In the fourth or fifth grade, as a geography lesson, we drew flags from the countries of our nationality.  I drew Swedish and Norwegian flags. Mom’s side, Swedish. Dad’s side, Norweigan. Over the years, my guess is I have been asked my nationality hundreds of times.  Maybe thousands of times.  

As an adult, I was often questioned about what nationality the name Leegard was from. I would respond back in the day, there were so many Legaards in Webster, South Dakota that the postal service asked if some would change their name to make it easier to deliver the mail.  So some of the residents, including my grandparents on my dad’s side, added an “e” and removed an “a” to make it easier for the postmaster.  

We all have ancestors and those ancestors all lived somewhere else.  None of us choose our ancestors. It always surprises me when people seem overly interested in the nationality of other people’s ancestors.  I have been asked hundreds of times about my nationality. Most often it seems to be an attempt at getting to know me. However, my best friend in high school was of Japanese descent. Some inquiries about his nationality were not innocent. 

I do wonder if I have any unique Scandinavian characteristics. Admittedly, I don’t really know what a unique Scandinavian characteristic would look like.  The best I can come up with is the Scandinavian stereotype of blonde, stoic and likes to eat bland food. Before I went grey, I had dark hair and my complexion has always been on the dark side, not pale.  I don’t think of myself as being stoic. I like pizza and tacos.

Legally, ancestry is supposed to be irrelevant.  As an American, discriminating against me for being Swedish or Norwegian is against the law.  I believe it would also be morally wrong to discriminate against me because my relatives were from Sweden, Norway or wherever. Do onto others and all that. 

I don’t introduce myself to others by saying, “Hi, I am a Swedish and Norweigan person named Paul Leegard.  Being Swedish and Norweigan is part of my identity but not so much of how I think of myself. I think of myself as a good looking genius adventurer who is an excellent writer and whose presence makes everyone around me better.  Just kidding, I am not that adventurous.  

All kidding aside, nationality actually refers to the country a person lives in.  I am an American citizen and thus I am American. Full stop. My ancestors maybe lived in Sweden or Norway but no matter where my ancestors are from, since I live here, here is my nationality.  The correct answer to my nationality is I am an American. 

Heritage, unlike nationality, is about traditions handed down or traits inherited.  Heritage also can refer to inheriting things like property. I did not inherit any Swedish or Norweigan property.  My DNA includes DNA from people who once lived in Sweden or Norway.  As for traditions, I attended two Lutheran church basement lutefisk dinners. Lutefisk is bad but I like Swedish meatballs.  

We had no choice in who are our parents or where they lived.  We had no choice in the generations who preceded our parents either.  The only thing we can control is how we handle ourselves today, and how we treat others around us.   

Feeling connected to the past is reassuring.  We feel part of something bigger than ourselves.  When I think about places to which we might want to travel.  Going to Sweden and Norway comes to mind because that is where my relatives were from.  But if I am honest I could justify dozens of other places for equally good reasons.  

We should never treat another person poorly because of the nationality of their ancestors. Sure sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to others.  However even if that was a characteristic of some Scandinavians, it would be wrong to ask me if I am Scandivaian when you first met me and then assume I would not be worth the effort to get to know. 

The world is now far more interconnected than it was in my youth. With each passing generation, Swedes marry Norwegians and their kids marry others from god knows where.  The nationality of our forefathers is often a list, not a single country.

I recently read a very interesting observation.  Almost everyone who has their DNA analyzed to determine their ancestry discovers their ancestors are from multiple regions of the world. More than that, most often they were unaware of at least some of those regions prior to the results. 

I fully understand the curiosity about from whence we came. Being connected to our past is reassuring and important.  However, we need to remember, where someone’s relatives are from should never be a factor in how we treat them. 

My mom said I drew the flags very well.  I doubt she was an objective observer. Just saying.  

 

The closer we look the more we see.

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