Are you proud of your ancestry and race ?

[El_Jibaro]

Well said. My goal is to get to visit some of my ancestral towns/villages someday.

You should, its a very touching experience . In my case it helps that much of my family lives around these areas, especially on my paternal side who are mostly still in Pontevedra so this was not difficult for me.

In my research I've gained a lot of sympathy for many of my ancestors as well. A lot of them died young, were widowers, lost children, battled with addictions, etc. You know, by getting these glimpses of their lives you can sort of see how uneasy life was for them.

I remember that I discovered the journal that belonged to my maternal great grandfather (father of my grandmother), it was very interesting. He was articulate, witty and intelligent as hell! The journal made him real to me, aside from these documents that say he was born in this place, was married to such and such, had this profession, the pictures, etc.

[SouthDutch7991]

I think it's really dumb when people say that you can't be proud of your ancestors because "those were the achievements of other people". How do you think you got here? Were you just a homunculus that came out of thin air? Your body is a continuation of a collective organism which has lived for a very long time, and which your ancestors would be very offended to hear you you don't actually see as part of you. The main reason for reproduction is continuation, we're not just drifting individuals who came from nothing and will return to nothing.

If you ancestry came from a very small region, you likely still hold most of the DNA of that town/community.

[JamesBond007]

I think it's really dumb when people say that you can't be proud of your ancestors because "those were the achievements of other people". How do you think you got here? Were you just a homunculus that came out of thin air? Your body is a continuation of a collective organism which has lived for a very long time, and which your ancestors would be very offended to hear you you don't actually see as part of you. The main reason for reproduction is continuation, we're not just drifting individuals who came from nothing and will return to nothing.

If you ancestry came from a very small region, you likely still hold most of the DNA of that town/community.

It implies that it is stupid to do so, as well; However, the people implying that are idiots themselves :

The Japanese are in the top 10 smartest nations on earth :

In Shintoism :

Ancestor worship is practised in social-religious activities, such as visiting their graves, observing the annual (obon) festival and rituals at the household (kamidana), the Shinto altar. The daily activity is to offer incense, flowers and food to the family ancestors.