German Dialect in Texas

[EagleJCS]

In the US we seem to have a history of assimilation and are attempting backpedal in order to preserve our multi-cultural history. New waves of immigrants seem to benefit the most from this. Those of us who have been here a bit longer and fully assimilated seem to get accused of "playing at" being this or that when we rediscover our heritages.

Sorry to go off-topic, just wanted to respond to this.

I find this to be quite true. Having deep roots here in Kentucky (my paternal line has been here >200 years and my mother's mother's family almost as long), we lost the connection to 'the Old World' - i.e., we don't know where in Western Europe those families came from (We presume they're Western European because of the family names Scott and Haynes). My mother's father's family is German (specifically Hesse-Darmstadt), but they came over in the mid-1800's and settled in Wisconsin. It appeared they assimilated as quickly as possible due to the wave of anti-immigrant sentiments of the mid-1800's. (One ancestor even joined the US Army as a volunteer at the outbreak of the Civil War, before earning his citizenship, possibly to prove his 'American-ness'.)

In doing my family tree research and embracing 'kilted-ness' and all that entails, I have been met with bemusement (amusement?) from my own family members, not to mention my friends and neighbors.

[TheOfficialBren]

Sorry to go off-topic, just wanted to respond to this.

I find this to be quite true. Having deep roots here in Kentucky (my paternal line has been here >200 years and my mother's mother's family almost as long), we lost the connection to 'the Old World' - i.e., we don't know where in Western Europe those families came from (We presume they're Western European because of the family names Scott and Haynes). My mother's father's family is German (specifically Hesse-Darmstadt), but they came over in the mid-1800's and settled in Wisconsin. It appeared they assimilated as quickly as possible due to the wave of anti-immigrant sentiments of the mid-1800's. (One ancestor even joined the US Army as a volunteer at the outbreak of the Civil War, before earning his citizenship, possibly to prove his 'American-ness'.)

In doing my family tree research and embracing 'kilted-ness' and all that entails, I have been met with bemusement (amusement?) from my own family members, not to mention my friends and neighbors.

I hear you about that. My dad's family is firmly from the South and have been in the US for about a century and a few years. My mum's family is firmly English, mostly from the South as well, but have been here for two centuries. There hasn't been a kilt-wearer in my father's family since the boat ride over and it got a few cocked heads at first. It is troubling that people in this great nation are so often joyously ready and willing to abandon their own cultural identity and then shout from the rooftops that they (paradoxically) support others' cultural expression.

[David Thorpe]

This weekend I will be visiting the town of Gruene.

A favorite old haunt of mine. Great place to spend a day!

South Texas has amazing cultural diversity - Mexican, Spanish, French, German, Czech, Polish, Cajun, English, Scottish, Irish and on and on. Very rich variety of interesting peoples and places.