I have wondered that myself. My father entered the US in 1961, when he
was twelve. My Grandparents didn't get here till 1964, However. They
came from Cuba, but there heritage goes back to Spain very quickly after
that... I don't look like a stereo typical "latino", or even a 1/2
latino. My mothers relatives have been in the US for quite a bit
longer. She is a Northern Euro/American-mutt.... German, English,
Scotch, Irish, maybe more... who knows what. Some of that side of the
family has been researched, but I don't recall specifics.... it's
written down somewhere I think. One passenger list of the MayFlower has
a family name on it, I recall. I don't know if the passenger list from
the Mayflower has been reliably nailed down or not, so it's debatable,
if I had a relative on it, I suppose.
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
Chris wrote:
You know, I have always been curious why American
Indians are the only
ones that can claim to be "true Americans" (discounting the fact that
"American" can really refer to anyone from North, Central, or South
America... but is commonly used to refer to those from the United States
of America).
My family has direct ancestry to settlers on some of the first ships (for
instance, I am related to Thomas Greene, the original governor of the
Maryland Colony). My family predates the United States, yet I have very
little American Indian genes in me, so I am always chastised when people
ask me what my heritage is, and I tell them "I am an American". How far
back is one supposed to go to decide their "heritage" 100 years? 200
years? Why stop, why not go back 1000 years, or 2000, or 10,000... heck,
I guess we should all just say we are from Java... or should we not stop
there.... that's it, from now on, I should tell people I am a proud
Ameobian... or maybe just an Enzymian. :-)
I stand proud... I am a good old pure bred American mutt!
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>