What's your nationality?

Question

Where did you come from? What is your heritage?

Answer 1

Canadian

Answer 2

Queensland Born And Bred Though Their Is A Scottish Heritage Way Way Way Back

Answer 3

That is a tough question for me because I am multi-ethnic. I am American Indian Kiowa (25%), American Indian Choctaw (25%), Natchez Indian (12.5%) and the rest Eastern European(25%) and Middle Eastern(12.5%)

That sounds like a bunch of statistics, but in real life it comes down to the family that raised me and who I have most contact with. That is my Kiowa tribe, since my involvement is regular and I know many more relatives and families on the reservation.

One thing I learned the hard way is that your cultural identity is not the same as the race that most people label you being, which usually has to do with the color of your skin and how they think you are supposed to look for a certain 'race'. This is called judgement by phenotype, and is done all the time when we first meet people. It is usually done on snap judgement, even for people in authority like school administrators and doctors.

Once a person views a multicultural person as a certain race, they expect you to behave a certain way. At least in America.

I am a fourth grade teacher at a school where 99% are hispanic and live in poverty. Most people, parents, etc. think that I am Hispanic purely based on skin color, accent, and where I teach. Even though I come from the same area, near Spanish Missions, my family group is small in this location, therefore people 'lump' us all together.

I often see that new students are automatically labeled as 'Hispanic' just because of their last name. Sometimes I recogize this name as American Indian, which the secretary or other clerk would not know based on the fact that they are not in the tribe and we make up less than 5% of the area's enrollment. Our names often have similar spellings in surnames.

American Indians have a serious dilemna when it comes to fitting into the US cultural framework. There are so many stereotypes and even children think erroneously that they are 'dead' because of cowboys. It is sad that generations of people only focus on the color of a persons skin and not care about what the cultural group has to offer the greater community. That is why so many of our kids end up dropping out of school early. What hope is there for an atmosphere where others are constantly denying the fact that you are who you are?

So, even though there are millions who claim to be Americans, they have created a new culture in the last 200 years that is unique just as everyone else's. We should celebrate the differences and learn from other's ways of thinking. When we make effort to put aside the notions of who a person is based on their appearance, we open up to learning new ways of life, which greatly helps us and our children understand that we all have something to contribute to our society in one way or other.

You asked a good question. Nationaltiy can certainly be different from heritage, even though the two influence each other. Heritage is passed down throughout generations, even without the human-drawn boundaries of citizenship. :-)

Answer 4

I was born in New York. My grandfather and 1st grandmother were German immigrants. Then my grandfather remarried after the first one died and she was
Swedish. So on my Dad's side I am German-Swedish. I know nothing about my
birth mother. I know nothing about her heritage or anything about her. My Dad
never talked about my heritage on that side. I came to Canada in 1963 and am a
Canadian citizen.

Answer 5

American. My heritage is 90% French Canadian, 10% mixture of English and Scottish.

Answer 6

Born in the British West Indies in the small Village of Paix Bouche, Dominica. I am from the Carib Indian Tribe. My Dad was a Tourist when he met my Mom and he was born in Puerto Rico but his Parents are from Spain. So I'm West Indian and Hispanic. I speak three languages Creole/French, Spanish and English.

Excellent question. :)

Answer 7

The first of my Family came from Ireland to England for work. Joined the military and eventually came to this new piece of land recently found. He was sent there to check it out and see if it was worth colonizing. He stayed and in a few years, started a family here. over 200 years later, I'm Canadian with very strong Irish, Scottish and English roots.

Basically, I'm Irish. My name was changed for political scrutiny Irish men and women faced in this country in the past 100 years. If you were Irish Catholic, you couldn't find a job in this country. My name was changed from a very Irish name to one spelled and used by Scottish and English people. Today, I have family all over these four countries.

Answer 8

Irish, English, Norwegian

Answer 9

Born in USA...Heritage who knows

Answer 10

Indian

Answer 11

American.
but heritage is 1/2 irish, 1/4 cherokee and 1/4 she devil..