Do You Observe Your Ethnic Roots?

I'm assuming everyone here is American and at least one generation away from their ethnic "homeland" or "homelands". I'm just wondering growing up how much did the cultural and ethnic traditions (food, language, religious holidays) of your family's original lineage play a part in your house? Today do you do anything to celebrate or observe it?

Not one bit.

Not really.

Nope

Noooooootttttt really. I know a wee bit of French from my mom's side, but not enough to have a conversation. Staying home on MLK day, and having a fondness for ribs, doesn't have that much to do with African culture from my dad's end.

Can't say that I do. My family is pretty westernized and WASP-y. We lost out culture centuries ago.

I am Italian American, my parents both spoke Italian and we grew up with all the the old world Italian traditions. We ate Italian/American, we never ate meat on Wednesdays or Friday's Christmas Eve and New Years Eve was always a big fish dinner and we always had a big pasta dinner on Sunday's. We observed all the religious holidays and went to church every sunday. Now I still continue with a lot of the old Italian traditions as does my family but I don't go to church every sunday anymore. It was a trip growing up in a big Italian family.

Tony Marino wrote:I am Italian American,...

No Way! Really?

Tony Marino wrote:It was a trip growing up in a big Italian family.

Any loud, passionate family "discussions?"

When I was a kid in North St. Louis, the Bomaritos lived across the street and had a bakery in the same building downstairs. This was before TV so our entertainment was the occasional Bomarito family fights. Of course we didn't understand Italian but tone and inflection let us know who was mad at whom.

One of my first great eating experiences was when one of the Bomarito girls was baby sitting us. They gave us fresh Italian bread with butter on it. I lived in a Wonder Bread culture and still remember the taste in my mouth from real bread.

Yes I do. Maybe not all the time, but fairly often now that I think about it.

I watch Boondocks, if that counts.

Wow I'm surprised more people don't practice at least some of their heritage traditions. I grew up with two former hippy parents who were both 2nd generation (both sets of my grandparents were immigrants). They weren't overbearing about enforcing cultural rituals on us, but regularly observed a number of them and casually instilled them into the home. We recognized Cinco De Mayo and Oktoberfest.

Shale wrote:
No Way! Really?

Any loud, passionate family "discussions?"

When I was a kid in North St. Louis, the Bomaritos lived across the street and had a bakery in the same building downstairs. This was before TV so our entertainment was the occasional Bomarito family fights. Of course we didn't understand Italian but tone and inflection let us know who was mad at whom.

One of my first great eating experiences was when one of the Bomarito girls was baby sitting us. They gave us fresh Italian bread with butter on it. I lived in a Wonder Bread culture and still remember the taste in my mouth from real bread.

We would argue and fight when my father was not around but if he was, we didn't dare make a sound.

Not really which surprises a lot of people. My mom is Italian and my dad is Arab, but culturally I'm pretty whitewashed. Some of my mom's family is "traditionally Italian" but she was never heavy into Italian tradition and their catholic religion, so she didn't pass that onto me. My dad's family is VERY traditional, but I never really bonded with them that much so most of my observance of that came more from just living around a big community of middle eastern people and having friends than me having that kinship with the family. I can speak a little Italian and a little Arab, but I'm not fluent.

GrayWolf wrote:I'm assuming everyone here is American and at least one generation away from their ethnic "homeland" or "homelands".

This is an invalid assumption. I'd be interested in knowing what lead you to this. One Generation away???

To answer the question. My GREAT grand mother used to to use kids to the reservation...and as a child I really enjoyed it, and I started to grow older and feel how much we were looked at and unwelcome....I stopped. But it was my Great Great-Grand mother so I was only connected as a child

I do however celebrate my African-American Irish roots, but not for the sake of being Irish. I'm a dark brown skinned brutha and walking around talking about "I'm Irish" is silly to me. My grand mother and grandfather were married in New Jersey in the early 50s. I celebrate this because it was a very turbulent time in are American history and the courage it took to create their union is to be celebrated.

...and when people say something similar to "I'm party India, German, Irish, Black, Creo" (etc)......I want to choke them.