Family Ties Across the Nation

            This map intrigued me because it shows how transnational our family units really are.  The family diagramed in the map has roots that span the entire width on our country: from California to the Eastern Seaboard. Generation to generation shifts back and forth between many places to suit the needs of that family unit. I know that my family map would be similar to this one, perhaps with a few less crisscrossing connections, but it would certainly span the entire country.

            

            Much of the same is probably true for most family units in the United States. We really do live up to our nickname given back in the 1900s’ of “The Melting Pot”. Not only do we have people living in one area that are from the opposite side of the country but we even have many individuals who are from other places around the globe. In this aspect our family units have expanded from being just transnational to both transnational and transcontinental. Personally, I have a cousin and his family living in Japan while most of my other family is here in the United States.

            This diaspora effect is really due to how the United States does have so many immigrant families. Also, generations of families are constantly in flux and move from place to place. However, I believe an even greater reason for this diverse family unit stems from how modern society puts a type requirement on individuals to be not only respectful but actively participate in various cultures and ethnicities around the world. A perfect example of a uniquely diverse family would be the family in the show “Modern Family” I personally love this show as it is filled with hysterical laughs and offers a good relation point that all families have special, unique quarks. On the show, the family contains some American born members, an adopted child from some place in Asia, and a Mexican heritage mom and son. This family certainly qualifies as a transcontinental family unit.

            More importantly, seeing the map created by Bill Rankin jumpstarted my thoughts into thinking how many of the characters of the novels we have read in class would have complex crisscross maps as well. John Grady’s would extend from Texas to Mexico, Dodd and Laurie’s would extend similarly and Billy the Kid, from what we can definitely pinpoint would start it New York and follow to and surround the New Mexico and Texas area. Each of these characters had created a network of connections from one place to the other, sometimes going back to the same place more than once like John Grady, Dodd and Laurie and sometimes not like Billy the Kid. With the upcoming section on American Indians, I am positive there would be intricate connection networks of where family units have lived and currently live.

            It is fascinating to see how one contained family unit can be so dispersed everywhere.

Rankin, Bill. "The Ancestors of James Rankin, Joanne Murray, and Donna Carpenter,             Plus Offspring." Radical Cartography. N.p.. Web. 19 March 2013. <http://www.radicalcartography.net/>.