The entire “Who are your people?” routine can have racist and ethnocentric overtones these days. There can be implied prejudice behind a seemingly innocent request. About thirty years ago, I literally ripped someone whose facial expressions and tone of voice betrayed that the interest wasn’t an interest in genealogical research. I lost my usual polite public persona and went all New York City attack dog. By the time I finished with him ( including an offer to readjust his facial features, as in “I’m gonna wipe that shitty expression off your face on the sidewalk!”), He hastily moved away, far away. I politely wished that he had “a nice day” as he ran for it.
You see, supposedly “innocent” prompts like this can be code for racist bull shit. Well, let me lay this on the prompter. I’ve lived in New England most of my life. But I’m from New York City. I can curse like a New York City cabdriver, put you in a precarious situation up against the f’ing wall if you screw with me, and twist that bulb you call a nose out of shape if you provoke me. Get it?
Now that we understand each other, yes, my New York City Cultural Heritage is something I am particularly proud of. Got that? Now get out of my face.
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I always knew you were my kinda guy, Lou- Of course I am also that (slang for a female dog) that yells nasty things at you when we’re drunk just to make sure you will beat my ass too…. Go figure….
Nobody shoves you around, Violet…and gets away with it!
Jersey girl proud of you, Lou! Hell, yeah!
Nobody rumbles with us and gets away scott free!
This had me laughing out loud, Lou… hugs
๐คฃ I hate questions like this. I didn’t ask to be born into the family I was born into. That said, I am a little proud to share a Haplogroup with Oetzi…
My God!!!!!! Oetzi! Post Pleistocene Royalty!
I’m proud of that absurd and random as it is.
You tell it like it is!