My Heritage Experience Essay

I’m as white or northern European as they come. My fraternal grandparents came over from Denmark and if we go a little further back, my maternal extended family, came over on the Mayflower (John Alden to be exact) from England and Ireland. At some point they all landed in the Midwest either in Wisconsin or Minnesota. We have always enjoyed a combined heritage experience when it comes to special holidays such as Christmas and Easter, but we have also been fortunate to share in Ramadan, Seders and other experiences due to the progressiveness of my parents. I was made deeply aware early on – about two or three - that although we were to love and treasure our scanda-lish (Scandinavian and English) heritage or ethnicity, we were to be conscious and loving to groups of people outside of our own experience. No matter their
color or creed. This was shown to me not only through my parent’s friendships and civil rights activism, but also through the musicians that came through our house. Both my brothers and I came to see that we were not the only people on this planet. Nearly my entire family has been or is still part of the music world. As a child I had the great fortune of meeting many phenomenal artists. And because jazz was a huge part of that experience, many of them happened to be African American. Many would stay at my grandmother’s house (including Duke Ellington) as blacks even in “forward thinking” Minnesota were not allowed in the nicer hotels. I may have been little, but I was so impressed and enthralled. I had no concept of there being a difference except for their melanin being darker.
Sadly, both sets of grandparents died when I was young so I do not have a ton of information regarding their experience around ethnicity, but I do know my father has said that his parents were somewhat conservative around their Lutheranism and Danish-ness. Very proud and stoic. My mother’s parents divorced and were much more liberal.
My ethnic identity at times was a hindrance. Meaning, I felt more comfortable and accepted when I was moving within the black community than I did when I was in the white community. I have always had several friends of color, dated and then ultimately married a man of color. One experience stands out. While I was in college in NYC, I remember visiting a friend at Howard University in Washington, DC and for the first time, I caught a glimpse, a small snap shot as to what being a minority might have felt like.
We went dancing one night, I was one of two white people in the club.
Between the stares and being called a not so nice name, I was shaken. How could someone say that to me? I’m a nice person!
Obviously, I would get to return to my entitled life, but that was a real marked experience for me that would change my awareness to another culture forever. It was daunting and made me deeply aware of how fortunate I was to be white. I had to remind myself of how each and every day for many of color just trying to negotiate getting to and from the store is a chore. How utterly exhausting!
Whether being on a mission trip to Nola, or doing work in the Bowery in NYC, as well as dating a man from Congo, Africa, I have had numerous boundary crossings that were generally positive for me. I have learned that one can ever assume an ideal or belief system onto another. We share the same blood type, but we move in the world differently and so mutual respect is a must as well as tough conversations around my white entitlement. This is not to suggest that this is all relationships are about, but it is important that as white people we stay engaged in the
conversation.
Interestingly, my ethnicity as a Scandinavian Lutheran has provided me with a great back bone around the concept of grace or Sole Fide (faith alone). I have always emphasized the Gospel of grace in my ministry journey. Now, after some more stretching and growth, God has moved me into the Methodist tradition. I really resonate with its emphasis on prevenient grace and the grace roots civil rights/women’s rights movement created in the early days of the tradition. It speaks to me on a deeper level. What I treasure most about my ethnic and faith heritage, evolves around the focus on family, common sense and a hard work ethic.
My immediate family withstanding, what I struggle with most about my ethnic and faith heritage is, the exclusivity, stoicism, entitlement and ignorance when it comes to bringing in the “other”. Whether it is the LGBTQ community or those of color, and if we go as far back as Bishop Richard Allen we blew a great opportunity to keep the momentum going towards racial and ethnic unity as well as growing the chu