Ethnicity
and Race
I
come from a Caucasian middle class, Catholic family in suburban Atlanta. My paternal grandfather is of English descent
and my maternal great grandfather is of Irish descent. I come from a very European
background but have been raised in the southern United States. I am the oldest of four children with no
first cousins. Growing up in a middle class neighborhood and in an area that
was better off than other parts of the Gwinnett county area, many people
thought I came from a rich family that afforded me cars, large allowances, and
high end clothing. Not true by any
definition.
My great grandparents and my grandparents on both sides
came from their native countries in order to have better opportunities for
their family and future generations. My
family has worked very hard to save money and provide for each generation. My paternal grandfather worked for Western
Electric in New Jersey which led him to transfer to Georgia when my father was
just ten years old. My maternal
grandfather worked for Exxon in Maryland and later transferred his family to
Georgia when my mother was 18 years old.
None of my grandparents went to college, and I remember my grandmother
telling me stories of when she used to sell Lifesavers candy on the side of the
road. All my grandparents lived through
the Great Depression which taught them to save even more and not waste anything-
this was passed down to my parents and to my brother and sisters.
Family
During
my childhood, both of my parents worked. My mother is a teacher and my father
an engineer for Lockheed Martin. Growing
up I saw the majority of my father’s home life revolve around the yard work,
fixing things or building things and my mother’s home life revolved around
household work, and helping us with homework.
On the weekends, we were typically at the ball field cheering my brother
on in baseball or my sister on in soccer.
We
believe in family dinners. Every
night. My mother would spend an hour or
so cooking a hot meal most nights of the week and we would share Sunday dinner
with one or both sets of grandparents. We
also believe in supporting one another, even though we may not agree or
understand the choices each of us makes.
My family is very loud, but loving and we enjoy spending time together
During
the holidays we would spend Thanksgiving at my paternal grandparent’s house and
Christmas at my childhood home. My
mother is still so big on traditions that as we have gotten older it has been
very hard to tweak the small things in order to accommodate everyone. As we are
growing older, however, we are creating new traditions as there are more
grandchildren that are being born. As a child, we would take a family vacation up
north to visit family and go to the beach.
My mother’s family always went to Ocean City, Maryland and that
tradition continued until I was about seven and then we made only a few more
trips after that.
Values
Growing
up we attended Sunday school at church and I often went to youth group when I
was in middle school and enjoyed going, even though it was a fight for my
mother to get my younger siblings in the car.
We are Catholic and have grown up expecting to reach each milestone
within the church by achieving the sacraments (Baptism, First Communion,
Reconciliation, Confirmation, and Marriage).
While my father was not raised Catholic, he was raised Episcopalian, he
has always been supportive of the Catholic ceremonies that we have gone
through.
My family truly believes in marriage and having a family
within marriage. There are no divorces
in the long lines of family trees that my mother and aunt have researched. My paternal grandparents were married 52
years before one of them passed and my maternal grandparents were married close
to 40 years before my grandmother passed away.
With marriage comes children and we believe in raising children in a
home with both sets of parents along with grandparents playing an active role
in the child’s life.
My grandparents all worked very hard to be able to afford
their homes and cars during the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. My parents still work today, and miss very
little days unless it is necessary. By the time they retire, they will have
worked for over half their life and into their sixties. My grandparents also retired when they were
in their 60’s after long years working with their respective companies.
Both
of my parents attended college, even though their parents did not. My mother graduated from Oglethorpe, working
her way through college while working at Macy’s and my father went to Georgia
Tech to receive an engineering degree.
My mother later went on to receive her Specialist in Education and has
many years of teaching under her belt.
My parents expect all their children to attend college and graduate
within four years. My mother always said
to us that it didn’t matter what grade we received on an assignment as long as
she knew we had worked hard and done our best.
Of course she wanted us to get A’s, but she knew this was not realistic,
especially in areas we struggled, for me it was math. As long as my parents knew we had done our
absolute best then they were okay with that. They knew that getting a college
degree would put us at an advantage in the real world and an education was not
something that could be taken away from us so it was always pushed very
hard. My husband has his master’s and I
am in pursuit of mine, so education is something that we value as well and
expect for our daughter too.
Other
information
White Americans or European Americans have a lot of pride
in their native land and their history.
We are truly proud of how far our family members have come since their
days of living in poorer parts of England, Ireland, Sweden, and Germany. Since many of my family members came from so
little in their native countries, I feel it is an obligation to make sure that
I take advantage of all the opportunities that are available here in the United
States. I feel as though they came here
to better themselves and their families and in order to honor their sacrifices
I must do what I can to work hard, educate myself, and provide a rich family
dynamic for my daughter and future children.
Assumptions
and Stereotypes
Being Catholic, many people assume that I am not
Christian. Catholics are Christian
however, we believe the pope and the priests are to read through the
Bible. During our mass, we do not read
along with the passages in the Bible, only listen. It is also assumed that we worship Mary. We do not, we hold her in high regard as she
is the mother of Jesus.
Since I am a Caucasian in the South it is assumed that I
am a racist, rich woman who has not had to work hard for what I have. I am not racist, I teach many children of
various races, ethnicities, and culture and truly find them all to be unique
but do not have negative feelings towards any.
I am a true believer in actions- a person’s actions are a true
reflection of their character. My
husband and I both teach, therefore we have little extra money in our pockets
after pay day and bills. We live within
our means and save up for what we want.
That is how it has always been, even growing up. I finished college in four years, as per my
parents’ expectations and began teaching right after college. I have had to work hard to get through this
part of my career and have worked hard to put myself through my master’s
program while raising a family and working.
Family
Tree
Below
is a family tree dating back to 1878 with lineage to Ireland and England, Older
generations date back to 1700, with roots in Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. This is only one piece of my family tree, however
it is a valuable insight into my family roots.
Many family members were born outside of the United States and many
others were born and grew up in the north eastern area of the United States,
such as Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Maryland. My family members from England came from very
poor families. They worked very hard but
did not have much. My Irish family had
farms and lots of land, however, still worked very hard attending to the farm
and the animals. They did not have the
opportunities that were available in the United States which is what led them
to leave and settle in parts of the eastern United States.
Generation 1
Generation 2
Generation 3
4. Leslie Ernest WOOD:
born 22 Feb 1919 in Walsall, Staffordshire County, England; married 1947; died
27 Jan 2000 in Decatur GA.
6. Edward Nerius GRADY:
born 12 May 1916 in Baltimore, Maryland; married 18 Jun 1949 in St Cecilia RC
Church, Baltimore MD; died 8 Apr 1998 in Eastside Medical Center, Snellville
GA.
7. Rubye May DUNN: born
16 Oct 1920 in Baltimore, Maryland; died 3 Dec 1990 in Shallowford Community
Hospital, Chamblee GA.
Generation 4
8. William Ernest
"Ernie" WOOD: born 1895 in Walsall, Staffordshire County,England;
married abt 1918 in England.
12. Owen
Joseph GRADY: born 26 Dec 1876 in
Clogarnaugh, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, Ireland; married 28 Sep 1910 in St.
Ignatius Church, Baltimore MD; died 18 Mar 1978 in Baltimore, Maryland.
13. Ellen
Marie BARLOW: born 24 Dec 1887 in
Ballymoe, Co Galway, Ireland; died 7 Aug 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland.
14. John
Patrick DUNN: born 6 Jun 1898 in
Baltimore, Maryland; married 27 Feb 1914 in Ellicott City Maryland; died 1 Nov
1936 in Baltimore MD at 426 Hanover St,.
