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I believe that heritage is fundamental in providing a strong foundation for one's childhood. True, one does not need to know one's own heritage to form a basis of growth and maturity, particularly if you have loving parents. Often, however, children growing up not knowing their heritage, look for their identity elsewhere, perhaps in gangs and/or drugs -- not within their family. Or they may struggle with their identity for many years, like I did. Not until I was in my 40s did I really begin to understand who I was and what I wanted out of life. True, I was successful -- more or less. I received a M.S. degree in analytical chemistry and worked as a chemist and lab director. I started my own business in computer consulting. So, I can't really complain about my life. On the other hand, I didn't have any firm direction in life and so I kind of successfully fumbled through my careers and ambitions. My wife is a 1st generation American, having received her U.S. citizenship after immigrating from the Philippines. I'm a 3rd generation Sicilian descendant on my father's side and an American mix on my mother's side of the family. Perhaps I could consider myself an Sicilian-American and my wife, certainly, is a Filipino-American. I, however, don't particularly believe in being an hyphenated American, i.e. Filipino-American, Italian-American, Mexican American, or any other -American. My belief is if we are born in these United States of America, regardless of how our ancestors came here, we are Americans first and foremost. I am an American with Sicilian roots on my father's side and a mix of Scottish and Irish heritage on my mother's side. Perhaps my wife could be called a Filipino-American, only because she came from the Philippines and is now an U.S. citizen. The beauty of these United States of America is that we are -- or should be -- united as one America, but as a mosaic of groups of individual heritages. The United States of America is unique in that we have the greatest diversity of ancestral roots of any country in this world. Let's all remember our roots and be proud of our heritage, because that is part of us, but also understand that we are Americans and we should be proud of being an American. |
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