Heritage....A PiggyBack Question

Interesting. I was just talking with DD about this the other day. My heritage is 2nd generation Norwegian, Irish, and German. DS asked her what this made her.... I explained that 1/2 of her was Norwegian, Irish, and German and the other half was a bit questionable. We are certain DH's paternal side is all 2nd generation Sweedish. But his maternal side is a bunch of rumors. His mom claims Native American, and Canadian, but since we've never met any of his maternal family it's all speculation. So that would make DD Norwegian, Irish, German, Sweedish, French, and Native American. It's so diluted at this point that by the next generation, I think we'll all be content to settle with the title "American!"

I'm Irish, but don't 'embrace' it -- I stay home on St Paddy's Day, and can't stand corned beef & cabbage.

I like to tell people my family crest is just some guy digging potatoes.

I am 50% Swedish, 25% Polish, and 25% German.

I get my big heart from my Swedish ancestors, my ditzy-ness from my Polish ancestors, and my temper from my German ancestors :)

We don't celebrate any Swedish, Polish, or German holidays nor do we deliberately eat a lot of their foods... But my hubs is sure to point out when I'm "acting Polish", Lol.

Absolutely.

I'm a mix of Norwegian, Spanish, German and Japanese. I feel connected to all four cultures. My mother is Norwegian (my grandmother still lives in Oslo), my paternal grandmother was Spanish (she was AWESOME!), my paternal great-grandmother (Opa's mom, who I have fond memories of) was Japanese (I also grew up there) and my great-grandfather was German - he moved to Japan in the 20s and met my great-grandmother. I was brought up with bits and pieces from each culture embedded in my daily life. I sang songs in Norwegian, ate paella and canellones, visited Germany on a number of occasions, and, of course, lived in Japan. I LOVED my childhood and I LOVE my background.

My husband is of Italian/Pakistani descent, although born in NY and raised in NJ. Which makes our kids *truly* American - a real melting pot. But, they, too relate to all six of those cultures. I think it helps that they have, still living, an Italian grandmother, a Pakistani grandfather, a Norwegian grandmother and great-grandmother, and a German/Japanese/Spanish grandfather. Ask them, they would be happy to draw you a pie chart explaining what their background is.

My husband's father was born and raised in Berlin. His grandfather was a German soldier... do the Math... not something he liked to talk about. My FIL did everything he could to hide his birth origin and if you were to speak with him, you would detect no accent. My husband has embraced his German heritage and spent a lot of time with his grandfather learning German traditions and learning to speak the language. Fortunately, he is passing this down to our children as well.

My family is Irish and Polish, so we celebrate that heritage heartily. St. Patrick's Day is a "real holiday" in our household complete with traditional dinner and reading a children's book about St. Patrick to the kids so they understand that the day is not about Shamrocks and Leprechauns only! My great grandmother was born and raised in Warsaw and spoke ONLY Polish to her family, despite speaking English fluently. She wanted her children and grandchildren to speak their "native" language and they all do. I wish they had continued it with our generation. I only know terms of endearment and curse words in Polish! She did, however, pass along her recipes and we all know how to make great Polish foods having spent hours with her in her kitchen as a child and young adult.

Do I feel a prejudice? Of course. I'm 1/2 Irish and 1/2 Polish. Oh... and I'm blond. I get lots of the "drunk and stupid" jokes but it doesn't bother me. People commenting on my husband's heritage gets to him sometimes because there is still such a stigma, but he doesn't say anything- just lets it go.

I HAVE no idea what my heritage is. I look like no one in my family, ever. (A discussion for a different day.)

I am very white, fair, blonde, and small. I have it pretty easy here in America. I have never experienced prejudice.

I'm half Cajun, and yes, I embrace my Cajunness.

Well, I like to say I am 100% American. My ancestors came over and settled in the Virginia colony in 1608. Both sides of my family heritage are almost completely English, which would have made sense due to who was settling the colonies. I don't know that I am proud to be amongst the original settlers of the US. It just is what it is!

I would, but am not sure what it is... my mom's side of the family were poor rural farmers in the south. I suspect English or Irish heritage, but nobody really knows.

My dad's side came from the northeast, and traveled to the west coast on the Oregon Trail. True pioneers. And his dad (my granddad) did a lot of work in geneology trying to trace back where they came from. But it came to a dead end somewhere in PA several generations back, and nobody is for certain where they originated from either.

I don't shy away from my German ancestry, but i don't embrace it because I'm too far removed from it. So they say all vestiges of the previous culture are gone by the 5th generation. Perhaps you "embrace" it because you are third or 4th generation? Perhaps I don't because I'm 5th generation.
In any case, what would "embracing" my German heritage even look like? Not embracing has nothing to do with shying away from it in my case. I'm just American at this point. No I don't notice prejudices, but there are times I feel sheepish sharing my maiden name around Jews because its shared with a well know WWII war criminal. I do get asked if there is a relation to Adolph Eichmann. Sometimes I do feel sheepish with the name, but not the heritage. Any class of people can fall prey to evil dictatorships without realizing it. I don't count Hitler and the third Riech against the German people.

I'm Czech, Irish, and Scottish. Though my Czech side came over on the boat early 20th century, I don't feel a huge connection to that culture, aside from a lack of vowels in my maiden name, an undying love of sauerkraut that is not shared by my husband & kids, and being able to polka without spilling my beer. I guess my family assimilated quickly! I still find it very interesting and would like to learn more about my ancestors on both sides.

Well heritage. Let's see, German, Dutch, English, American Indian and Black, Scottish and whatever else. Some came willing and others didn't but it makes me who I am. I celebrate all the holidays and love all the foods and even some Polish as my neighbors back home were from Poland and we ate perogies. I have been tracing family on Ancestry site and have gotten back to 1832 on my mom's side (German mainy). My dad's side has the Dutch and there were several name changes in spelling so it is a bit harder. So as they say, "We built this country".

Have a nice day.

the other S.

Sure bc it's kind of fun but I also don't obsess about it. We're now all American. I think that should be the priority vs focusing on heritage.

ETA: Geez Lola. Sounds like people are trying to be nice and make conversation. People can't help but make an assumption when they hear an accent. It's an automatic response and I'm sure they're not trying to insult you. If it's such a problem, maybe the US isn't the best place for you. Not sure what's keeping you here if it's so annoying. No one should be expected to know where each accent is from. There are too many and not our job. If they knew you thought they were dumbasses bc they don't recognize your accent or know your original country, I'm sure they'd avoid you like the plague.

I'm well entrenched in my heritage. No Irish in my blood, but we've always had a big to do for St. Patricks day complete with corned beef and cabbage. No Chinese in my blood, but we've celebrated Chinese new year for over a dozen years now.

Hubs is English, so we've added St. George's day to our annual calendar.

interesting question. As a mutt, I really only tie to my Italian since my g-ma came over on the boat as a baby and that is what I feel I am "most"
And yes. I am comfortable with it and embrace it - especially when my temper flairs or someone comments about how much I use my hands to talk:)

I am comfortable with my heritage, but it's a very traditional heritage in my country. My ancestors were free settlers and convicts, with a little German, Welsh, and Irish thrown in generations back.

I don't perceive or experience prejudice at all.

I neither embrace, nor am embarrassed by, my heritage. It's such a mix of European countries that I don't even know what I'd embrace! We have mostly German from both my parents' sides, and my husband has Irish and English roots, but still, we're really just American at this point, and THAT'S what we choose to celebrate.

Totally comfortable. Dutch and Norwegian. Ironically, I love snow but can't stand the cold. Wish I were bilingual like my grandparents were. Lived in Japan and fell in love with its culture, to the point where I may as well have been an Albino Japanese gal.

Brigette H, I totally cracked up at your family crest comment.
=)

The majority of my ancestors migrated to Canada from Ireland in the 1850's. The same with my husbands ancestors. We acknowledge our Irish ancestry, but we are quite far removed from Ireland to actually "embrace" it. I do cook something Irish for St. Patricks day if I remember, usually stew. I like Irish food well enough, but I do prefer Ukrainian, Greek and Japanese food!

Canada is not an "melting pot" like the US. We consider ourselves to be "multi-cultural", so we do tend to celebrate our ethnic differences and hang on to our customs, rather than try to blend in. That isn't to say we don't have prejudice here, but I imagine it is less than in the US.

It never occurred to me to shy away from my heritage. I am czech, german, and...unknown (both of my grandmothers' families have been in the US so long, it's impossible to trace back that far). We live in Texas, and there are large and enthusiastic German and Czech communities here, with festivals, food, music, and a fantastic sense of humor about those backgrounds.

We have very much embraced the "American" heritage, too, and particularly the "Texan" part. My mom is fond of pointing out that both of my kids are 7th generation Texans, through both of my grandmothers. Fortunately, quite a bit of it was built by German and Czech immigrants, so the whole thing just kind of fits together.

My husband's family is Irish and Italian, though his great grandfather considered himself simply American, and told his children very, very little about the "old country," and threw himself 100% into all things American. On the Irish side, some customs are still around.

of course i do. just pisses me off badly when people hear me talk in English and assume i am from Russia or one of the Soviet Union nations. i speak a slavic language which causes me to sound slavic. but even when asked where i am from people still say ahhh russia. no dumbarse, if you don't recognize the country just shut up or ask me where is it located.

ITALIAN and proud of it! Absolutely I embrace it.

There can never be anything negative about gathering family for ANY reason. My Italian-born grandfather had his birthday on St. Pat's day...nothing like pasta with corned beef.