Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

taraz,

Were there any racial tensions on your mother's side?

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

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As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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GR - was your mother born in Argentina?

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I think I see where you are going with this...

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

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taraz,

Were there any racial tensions on your mother's side?

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As in were they concerned he was marrying a black guy? Not at all in her immediate family. Maybe some of her cousins or something. Her brother (my uncle) is married to a black woman too.

A lot of this probably has to do with the fact that my grandparents were both Baha'is and believe in multi-culturalism, the elimination of prejudice, etc.

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?

Jamaican... although I was born and raised in England

- How big a role does it play in your life?

A very big role.. being black, in a country where I am a minority, carries with it a whole lot of ugly issues in regards to how I am treated by certain members of the wider community.

And being from a Jamaican background, there are a whole host of extra prejudices about my community that really grate me, since all those prejudices are actively holding my community back, (i.e. Daniel Negreanu, I was NOT at all amused).

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)

Both of my parents and both sets of grandparents and great grandparents were all born and raised in Jamaica.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?

I cook a lot of traditional Jamaican dishes, and I also love listen to some reggae and lovers rock... I also have an (inexplicable) love for cricket [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

I am curious about the ethnicity of the forum.

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
100% Chinese, born and raised in the U.S.

- How big a role does it play in your life?
A small part. My mom and Dad grew up in the U.S. too, so my family definitely isnt FOB. My mother still cooks alot of Chinese food (grandparents owned a restaurant) and we still stick to many chinese values (ie. hardworking/heavy emphasis on school/etc). But overall, me being chinese is not a huge role in my life. All my friends are white.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)
Pretty far. I don't know anyone from China. I know i have family somewhere, but have never met/talked to.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?
Not really.

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

- What is your ethnic / cultural background?
Wow I'm going to be the first Chinese to post in this thread? I am fully Chinese (Taiwanese. Mainlanders who escaped to Taiwan after Mao took over). My parents were both born in Taiwan. My dad moved to Shanghai after the divorce so I've lived there for a bit.

- How big a role does it play in your life?
It's actually not that big of a deal since I go to a college where it's predominantly Asian (40% Asian, 38% White, etc. I still have a tad accent when I speak English. People just assume you're some kind of math whiz when you go to class and during exams other people would try to peek at my exams. For work, my employers generally thought us as hard-workers who are too smart to be employed at that place (from what I've heard). When I go play basketball in the gym I am always never picked because I'm the average Asian guy.

- How far removed are you from the immigrant generation of your family? (in the end we are all immigrants, except for the Natives)
I'm the first generation for my immediate family, I guess. My dad moved here at the same time I did. My grandma lived here for 25 years but we don't really keep in touch with her here.

- Do you maintain any traditions from the "old country"?
Yes. I still try to celebrate the holidays whenever I can (New Year, Moon Festival, etc). I love Chinese food. I'm superstitious.

Yea Chinese pretty much fit the general stereotype.

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

Ugh I just saw Orange's thread. To add on to my post, I'm a fob.

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

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I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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wow how old are your parents.

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My mom is 61 and my dad is 58. My mom was born in Argentina to German parents, and my dad left Italy at the age of 5.

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

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Actually I think being a second generation immigrant causes the most confusion. My parents are obviously very Indian and us children going to school in the US are exposed to American culture at school and then Indian at home. Looking back, it caused some weird moments throughout child hood. But as I got older I got much more comfortable with both identies and fused them into one.

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I know what you mean. It's hard having parents who are off the boat because not only do you have a generation gap with them, there is also a cultural one. The best thing about immigrant parents is the way they speak English [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Culture / Ethnicity
 

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As of late I have been trying to learn more about my ethnicity and culture. I was born in Argentina to an Italian father and German mother.

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GR - was your mother born in Argentina?

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I think I see where you are going with this...

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LOL. As do I. My Grandparents left Germany before the Hitler era. So, no; I don't come from Nazi's escaping justice. (but I am pretty sure that there were a few of them in my mom's hometown b/c it was like 95% German and they could fit in well there).