I mean…. I guess it depends? Not that there aren’t first or second generation Americans with European or “white” parents- but probably the majority of “white Americans,” or at least in my experience, are like 3+ generations in to where you may have to ask where their great, great grandparents or great,great,great grandparents came from? Immigration from “white” countries en masse kinda occurred in phases- so you had a lot of Europeans and such in the colonial period and a majority of “white” immigrants (other than slaves and such) throughout as various troubles in Europe caused many to come to America through potato famine and the collapse of monarchies and revolutions and then two world wars….
I mean- a lot of “white” people on the west coast might have grandparents who came from like- Oklahoma or Arkansas in the dust bowl, or great, great grand parents or even great great great grandparents who came west in the gold rush… but like-
I get the energy- I dig the sentiment- yes, it can be very annoying or cringe to have to work back from the city you live in to where you grew up to where you were born and have people keep saying: “No, but where are you FROM…” especially if you, your parents, so on are American born and they are trying to ask your racial or ethnic identity.
There’s also a lot of potential “ancestral shame” among many “white” people because we have pretty good historical records concerning “white” history and there is a lot there where people didn’t act in ways that we find very admirable or moral.
But I challenge the premise and in my experience “white” people tend to either have vague or no idea of their family history and don’t really care because it is… history… or they know quite a bit and tend to be eager to share all kinds of details with anyone who will listen. So I do t know if this is accurate or even advisable? But do you.
Montana. British if you wanna go that far back. Dad was paralyzed about taking a DNA test because he didn't want to find out if he was French by descent.
I mean- a lot of “white” people on the west coast might have grandparents who came from like- Oklahoma or Arkansas in the dust bowl, or great, great grand parents or even great great great grandparents who came west in the gold rush… but like-
There’s also a lot of potential “ancestral shame” among many “white” people because we have pretty good historical records concerning “white” history and there is a lot there where people didn’t act in ways that we find very admirable or moral.
But I challenge the premise and in my experience “white” people tend to either have vague or no idea of their family history and don’t really care because it is… history… or they know quite a bit and tend to be eager to share all kinds of details with anyone who will listen. So I do t know if this is accurate or even advisable? But do you.