Genealogy /
How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]
What makes you want to believe that large branches the human family tree cannot be described in terms of ethnicity?
You misunderstood, Des. Of course you can describe local groups of people based on ethnicity, but in my opinion the term 'ethnicity' becomes meaningless the further you go back in time or the longer someone's descendant is separated from the original group. Ethnicity in the genetic sense and in most cases also in the cultural sense is lost over the centuries for various reasons. One being that people tend to mix.
You are aware that we all ultimately trace our roots back to Africa
So you are not a Polish American, but an African American. That's what I meant: where do you draw the line?
The members of the Polish diaspora that come to this forum are often quite surprised to be met by ... people telling them Polish descent is a myth.
In the vast majority of cases, it's either Americans or Canadians who come up with this idea of an invisible bloodline/ cultural tie to the old countries (not only Poland) that they, their parents, grandparents, great grandparents (...) have never seen in their life. I know that people here in the US tend to define themselves through heritage, but for me personally that's a strange idea - much like these weird questions about race in the census forms.
