Just found out a have Moorish ancestors and extended family in north Africa. Should I be proud...

Just found out a have Moorish ancestors and extended family in north Africa. Should I be proud? Any interesting discoveries in your genealogical adventures? How did they make you feel?

>figure out last name comes from Northern Ireland
>die a little inside
feels badman

>Google surname
>It's from the name of a small stream in central Egland

I think the pic related are Arabs not moors

What's the difference....

>Just found out a have Moorish ancestors and extended family in north Africa.
I've discovered the same thing recently.

>Should I be proud?
National pride should be applied only to contemporary events.

>How did they make you feel?
I went to Rabat to meet my lost relatives. I had nothing in common with them and their presence was tedious to me (but I am a legitimately antisocial person, so it may just be me). Cous cous was great; the historic centers looked like something that came from an alien civilization; shops, bars and malls are just like every other shop/bar/mall you might find in any other developed country (meh).

>surname is literally the word "slope" in Finnish

A fair bunch of kms?

Never knew I had some Scandinavian in me. Fun to know.

>find out our surname was finnishized from a finnish-swedish surname
>no finnish-swedish old money though

They arem, achktually, Andalusians. The heavy armor of the knight in the right, the helmet of the infantry man and the swords point at that at least.

>23andme
lol

Yeah perhaps I was naive. I should be more cautious giving out my genetic material. Didn't know they were freely giving it to law enforcement. I just wanted to know more about my ancestry.

>ancestors

Are they really your ancestors or do you think so because you have the same surname?

Because having the same surname isn't a good way to determine your ancestors. For example, in south america the natives were given surnames from the priests who converted them or the landlord's surname.

we wuz moors an shiet

Why? I've met plenty of white folk in the states that are super proud of being "irish"
I don't think I'd ever be able to travel there, although I would like to visit Spain at some point. My family branches there too.


Had blood work done, followed up by paperwork .

Travel to Andalucía right now and pray in La Mezquita.

This desu but it had better be a Christian prayer.

A catholic prayer.

>Should I be proud?
No. Neither you nor any relatives you know were alive when your ancestors were in North Africa.

Why is it wrong to be prideful of where one comes from? Isn't that part of what fuels the study of history?

>Why is it wrong to be prideful of where one comes from?
It isn't wrong, it's just silly. It's kind of like a person being proud that their favourite sports team won the league when they had little part to play in it, but in that case, at least the fans can inspire the Athletes to do their best. You, however, did not exist when your ancestors that you mentioned lived or did the things they did. You had zero role to play in it. Why would you be proud of simply inheriting your ancestors' genes?

With that being said, I think that people can be proud of attempting to carry on the cultural achievements and values of their ancestors, because in that case, the achievements of their ancestors can affect generations long after they're gone. This doesn't just apply to biological ancestors, but the predecessors of Scientists, Artists, Writers, Patriots etc. In other words the stuff that matters more. Even then, in this case, those people aren't proud that they're biological ancestors are simply from a certain place or did a certain thing, but they're proud of THEMSELVES for currently preserving and carrying on the values, achievements, way of life of their predecessors. The latter pride comes form WITHIN. Tell me, what effect did your North African ancestors have on the way you lived, other than contributing a small percentage of genetic material? What North African traditions are you currently proud of yourself for carrying on?

>Isn't that part of what fuels the study of history?
It's only a partial influence. The cultural achievements and other products of civilisation are a far better reason to study history.

I might have come across as aggressive, but that wasn't my intention.

It's not being proud of your role in something
It's more a sympathy(?) or empathy thing, I don't know how to put it
You feel proud FOR somebody that you feel connected to
Like you might feel proud of your dad or your brother or whatever for something they've achieved, it's not like you did jack shit but you're proud of them anyway and I don't think there's anything wrong with that

>Like you might feel proud of your dad or your brother
Not him, but that's because you know your brother and father on an intimate level. I even feel pride in my grandfather (who fought in WW2).
Beyond that I have little connection to the rest of my ancestors.

I understand what you mean. What you are describing is closer to the happiness that someone feels when something good happens to their loved ones. That's perfectly fine and is a good thing. However, you and your distant ancestors never knew each other. There is no love between you. You might feel gratitude for them contributing to your genes, but even then, you're thinking of your distant ancestors (+500 years) as an abstract group of people, the majority of whom you will never even find out their names, not actual individuals that you can feel strong emotions towards. Maybe you might feel something strong towards your recent ancestors, since they took care of people you know and love today, but your distant ancestors whom you never even knew existed before you took an ancestry test today?