You are probably right - I am probably misunderstanding the importance that SEEMS to be placed on "heritage". It is probably no different from what you suggested Big Mick and Aziz has suggested. Perhaps reading the threads, as an American, I am picking up a different sense then what you are actually trying to relate. I would hazard a guess that most of us are probably closer to agreement on the role that "heritage" has on our lives than we realize!

Personally, my ancestors are Hungarian, Polish and Czech. There may be certain family traditions that can be traced to those lands, but I would venture to say that I am not much different from any American who is two or three generations removed from "the old country". Our sense of heritage comes from events that have transpired on this native soil and we expand upon that.