Easy Racial Exercise

I thought of this due to some of the answers on a thread about how long your family's lived in this country. I'm not knocking that thread, it just made me think of E.M. Forester's brilliant 1939 essay. Here's his proposal:

"Can you give me the names of your eight great-grandparents?"

The betting is eight to one that you cannot. The Royal Family could.... But most of the people I know will fail... As each of us looks back into his or her past, doors open upon darkness.... On such a shady past as this-our common past- do we erect the ridiculous doctrine of racial purity."

" We don't know what our ancestors were like or what our descendants will be like. We only know that we are all of us mongrels... who must learn not to bite one another."

BTW, I cannot name all 8 of my great grandparents.

But only two sets were in the usa.
I have one relative that fought in the revolution.
I have two immigrant grandparents.

I can't even name one of them. All four of my grandparents emigrated from Ireland about a century ago. My parents never knew any of their grandparents. My father's father died before my parents even married (as did my father).

I guess I should make sure my children all know the names of their great grandparents.