“Since I’m not willing to identify myself solely by…”

seem to undercut your thesis at every turn. By the way, I’ve always found that names are a fairly good method of identification.

But I think, like that trooper who sent that e-mail, pride in your ancestors and heritage can become something darker when comparing yourself to people from another race. That trooper used charged racial epithets and it sounded like his e-mail was a lot more “anti-black” than “pro-white”. And honestly, that guy down at the rally screaming “white power” isn’t for helping white people preserve their traditions and heritage, it’s about keeping down people from other races. I guess it’s all about intentions, and it’s hard to know what other people are thinking.

I once joked with a black friend of mine in college that it wasn’t fair that there is a black history month – “where’s the white history month?” I asked him. He smiled at me and said, “look around you. 90% of the students and professors here are white. Every other month is white history month.”

I don’t think he’d have a problem with me embracing my ancestry. I think he’d (rightly) have a problem if I would lecture him that MY people started this country. MY people wrote the Constitution. MY people conquered the west. Because if I phrase it like that, it sounds like I’m asserting my ancestral superiority over him, which is a little pathetic. If I try to claim the accomplishments of all the white people who have ever lived, I’d also have to claim all the bad stuff too, and there has been a lot of horrible things done by white people.

Anyway, I seemed to have gotten all rambly. Thanks for the diary, I enjoyed it!

Obama sets the tone for apologizing, it must be from his mother’s side.

I for one am like you, I’m proud of my heritage (fellow Irish-American).