Immigrant(ism)

     When I watched Faces of America it helped me learn just how little someone can know about their own families. People in this video didn't even know important parts about their pasts, and about what created them as people. If their parents, grandparents, and uncles and aunts never came to America, when they did, most of them would not have been where they are today. This was very thought provoking to me, because it made me wonder just how little I actually know about my heritage. That was when I realized that I really do not know that much at all! I know that my grandmothers mom changed her German last name to Cutter when she immigrated, but I have know idea where she ended up or why she made the journey in the first place. I realized that I don't know anything at all about her husband's family. I also do not know anything about my other grandma's family, but I do know that my mom's dad has a very large amount of Cherokee in him. But this is about all I know. According to my Aunt, there are immigrants from France and Sweden in there somewhere too, but I feel the need someday to figure it out on my own.

     I do love the fact that I live in America though. It is a wonderful melting pot of immigrants and that is what creates every aspect of our nation. It is fantastic to hear that people would make such treacherous trips, sometimes leaving their whole entire lives behind, to get to a foreign country, which they know little about, to work arduously for the rest of their lives just to make a better one for their families. That is truly amazing. They brought their cultures and customs, some of which we adopted, like architecture and foods, and some that we rejected, like languages and religions. It is also very cool to be a part of a country where all of us can be called Americans, but few of us have the exact same backgrounds and ethnicity.
    Sadly, I do not really feel the connection to my ancestors. Its probably because mostly I do not know them, but that doesn't mean that I don't feel connection to the immigrants. We hear all about them in the presidential debates, and we see them quite literally everywhere, because they are a part of everyone. YAY America!