My great-grandmother hid her race. Two decades later I understand why.

[wnylib]

24. I came across some reports of Spanish Jews and Muslims who

Last edited Mon Jan 16, 2023, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

had been in enforced labor on Spanish ships and jumped ship in America. Other claims are like you said, Spanish soldiers of lower rank who deserted.

People of mixed ancestry can sometimes resemble other ethnic groups that are not in their ancestry. My mother's family were light completed people from northern Germany. My father's parents both had mixed Native (Seneca, Mohawk, Algonquin) and European (German and English) ancestry. Most of my father's siblings looked very Native American but, although my siblings and I inherited some Native traits from my father's family, the European traits are dominant. The only people who recognize my mix of Native American and European are Senecas on the Seneca territory near me. To everyone else, I am White of European ancestry but I have been mistaken for several different ethnicities that are unrelated to me - Italian American, French Canadian, and Jewish. I majored in Spanish so when I am with Hispanic friends speaking Spanish, I am sometimes mistaken for being Latina.