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Why I regret using 23andMe: I gave up my DNA just to find out I’m British | Technology | The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 14 points 2 years ago (5 children)

I mean you've basically hit the nail on the head except you're misunderstanding one important thing. They aren't 'trying to find one' they have one. Their culture IS that Irish or Cuban heritage and it wasn't retconned from 23andme or ancestry.com - it comes from the story they were told about their identity by their parents from an early age.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    My aunts' grandparents came from Poland. Their parents spoke Polish in the house. They were raised with a whole close-knit gaggle of cousins, also with Polish grandparents and parents. The old country wasn't that long ago for them. They've visited.

    Me, eh. My dad married someone from Appalachia and I grew up away from his family. I haven't heard Polish spoken outside of my great-grandaunt'a funeral. I like pierogi, kielbasa, and sauerkraut because they remind me of my dad. He'd cook them when he was feeling nostalgic.

    I have looked into claiming Polish citizenship through descent (mostly because an EU passport would be comforting what with USA politics), but my folks came over too early for that.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    But they're not Irish or Cuban or Italian.

    They're Americans.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Emphasis on "heritage".

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I guess both 'identity' and 'heritage' are doing a lot of heavy lifting.

    And I know this is mostly pedantry, but there're terms that actually do fit better. Like immigrants, settlers, etc.

    My great grandad was from Sicily. I'm from Minnesota. I don't have any heritage or identity that has much to do with Sicily. I do have heritage as the progeny of immigrants from Sicily. But not Sicily.

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