Sometimes I Wish White People Would Be OK with Their Actual Heritage/Lineage

It’s a thing here in Santa Fe. Euros often seem to want to be, let’s just say, something other than what they are…

Cultural shame? Over-Idealization of the Other? I don’t know. Folks participating in other cultures’ ceremonies and adopting aspects of their traditions which were NEVER part of their own lineage.

Aho, baby.

Before I go further, I will say that I have done it some too. AND I have to add that I have always been interested in my own heritage.

So you know what?  It turns out that Euros are actually not that horrible. Here are a few thoughts and some information to maybe salvage the notion that being a Euro is not the worst or un-coolest thing in the world. I googled a bunch of stuff, and of course this is not hard fact or science, but it IS what I found looking round the internet…

• Euros often swoon over other cultures that “revere mother earth.” Nothing wrong with that, but/and:
  • Four of the Five Greenest Countries on the planet earth are European (BY THE WAY, there are 195 countries in the world, as of tonight. That will probably change by morning…)
  • 15 of the top 16 Greenest Countries are in Europe (The USA is 27^th; Malta is 4^th)
• Euros often bow to “ancient cultures”, under the assumption, I guess, that if you can track your history longer, you are……more… in touch with…….something…….not sure…..Anyway, check this out:
  • One of the oldest countries/cultures in the world is Greece.
  • 3 of the top 4 oldest countries/cultures are European
• I looked up “the most culturally rich countries in the world” (Hey, I know there is some subjectivity to this stuff, but I am just saying…)
  • 5 of the top 10 most culturally rich countries in the world are European
• I looked up “Best cities for Art and Culture”:
  • 7 out of 10 are in Europe
• Then I googled “Safest Countries in the World”:
  • 14 of the top 20 are in Europe
• Most spiritual countries? 9 of the top 25 are European.
• Most democratic countries in the world? 7 out of ten are European.
• Best countries for women? 5 of the top 6 are European.
• Happiest countries in the world? 8 of the top 12 are European
• Richest countries in the world? 12 of the top 25 are European.

None of this is meant to say that Europeans are better than anybody else, but it certainly IS meant to say they are clearly no less.

If your people were from Italy, or Ireland, or Greece, or Finland, or Spain, or Luxembourg, or Sweden, or Norway, or France, or Spain, or Portugal, or Austria, or Germany, or Poland or the Czech Republic, you might want to look into what they had and have going that would be worth being curious about, maybe even proud of.

Taking care of the earth, creating great literatures, great art, having long, long traditions of culture, and all of that. Europeans are pretty cool. They/We kind of get a bad rap. It embarrasses me vicariously when somebody ignores their own lineage and does cultural appropriation on somebody else’s culture without knowing much about, or without having visited their own.

I mean this piece to be about taking some pride, and developing some curiosity about YOUR people, your lineage, whatever and  whoever they may be.

23 and Me says I am 100% European, with the highest percentage being Irish. It happens that I have 0% Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish. Still, 100% European. I am proud of my peoples. Who wouldn’t be? James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, my Father, all of the Irish music, literature, humor, storytelling, the ability to NOT be absorbed by other invading cultures over thousands of years.

OK, so we can’t change the oil in our car. But we can write a song about it.

I’m feeling pretty good about that. I hope this inspires others to look at their own 23 and me and take pride in what you are actually carrying, genetically, culturally, energetically, in THIS lifetime. Maybe you WERE a Cherokee last time around, but if this time you are Italian, it might be worth taking a look at Italy to see if they have anything cool going on. Like—I don’t know—maybe Venice, Florence and Rome? Just sayin’….I believe we were dropped, in this lifetime, into a particular lineage, for a reason. There is something there for us to learn this time around. When we abandon that culture and spend our cultural life hanging out in and appropriating someone else’s, dancing their dance rather than our own, I think we miss something important. That is my take, anyway…

Carry on. Namaste, errrrrrr, Cead Mile Failte…

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