“If you don’t know your history, you don’t know yourself” (Samuel). I am not as familiar with my heritage as I would like to be. I feel as if I have done myself a disservice by not taking the time to learn more about where I came from and the experiences of my ancestors that helped shape who I am today. My father’s side of the family originates from Greece, Norway and Germany. My mother’s side originates from Germany and Norway. Even though I am more German and Norwegian than Greek, there has always been more emphasis put on my Greek heritage. We have always been proud to be Greek, and it is funny because the one who emphasized our Greek heritage was my grandmother on my father’s side and she was not even Greek. I was so immersed in my Greek
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My great grandfather, on my father’s side, emigrated from Greece with his brother when they were young. On my mother’s side, one of my ancestors from Germany was hired as a mercenary to fight in the Revolutionary War. Being an American is important to my family and me. Both of my grandfather’s fought in World War II. We have been raised to be proud of our country, and I am proud to be an American. It bothers me that people from other countries are offended by this and portray the feeling that being proud to be American is something for which I should be ashamed. Think Communication states that, “Ethnocentric communicators offend others when they imply that they come from a superior culture with superior values” (Engleberg & Wynn, 2015, p. 44). I have never felt that America is a superior culture with superior values. There are countries I believe are superior to America both in culture and values, but there are also countries that I believe America has far surpassed. This would be a very boring world if everyone thought and felt the same. I was raised to respect other people for their beliefs, but somehow because so many other countries hate America and are offended by my love for my country, I am automatically labeled an ethnocentric just for being proud of my country. It is the old double standard, it is okay to be proud of your country as long as your country is not
My great grandfather, on my father’s side, emigrated from Greece with his brother when they were young. On my mother’s side, one of my ancestors from Germany was hired as a mercenary to fight in the Revolutionary War. Being an American is important to my family and me. Both of my grandfather’s fought in World War II. We have been raised to be proud of our country, and I am proud to be an American. It bothers me that people from other countries are offended by this and portray the feeling that being proud to be American is something for which I should be ashamed. Think Communication states that, “Ethnocentric communicators offend others when they imply that they come from a superior culture with superior values” (Engleberg & Wynn, 2015, p. 44). I have never felt that America is a superior culture with superior values. There are countries I believe are superior to America both in culture and values, but there are also countries that I believe America has far surpassed. This would be a very boring world if everyone thought and felt the same. I was raised to respect other people for their beliefs, but somehow because so many other countries hate America and are offended by my love for my country, I am automatically labeled an ethnocentric just for being proud of my country. It is the old double standard, it is okay to be proud of your country as long as your country is not