Do you have an ethnic identity?

I'm pretty much of cold Northwestern European/Scandinavian by ancestry and an Long Islander.
 
Newfoundlander! Mom family all immigrate from Ireland, as did paternal grandmother family, so mostly identify Irish Canadian. Dads dad family from Poland, hence super scary unpronounceable polish last name. Or, jillio say scary anyway, lol.
 
Banjo: our "ethnicity" is our own self defined configuration? Did our parents have anything to do with it? What next-we brought ourselves into the world without parents?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
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drphil said:
No comment re No ethnicity. Who is lost? Presumably- no parents. Only on computer screens-of course.
To me I became bilateral DEAF on December 20, 2006 in actuality. Whether "approved by deaf Militants"-if existent not sought out. Real easy to determine-silence.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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No ethnicity? What, you sprang fully formed from the ground or what?
 
drphil said:
Banjo: our "ethnicity" is own self defined configuration? Did our parents have anything to do with it? What next-we brought ourselves into the world without parents?

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Have you ever heard of a thing called genetics? It is a new scientific discovery. Read about it.:roll:
 
I have heard of genetics-well aware that my deafness is the results of genetics-my father!

I knew for almost 15 years- Mar/92- I would become bilateral DEAF.

Implanted A B Harmony-activated Aug/07
 
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drphil said:
Banjo: our "ethnicity" is our own self defined configuration? Did our parents have anything to do with it? What next-we brought ourselves into the world without parents?
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Um, that's still not an answer.
 
Banjo: still no comment re "immaculate conception" only on computer screens.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
souggy said:
No, I am not asking for your racial identity (white, black, Asian whatever), I am asking for your ethnic identity; your identity based on history, ancestry, language and so on. If you honestly identify yourself as "white" or "black," don't-- instead, are you a Southerner? Do you consider yourself to be a Boston Irish? A New Yorker? An African American, whose can claim their descendent from the American slavery? Caribbean American? North African? Mexican? Puerto Rican? Korean? Chinese? Deaf? Yes, Deaf can be considered as an ethnicity.
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What an interesting question!

When I was growing up, both my great grandmothers on my father's side were still alive. One was of Czech extraction (born in America to Czech immigrants) and the other was of German extraction (born in America). One of them was in the nursing home already and the other was still spry and living on the family's homestead farm, the farm that some of her husband's ancestors settled on when arriving in the area.

So as a kid, I hung out with a direct relative who was born in the 1890's. It's just amazing to me to think of that. Here I am, living in (and probably will die in) the 21st century, and I knew someone who was born in the late 19th century. It just reminds me that things that seem so long ago, really aren't so long ago. From a bird's eye view, they were just yesterday or a couple days ago.

I also hung out at that family farm when I was a kid. By that time, it was no longer operational. My great grandmother was retired and her son who lived out there to take care of her was retired as well. The cows and equipment had been sold off. The land was rented to other farmers in the area to bring in money.

It was really mind blowing to walk around out there and realize that generations of my family trod the same soil going back to about the 1870's or so. People would point to an area of ground and say, "That's where the sod house was." Have you seen pictures of the sod houses settler's lived in? The grueling conditions they lived in just to hack out a living? Respect.

In my child's mind, that land was were we, our family, "came from". There were farms in the whole area settled by other branches of the family. A half-mile away was a small town cemetery where generations of my family are buried. In that cemetery are my original ancestors who came to this country. There they are. I wouldn't be here if they didn't make the decision to go.

Later that farm was sold when my great-uncle went into a nursing home. I still regret not finding a way to somehow buy that farm. But I had no money to do so. Not being able to go out to that farm, driving by it and realizing that to step on that land would be "trespassing," kinda hurts. Maybe someday I can buy it back.

Anyway, the question is of ethnic identity. I talked about the land, because it is part of my identity. It was a symbol of continuity to ancestors past.

I am of Norwegian, Swedish, German, and Czech extraction... at the earliest, my ancestors came to America in the 1870s. Many started out in the Pennsylvania coal mines before finding opportunities to settle land and farm. They settled in one of the most arid places in the United States and still managed to make the land support more than it did before. They were tough people. They had to be.

One grandmother was proud of her Norwegian ancestry. She was part Swedish, too, but Norway was tops in her mind. She had visited Norway as a kind of pilgrimage at one time. She was so happy that she could visit and see it. She visited family farms in Norway named after the family name.

She prided herself on cooking traditional Norwegian dinners from scratch. Nothing compares to traditional foods cooked from scratch.... nothing. :)

Some of my ancestors, going way back, were involved in some of the most pivotal events of history. In some cases, it is impossible to trace a direct line to someone back then, so we start to identify the national or tribal groupings of the time.

For example, I don't know an ancestor who was at Teutoburg Forest, but it is entirely possible that one of them was involved at repelling the Roman invasion there. I don't know of an ancestor who might have fought in the Czech reformation battles between Reformer and Catholic at the time (1400's), but it is very possible. I've had both Catholic and Protestant ancestors going way back, I'm sure. Probably a few private agnostics, too, going to church to keep Mom happy. Certainly Heathen/Pagan/Tribal ancestors if you go back far enough.

All of this makes for a heady mix of history and identity. But only insofar as you are aware of your ancestor's history. We live in times, where it is very easy to leave behind any identity. We live in times where the national media actively discourages any development of ethnic identity. We are expected, all of us, to meld into a singular American identity, defined by policy makers at the top. Grassroots American identity is discouraged. Which is unfortunate, because we all come from proud peoples all over the world with an amazing past, with positive and horrible events, and we made it here. No one should be ashamed of their own ethnic heritage if they choose to claim it.

If that ethnic heritage is important to you, you have to cultivate it and pass it on.

I'm happy to know where the original sod house was.
 
MidnightSun said:
As a child i was told stories of the Nors and their bravery. My grandmother always told me whenever things seemed overwhelming to remember an old Nors saying,,,I have been put to the fire and survived, like steel it has made me stronger. :wave:
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You might enjoy reading some of the old Sagas from Iceland... especially the Havamal. Lots of sayings like that one. :)

Hávamál

Edit: This one is probably a better translation: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe04.htm
 
drphil said:
No comment re No ethnicity. Who is lost? Presumably- no parents. Only on computer screens-of course.
To me I became bilateral DEAF on December 20, 2006 in actuality. Whether "approved by deaf Militants"-if existent not sought out. Real easy to determine-silence.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Yeah, we kow when you think you became DEAF and when you were implanted. Quite obviously, your deafness extends to your ability to assimilate new information, as well.:cool2:
 
sunny_signs said:
Newfoundlander! Mom family all immigrate from Ireland, as did paternal grandmother family, so mostly identify Irish Canadian. Dads dad family from Poland, hence super scary unpronounceable polish last name. Or, jillio say scary anyway, lol.
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I'll have to look at it and take a stab at it. I'll post a phonetic spelling of it and you can tell me if it is correct or not.
 
There is no question in my mind at all when I became bilateral DEAF- December 20, 2006. Absolute silence which exists to this day.
Why should my thinking be altered by that condition-deafness? Also, how does deafness affects one reading/thinking ability?

The immaculate conception-Jesus/Mary is a miracle which has nothing to do with computer screens. It belongs in religion/theology.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil said:
There is no question in my mind at all when I became bilateral DEAF- December 20, 2006. Absolute silence which exists to this day.
Why should my thinking be altered by that condition-deafness? Also, how does deafness affects one reading/thinking ability?

The immaculate conception-Jesus/Mary is a miracle which has nothing to do with computer screens. It belongs in religion/theology.
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Then why post here in the first place?
 
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