What is Your Heritage?

This is from my sister, claiming to be "Irish" for Saint Patrick's Day. I would think my numbers would be the same?

 

“99 and 44/100 % pure” Irish

 

This question always make me laugh. How long do you have to be a American and not be a bunch of other things. If your ancestors were here for over 200 years ,are you still something else ? What if some of my ancestors were native to here. Would that make me still of a foreign country ancestry?

 

German, Irish, Native American and a bunch of other small bits thrown in.

 

I was once a plankton swimming in the sea.

 

Half Mexican/South American, the other half a mix of Irish, Scottish, British and Dutch.

 

Anglo Saxon / Irish

 

50% German / 50% English and French

 

Welsh/Spanish

 

I was raised by parents from two fundamentally different cultures. My parents met in San Diego. I think my dad was down there for work, but I'm not sure how he would end up so far south of here (we're from Ventura County). And they ended up in San Jose somehow too... Anyway, that's not really the point, but it goes to show that love transcends.

My mom was a Midwesterner. She came from Nebraska to live in California with her mom and three brothers in I don't know what year. I'm thinking late sixties.

My dad is from a Hispanic background. It's contentious because no matter what I do, there is an adverse reaction about this half of my lineage... Some people have a very real fear of Mexican gangs, Mexican immigrants and the effects of their presence on voting or jobs or housing or neighborhoods and schools... But not all Mexican families are alike. And while some families I've known have been burdened with strife and some family members interact a lot with gangs or have problems with domestic violence or are in recovery from drugs or alcohol, our family has largely stayed clear of that. My older relatives are all very integrated and career driven. I stop short of calling us assimilated, and simply realize we have been lucky.

Mom's side of the family is mostly in San Diego now, and two of her brothers died in their fifties. Their families are in San Diego, and we visit with them and stay in touch. My dad's side of the family lives around here, and we interact (there is only my mom, my dad, and myself) with them more frequently.

There is a lot of contrast between Midwestern American charm and social norms for Mexican Americans (my dad's family integrated and immigrated before color photography) here in Southern California. In fact, often enough one culture experiences adversity from the other. But my household is removed from that, and my parents' primary focus has always been on religion (Catholicism).

In terms of nationality, I think my mom is mostly German. Her grandparents spoke German and when recently we discussed a trip to Germany I discovered that Bavaria is very Catholic; maybe we're from there (she doesn't know what part of Germany they came from originally). My dad is Mexican America, and in terms of which part of Mexico we came from, I have no idea and it's never come up. Incidentally, I've only ever been to Mexico one time, was far too drunk to set foot off the boat (mostly), and went to Puerto Vallarta (was sooo hung over) and Mazatlan. We were supposed to also stop in Cabo San Lucas, but something went wrong and we got a partial refund.

I've always had brown skin. It's light brown, but it isn't Caucasian skin. That has always been true, and growing up before a certain age I didn't really know what to think of myself. I was poor as heck, but we had more money than the Mexican families around so it was hard to say "I'm Mexican" if that makes any sense. I didn't fit in with Mexicans, let's put it that way. Later, in my twenties I tried to identify with being also "white", but the skin color gives me away... And though many Caucasian people are open to being courteous with anyone who can articulate themselves, I didn't always get the warmest reception.

In a nutshell, I half Mexican and half "white", which is a misnomer... I feel like we should say either "Caucasian" or a nationality; "Scottish" or "Czech" or one of those.

 

I am a Welsh/English in equal parts mix & Husband is English/Irish/Welsh/Austrian Mix

 

As far as i know(family history)...........Dutch............but mainlly from Friesland/Groningen(great grand parents).

No dna bla bla(interesting but does it matter?).............i live here and now(NL).

Mzzls

 

my dad's side is finnish and swedish and my moms' side is all welsh

so scandinavian and celtic, i guess that must makes me half viking and half barbarian?

 

German, Czech, Irish, English and maybe Cherokee.

Germans have been here since shortly after the American revolution.

Czechs have been here for about a century.