Yes I know many may actually have Native American in them, but come on. It's becoming a running joke among true Native Americans that everyone thinks they're part N.A. I did a personal study w/ this and the majority of friends said they're "part Cherokee" or some other nonsense.
Are people truly embarassed to be what they are? Do they feel there is some "coolness" to be a certain race? Does anyone know how ridiculous this sounds...the average white person inevitably tells a friend "oh and I'm part Blackfoot". It's just outrageous. Is anyone else sick of this apparent bragging right that usually has no proof?
2007-09-22 23:46:05 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
It was a running jokes among the Jews of Germany that most Germans claimed some Jewish blood. It was a running joke because they were embarrassed by it, not because it wasn't true. The joke stopped during the Holocaust.
Intermarriage between Jew and Aryan went from 8.4% of new marriages in 1901 to 29.86% of new marriages in 1915.
The Native Americans, in the early days of the colonies, were not against mixing of races, and it happened often. During the Cherokee trail of tears, at least 4,000 of the people forced to walk were taken from the forced exodus along the way to be sold as slaves. They were so dark, and of mixed race, that the people along the way refused to believe they were "Indians."
My family, by contrast, was not asked to go on the forced march because of the amount of white blood already mixed in at that time... but I have been told about the shame they felt for not having done anything to stop this crime. Within one generation, the family that would be my ancestors left N Carolina to start a new life and try to forget the evil they had seen.
2007-09-23 00:05:45 · answer #1 · answered by Don't Try This At Home 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You specifically said that many white people have native american roots, but the rest of your details point towards you not using that comment to your advantage.
A percentage of the US has native american roots, and it doesn't go with any group simply saying it because they may be ashamed (Which I highly doubt): There's a high amount of blending.
I'm Puerto Rican, African American, and I have a small line of Algonquin indian in my blood as well. My mother is less than 1/4, which is small (And it makes my amount smaller), but I really don't want to piss her great-grandmother off by not saying it's a part of me. I'm more concerned with the times that I don't mention it when asked, but I don't go around touting my mixture as if it's better: I just tell people straight when I'm asked about it. It's not a matter of me being shamed: It's a matter of me telling people when they have an inquiring mind.
2007-09-23 00:05:05 · answer #2 · answered by Kenshiro 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because a lot of white Americans do have some native American blood in them. There was a great deal of inter-racial marriage, especially for the first few centuries of colonization. If your family has been here for a few centuries, there is a good chance that you have some native american heritage.
2007-09-23 00:50:18 · answer #3 · answered by poet1b 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because most people in the US have at least a little Indian in them. And its not just white people who say it I have yet to met a black person yet who wasnt part indian. I am Irish, german and blackfoot with some other tribes thrown in. And what kind of proof do you want? I don't carry around DNA information in my back pocket just to make people happy!
If you don't care just smile and nod.
2007-09-23 00:03:52 · answer #4 · answered by maitraya 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
I can see your point of view and it is unfortunate that when diversity applies to whites it appears you do not find pleasure in enjoying diversity, so sad. From the research that I have read on my family history the whites who settled the Mississippi regions and intermingled with the Choctaw Indian and therefore it is safe to say that I too being white as a ghost I have Choctaw Indian blood as well as my British and Irish background as well. Sorry to hear that you are not enjoying our diversity.
2007-09-23 00:18:42 · answer #5 · answered by Don't Know 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
My dad is indian my mom is so blond and fair skinned she wouldn't have far to go to be albino. i fall in the middle somewhere and would for the most part be thought of as white. I'm not ashamed of who i am, and i am very proud to be my father's daughter just as I am proud of my mother's German heritage. It's not like people wouldn't notice if they met me with my folks or knew my folks. It's pretty obvious then. Pretty obvious when I'm with my cousins too.
2007-09-23 00:01:10 · answer #6 · answered by LeaJo 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In Australia white people claim they have aboriginal blood - going back to before Australia was even settled!!
They do it to claim the liberal welfare benefits available to people of aboriginal descent.
Also to jump the queue for state housing, medical benefits, school payments etc......
2007-09-23 00:12:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I didn't know so many people did that. I am Italian and Purto Rican.
2007-09-22 23:49:55 · answer #8 · answered by Lynnemarie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you say so.
2007-09-23 00:33:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋