Without Ancestry

painting in layers in sessions that span over months reminds me of seeing a person you've known since they were real young and unconvoluted. In each layer I start seeing different suggested meanings. i felt like I was reading some kind of non standard history book with this one. For now it's called 'without ancestry' and I started thinking about all the immigrants that came to the us and traded in their regional identities for the national one. Ancestral ties get lost in other ways too, such as slavery or colonialism. I think one part of America's current state of division is white identity and what that means. It seems that most white people aren't willing to claim ancestral involvement in slavery. On a daily basis I see a lot of general defensiveness regarding ones lineage but not a lot of specific knowledge or connection to one's actual ancestors. The idea of ancestry is pretty fascinating all in all. Ironically I can't really focus on it right now because my baby is starting to cry.