life, my heritage doesn't mean anything to me. I'm American.

2

I don't really think about it or care. If someone asks I just say American.

2

It might matter if I could have chosen my ethnic background. But Mom and Dad chose me.

2

We are all immigrants. I'm a mixture for sure and cannot trace anyone on my real father's side because I never knew him and never met him. These days if I fill out a form that has "race" on it I'm tempted to check "other" rather than "white" or caucasion. That's because I have never met a white person. Most are different shades of blended pink or something unless they are tanned.

2

I'm a mix of Caucasian, Native American, and African American. I've been mistaken for Turkish, Iranian, Arabic, Cuban, Haitian... Depending upon the current state of my tan.

2
2

It can be interesting but doesn't matter. My Mom's family is extremely well documented back to the 1600's in America They were among the first settlers is various towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts The only benefit is that there is a state park in New Hampshire where my Mom's ancesters first settledd and because I am a direct descendent, I get free admission and parking, woohoo!
The only thing I know about my Dad's side of the family is that my Grandmother was born somewhere in Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio as a little girl around 1900. I know nothing of my paternal grandfather except overheard whipers. I asked about him once and was told, He was not a good man and don't ever ask about him again.ever. He is not to be mentioned in this house.

2

I was born and live in the UK but I didn't have much choice in the matter. I like where I live but my background means nothing to me. I mean here everyone bitches about all the east Europeans here now but we like the USA are a mongrel nation.saxons, Vikings, Romans and anyone else didn't wear condoms so I doubt very much im fully English. I really don't think about it.

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