opinion wanted!!

[Hmph]

i know it's ironic how most people don't care too much about their family history unless there's a medical problem and someone needs a donor or information. that's strange.

[miltie]

Yes, I am surprised, too. I find it so fascinating to try to put myself in the shoes of my ancestors who came here from Europe with little to know money in their pockets, barely spoke English, and didn't know a soul. I admire their courage and I think a lot of that drives me to preserve my lineage. I have no royalty and no celebrities in my family tree....I have real, everyday people -just like my family now.

[Hmph]

yeah I'd like to know why many europeans immigrated here during Jim Crow/segregation era.

to know that blacks were considered second class citizens or non-humans like jews were in Germany, and still chose to come and participate in that silently while sitting in "whites only areas" or taking jobs denied to blacks is not comprehensible to me.

I'd like to personally ask someone who immigrated here during national segration "why?" the most common answer would be "for the endless opportunities" while blacks were denied ALL opportunties.

strange. because it makes me wonder why not immigrate to Germany while Hitler was treating jews in the same way as blacks were here, but on a larger scale because even our government participated in segregation towards blacks -- it was a LAW.

yet many europeans came here and became employees of that same government or worked jobs considered "too visible" for blacks. crazy, I tell ya.

and that menial little job provided comforts unheard of for the majority of blacks -- apartments, then homes, then businesses for many, and immediate education for their first generation of children.

[miltie]

Dunno.

All I can relate is what I've read of city histories during the height of immigration. Most of my German ancestors went to St. Louis. Tradition has it Germans back in Deutschland were told St. Louis was almost exactly like German and had all the comforts of the old homeland. Others were told the streets were paved with gold. (and ppl believed that??)

I think people immigrated for all different reasons... a continuous reason is religious persecution, for all cultures...Irish people fled due to the potato famine, and they weren't treated all that much better than Jews or Blacks....some people were widowed and had no more money, but had family in America....

Unfortunately, on the Irish side (not mine), alot of them were lured over by the southerns during the civil war and potato famine, having been promised this that or the other in exchange for fighting for the south.

If I could go back in time, i'd love to have the chance to talk to my immigrating asncestors and ask them lots and lots of questions about why they chose here.

[Hmph]

ok this is just my rant, not related to your family specifically

but after many european immigrants arrived here, they openly participated in discrimination and hatred towards blacks.

many went on to open businesses where they refused to serve or hire blacks. and we can see by the neighborhoods all over the U.S., they're still predominately segregated.

that I just don't get. for whatever reason they came here. I guess it was fear for several hundred years that made them silently or openly participate in discrimination towards blacks.

Irish originally came here as indentured servants with Africans. both had rights, blacks were allowed business and land ownerships, legal marriages, etc. after completing their servitude. but Irish would not complete their indentured servitude and blend into society easily. but also becoming a public nuseance as pick-pockets and public drunks -- and no that's not a stereotype joke.

then, AND THEN along comes British slave rule, slave for life with the idea that since blacks from Africa were easily identifiable in the new world, they were easily controllable. thus became the mass thefts of slaves instead of paying them for their work (what tribal leaders sold them to original Dutch settlers for) to build up their dream of a new world.

once slaves were "freed" after the civil war, a new type of nightmare for them began with the Klan on their asses night and day and no rights, laws, nothing to protect them. so those coming after slavery and until the 1970s for protection and freedom is an irony. many even came DURING the 50s/60s when television and media existed so they were more than aware of the treatment of blacks.

this is not new info, at least not new for me. it's all documented.

but what isn't documented is why would those europeans seeking freedom would come here and help shit on blacks and then complain "why can't they pull their ownselves up? we did" (and w/out national government discrimination as a LAW and while taking jobs not allowed to them or participating in discrimination against them)


and why wait until Dr. King to speak out against government discrimination against blacks? if there was no Dr. King, what would things be like? well, thank goodness for King coordinating the efforts that were happening across the nation.

I guess since your family is German they were already familiar w/Hitler's regime. but it's a mystery as to why not immigrate closer to other parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, Israel, or any other place closest w/the same options?

all's I know is if blacks had immigrated to Germany while jews were being persecuted (if Hitler was only persecuting jews), we'd be under prosecution for participating in war crimes. now ain't that some shit?!

and my German friends are still being treated like shit JUST for being German, as if they hung out with Hitler or something!

[miltie]

<--just kidding.

You present a lot of good points, but unfortunately, many, too many, go unanswered.

I've been catching the PBS Slavery documentaries narrated by Morgan Freeman as they've been running them lately. It's so addicting to watch the shows because what went on is beyond my comprehension, but it was once so very real.

And unfortunately, discrimination is still extemely prevelant in our society even tho all Americans, no matter what color, are by law, considered free people.

I think I may have said this in a post last year or so, but I have quite a melting pot family. I have Hondurans, Loatians, Iranians, and Blacks, all as members of my family. Some adopted, some by blood. Nonetheless, all family. I'm the oldest of my cousins, 35 of us ranging from 2yrs to 30, (only about 7 of us are 18+). What i like the most is that the 'non-white' cousins fall into the 10 and under group with the bulk of my other cousins. So pretty much, from the time they were old enough to see that everyone was "different", it didn't matter one bit. The kids just see cousins, not colors. Nothing like starting off equal opportunity at a young age! As well as tearing down racial barriers. Now, if only more families were like mine, or more parents instilled human equality values in their kids. Wouldn't that be a beginning to an end of all the hate?

But it's true, no matter what you do in the future, we cannot forget the past.
But we also cannot forget those who've tried to make a difference, whether they were heard or not.

[Dean]

Ok guys, looking for an honest opinion....
I've been working offline building a website for my personal genealogy and family history and I need a clever name. I thought of one, but want to know if it sounds plain stupid....so here it is:

colleensgenes.com

If that sounds retarded, someone please tell me!!!
thanks!

Sorry for getting in on this so late. The name is kind of catchy, but I think something boring like "Colleen's Family Tree" would be more appropriate. I might be a minority of one, but if I was a long lost cousin I would feel more comfortable participating if the name represented the entire family.

[miltie]

ok, how bout colleenstrees.com ??

or meinstammbaum.com (my family tree in German, we're mainly german)

i'm ready to go live, but need a good name.
I am so not creative .

[Hmph]

the German name is a good idea, because any other relatives searching for their family members could easily find you.

also I like the colleenstrees, but trees could make potheads think you're dealing or you're a planter. however, that's where keywords and front page info narrows that down.

but the other problem is spelling the German name, well for non-Germans.

yeah it's hard to pick a name because you can't undo it. however, you are allowed a free one w/hosting and could get a second one for 7.00 and mirror it back. so you have 2 domains pointing to one place.

[miltie]

also I like the colleenstrees, but trees could make potheads think you're dealing or you're a planter.
.

Da Hayle?

MOI???