I'm American with the majority of my ancestors being Germans and Swiss that came over in the 1850s. The rest were here when it was still Dutch or British territory. Those branches of family, we have stories written about their battles against Indian tribes where they slaughtered what would've been distant great uncles of mine. An ancestor of mine, an exile Huguenot woman exiled by Louis the 14th (but granted land by the King of England), axed and crushed the skulls of Indians who had just murdered her grade-school children in front of her eyes.
While not xenophobic, no, I don't view Cahokia as my heritage. Given the stories that I have passed down to me, that was clearly a war of civilizations. As much as saying that might bother the sensitivities of someone today.
Fast forward to today, one of my grandmothers still speaks some German. Not much, mostly carols and stuff from when she was a little girl. But I would never say I'm anything but American, any of my compatriots who do are quite the clowns. I think you'd need a parent from another country to claim that with any reasonable credibility.
Over 50% of my family was German or Swiss in 1850, and I visited Germany to see Munich and (old) Mecklenburg, where much of my family came from. Definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Though I'd like to visit Cahokia, it won't be to reconnect with ancestral bonds so you are onto something.
I love Europe, but saying I'm a European or even close is disingenuous. It's like someone who claims to be "Mexican" but born in the US. It doesn't exist, there's literally nothing Mexican about them other than maybe the skintone. Same applies to the rest of us.
"... there's literally nothing Mexican about them other than maybe the skintone..."
But the skintone is all a person needs to be treated differently from someone who is presumed to be of European descent. The experiences of a dark, medium, or light skinned person in the US are not likely to be the same.
Yes but you say that as if that isn't the same around the world. I've lived in 3 countries and visited 11+ and it is. Light-skin preference is not a US phenomenon.
Not sure if that invalidates what I said? A person can live in Ireland, be 5th generation Irish and if they have dark skin will often not be presumed "Irish" by some (not all) others. I think the general idea still holds.
It doesn't and I tried to make that clear by starting off with 'yes'. Not everyone (I hope) is always trying to argue and invalidate someone else. I know that's kind of the default position in a conversation, especially online where people don't have any sense that they're speaking to an actual human being. Recipients shouldn't always take the position of sensitivity and assume everyone is attacking either (I'm frequently guilty of that).
I just wanted the inclusion that it's not a US phenomenon by any means. Preference for lighter skin applies in many places without whites at all, including places like Japan. This country didn't spring from pure evil, and definitely not in a vacuum.
I'm unsure there's a place where darker skin is actually desired or socially preferable. Even in Africa. You may be punished for being white in some places, perhaps out of the fact you're clearly a foreigner or maybe out of historical resentment. But I've never personally seem a place where being darker is actually preferred or rewarded other than artificial mechanisms which attempt to counteract this natural phenomenon.
While not xenophobic, no, I don't view Cahokia as my heritage. Given the stories that I have passed down to me, that was clearly a war of civilizations. As much as saying that might bother the sensitivities of someone today.
Fast forward to today, one of my grandmothers still speaks some German. Not much, mostly carols and stuff from when she was a little girl. But I would never say I'm anything but American, any of my compatriots who do are quite the clowns. I think you'd need a parent from another country to claim that with any reasonable credibility.
Over 50% of my family was German or Swiss in 1850, and I visited Germany to see Munich and (old) Mecklenburg, where much of my family came from. Definitely nothing to be ashamed of. Though I'd like to visit Cahokia, it won't be to reconnect with ancestral bonds so you are onto something.
I love Europe, but saying I'm a European or even close is disingenuous. It's like someone who claims to be "Mexican" but born in the US. It doesn't exist, there's literally nothing Mexican about them other than maybe the skintone. Same applies to the rest of us.