Mixed identity
How has your mixed identity affected your life in the United
States? I have heard people say that they are tired of hearing people in this
country referred to as hyphenated Americans, but if you are not of Native
American heritage, your ancestors are not from this continent, and
anthropologists believe that even Native Americans probably came from another
continent. If you do genealogical research, you are trying to determine from
what country your ancestors originated. Why? Do you want to feel connected to a
cultural identity from somewhere in the past. Does your last name automatically
elicit a connection? Mine does, even though that’s on my father’s side. But it
was viewed negatively during both WWI and WWII even though he was born in
Canada.
This young woman was born in America. She is an American
citizen. She was educated in American schools and feels pride in being an
American, but when she was profiled as her flight prepared to depart and asked
to leave, she became even more aware of how one's cultural heritage can
stereotype them.
Her TED talk was really interesting. It breaks my heart when a citizen is view less then because of their cultural background. It is them that provide rich color and texture in the American society. I’m glad she is opening up her experiences to the public.
ReplyDeleteIt seems so arbitrary to trace one's ancestry to a specific point in (say) Europe, but not to push the genealogy on back to its deepest roots - where we really are all related. Our tribal atavism is too shallow, our tribes too small.
ReplyDelete