I am proud of my German heritage, but mainly because,

• Both my parents immigrated from Germany, and met each other over here.
• I love German food (grew up with it)
• I love most of the German culture (grew up with it blended with Canadian culture)
• Aside from the hassle of memorizing grammatical gender, I love how German sounds. I can also speak it with only a trace of an accent.
• I have been to Germany, and I love the feel of the country (although I have an aversion to large populations, so it would be very difficult for me to live there).

But would I ever celebrate being of German heritage? Nope. Why should I? The only reason why I love my German heritage boils down to an accident of conception. Heck, I don’t even celebrate being Canadian.

If I was to celebrate anything, it would be for being a member of humanity, and to a wider degree, being alive in a universe that is almost completely hostile to life (we are living on the only known life-compatible planet).