tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post5660396751309801404..comments2023-09-23T02:16:11.746-06:00Comments on Thoughts from a Foster Family: Being Questioned about IdentityYondallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10375966725096729570noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-25260455815731343352008-04-25T21:18:00.000-06:002008-04-25T21:18:00.000-06:00What mijk said. I'm American but I spend a lot of ...What mijk said. I'm American but I spend a lot of time abroad and I notice that is Americans who keep insisting on being whatever their ancestors were before arriving here, sometimes hundreds of years ago. Elsewhere to be "Irish" or whatever would mean you actually hold an Irish passport.<BR/><BR/>It is strange - the first thing that popped into my mind when you mentioned the object representing heritage was, since I am from California, some natural object typical of there - a piece of granite from the Sierra, a redwood burl, a Monterey pine. But the teacher wouldn't have accepted that, obviously. Yet it would be my expression of me: so I would have felt violated by that teacher.Rent Partyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05172304380312568465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-86339529442671583702008-04-06T08:27:00.000-06:002008-04-06T08:27:00.000-06:00I think two human tendencies drive this: nosiness ...I think two human tendencies drive this: nosiness and the need to label. I personally think they're innate, uncontrollable, and lead to a whole lotta trouble in the world, but that's just an opinion.<BR/><BR/>I grew up in a very white, non-diverse area and got asked this question all the time, I suspect because I'm dark. People just couldn't leave it alone.<BR/><BR/>No one here in the States has ever guessed my ethnicity, although plenty are nosy enough to ask and try to label me as something else. I've come to the conclusion that in the environment I grew up in, it's less important to the nosy ones to know what you are than to be able to judge you.<BR/><BR/>Good post.Third Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06310395341252295955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-75414479309771536502008-04-05T22:51:00.000-06:002008-04-05T22:51:00.000-06:00All I have to say is "I'm adopted" and the line of...All I have to say is "I'm adopted" and the line of questioning ends. Well, that line.<BR/>I'm glad you stood your ground. There are times in these classes that the point seems to go too far. Yes, heritage is important, but the definition each person gives it is also.<BR/>If you're looking to find a person's identity, shouldn't you listen to how they define themselves first and foremost??Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06477543108055597027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-16533200196107250902008-04-05T09:22:00.000-06:002008-04-05T09:22:00.000-06:00I understand! But I AM dutch so I just responded t...I understand! But I AM dutch so I just responded to the general habit of American's claiming a European identity when in fact they are American. (Which is quite cool too ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-40573643846998664482008-04-03T21:54:00.000-06:002008-04-03T21:54:00.000-06:00Oh, and another bit: in the where-are-you-from dis...Oh, and another bit: in the where-are-you-from discussion, people can say 'Chile' or 'Puerto Rico' and no one calls them on colonization. My Puerto Rican relatives-- still Pennsylvanian on one side, and boy are those genes strong-- are Puerto Rican, yes, but does anyone ask them where they were from *before*? No. Andalucia and the Basque country (I'm not sure which is more prevalent) do not matter to their official heritage.<BR/><BR/>I wonder what people would say if I said, "I'm from the Internet."Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00362801327321637420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-50205513210532339012008-04-03T18:32:00.000-06:002008-04-03T18:32:00.000-06:00I do the same thing. "Where are you from?" "Penn...I do the same thing. "Where are you from?" "Pennsylvania." "Where were they from?" "Well, a German principality. So I guess I'm Holy Roman." "You can't be Holy Roman!" "Then I'm African, near Olduvai Gorge. DEAL."<BR/><BR/>Know anyone in Centre county? Because that's where my Pennsylvanian comes in. Dad's family's from all over the place, but Mom's goes straight back to Conrad Weiser.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00362801327321637420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-19166830568539180012008-04-03T09:53:00.000-06:002008-04-03T09:53:00.000-06:00mijk:The "Pennsylvania Dutch" are from Germany. Th...mijk:<BR/><BR/>The "Pennsylvania Dutch" are from Germany. They got named that because "Deutsch" sounded like "Dutch" to American English-speakers.<BR/><BR/>So I could have ancestors who are really Dutch, but it is more likely that I have a few from Germany.Yondallahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10375966725096729570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-37111631377532358472008-04-03T09:45:00.000-06:002008-04-03T09:45:00.000-06:00My dad's adopted and looks very Jewish. My mom's f...My dad's adopted and looks very Jewish. My mom's family is from all over Europe. I've gotten into the habit of saying I'm of European mutt descent. I don't want to say I'm Jewish on my dad's side, since his adoptive parents weren't Jewish and, in any case, Judaism is passed through the mother's line.<BR/><BR/>What's my heritage? My mom taught me how to cook Mexican food from their years in Las Cruces. My dad taught me to fight with swords. Both of them taught me a love of reading and computers. We just don't go back a lot farther than that, and that bugs people sometimes.wendrynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06997119641497745602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-40916018459638528172008-04-03T08:12:00.000-06:002008-04-03T08:12:00.000-06:00My hubby gets this kind of treatment. He is Jewish...My hubby gets this kind of treatment. He is Jewish, or his family is. Religiously we are Catholic (he converted several years ago), but if you ask him about his heritage he will say he is Jewish. This often upsets people, who ask but where are you from? Truth is, like many Jewish people, he really doesn't know. He knows (based on looks) that they are Eastern European and not Middle Eastern but where they just don't know. So, to him his culture is Jewish.Upstatemammahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16862359333933751151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21112957.post-49286554256566938122008-04-03T01:36:00.000-06:002008-04-03T01:36:00.000-06:00funny thing is that even if they were born here.Du...funny thing is that even if they were born here.Dutch americans are just Americans to us Dutch. You spot them a mile away even if they still speakkt he language My dutch american family is lovely but way more american then dutch!). So if your great grandfather was born in Groningen, the Netherlands but moved to America in the 1830's surely doesn't make you dutch in whatever way..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com