A few months ago I took a DNA test. I had some vague information about my family background, but it was mostly bits and pieces passed down through stories. There were large generational gaps on both sides. Both sets of grandparents had children in their thirties, which was older than average for the time. My paternal grandfather passed away at the age of eighty-nine when I was twenty. I realized I didn’t know much about my family history. For a time, I made an attempt at research my family trees. I got some tips from a friend’s mother and gathered a few bits of precious information.
But this was the early 2000’s, book research was more prevalent and time consuming and the internet was growing in popularity. DNA research was still relatively new, and life got busier when I moved away to go to college. I was always curious about my family history but it faded into the background for years.
My mother and I finally decided to test our DNA. While we waited for the results to come in, I began filling out our family tree with what information I had. I knew that at least three out of four of my grandparents had been descendants of recent immigrants to America. My father’s family had come from Poland and my maternal grandmother had roots near Naples Italy. As possible matches for ancestors began popping up I saw lots of grainy black and white photos of people I had never seen with lives I knew so little about.
There were more photos on my mother’s side; people from a hundred years ago with eyes like my grandfather and lips like my mother’s. Lots of unfamiliar names with remarkably familiar faces. Going back through time, the photos stop and it just becomes names again. There is typically less information to go on, but through my mother’s family tree I was surprised to see that her paternal line was all born in America into at least the late 1600’s. I knew that most of my family was decedent from recent immigrants, but I had no idea that one of the branches of my family tree had been in America that long. They had remained in New England until my grandfather decided to move his family to Florida in the late 1950’s. My mother was born in upstate New York, but lived most of her life in Florida.
The information was much more fragmented on my father’s side of the family tree. There are far less pictures and lots of gaps in information. There were several people who died young and there was quite a bit of estrangement. I did learn that two of the surnames in my father’s family tree, Krause and Kendzrski, both refer to curly or wavy hair. There had also been a few unusual name changes. My grandfather who I always known as Louie was actually born Sylvester and had changed his name at some point in his life. And my last name came from my father’s maternal side, not the paternal side. It was my paternal great grandmother who had the last name Kasprzak (although there are many variations of the spelling). At some point the decision was made to use her last name and it was Americanized to Kasper. She had been born in Poland but didn’t not file naturalization paperwork until 1940, at the age of 61. Her son, my grandfather Louie, was made a citizen through birthright citizenship.
When the DNA results came back they were fascinating and validating. Through my mother’s side I am predominantly English and Irish, with a bit of Italian. The DNA did confirm that I am the descendant of Early Connecticut and New York settlers. Through my father’s side, I am about 45% Central and Eastern European, an area that encompasses Poland. My father’s side was likely in Poland from at least the 1700’s until they decided to immigrate to America in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. They ended up in Wisconsin along with many other Polish immigrants. My father was born in Wisconsin and moved to Florida as an adult.
Even if there are gaps of information in the family tree, at least I was able to trace my heritage through the DNA. And for the most part, the stories passed down had been pretty accurate. By far, the highest percent of my heritage was the 45% Central and Eastern European from my father's side. Of all the cultures present in my DNA, Polish was the one I knew the least about. I am working on changing that.
Regardless of whether my ancestors came to America four hundred years ago or just at the turn of the 1900's, they all came because they wanted a better life. I can't imagine what led up to making the decision to take the long, uncomfortable, and dangerous trip across the Atlantic Ocean. But they made the decision and they survived the journey. What lay ahead was worth the risk to them.
I had a conversation with a friend months ago about America's birthright citizenship. He said he felt like since most other countries don't have birthright citizenship that America shouldn't either. I disagreed. This country committed atrocities against Native Americans and African Americas, while marketing ourselves as a place that welcomed immigration. I am aware that this country was taken from its indigenous peoples and built on slavery. There is a lot of bloodshed and darkness in American history. But I think that if you are going to be a county that talks about freedom and opportunity, you should have birthright citizenship. Not just for white immigrants - it should be for everyone.
I still have members of my own family who buy into the narrative that immigrants are somehow harming America. When I remind them of the fact that we are descendants of some recent immigrants they love to claim that we got here legally. What do you think legal immigration looked like in the 1600's? In the early 1900's? My paternal grandfather became an American through birthright citizenship.
America has been my home but I am not proud of this country or the way it treats its people. The way Ice "agents" are able to grab people off the streets is horrifying. They don't have any identification and seem to want to terrorize people with impunity. In Florida, they have built "Alligator Alcatraz" - a poorly constructed concentration camp they claim cost millions of dollars. I am sickened by the governor of Florida who has been gleefully promoting this shit hole as any type of solution. It is completely barbaric.
My ancestors came to America looking for a better life and now I get to watch a concentration camp get created in my home state. I am disgusted with this country, this government, and what has been allowed to happen. I dream of an America that actually lives up to the ideals it claims to have.
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