When my Pappou left Greece in the aftermath of the Greek Civil War, he came to the United States with hopes of building a new future.

Although he left the nation of his ancestors behind, he resisted assimilation in various ways and imparted upon my father – and eventually me and my brothers – an intense pride and admiration for our homeland and our people. He lived as a true Hellenic patriot, remaining a pillar of Seattle’s Greek community and a lifelong member of the Orthodox Church. And while he thoroughly appreciated his new home in America, he made sure that our family never forgot Greece.

Approximately three million people of Greek descent now live in America and can attest to having this same experience; of looking up to a patriarch or matriarch who taught them that Greek tradition is worth preserving, and knowledge of one’s ancestry is paramount. From as early as I can remember, my knowledge of Greece came directly from the things I learned from my Pappou.

This is the chief reason why the customs and practices of Greek Americans mirror those of Greece in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s – an era that permanently imprinted the values of pre-modern Greece into the memories of first-generation immigrants and the families they built in America. As Greece transformed from a very rural and traditional culture in subsequent decades, Greek-Americans deliberately retained these values out of enthusiasm for the old days.

When I finally began to travel to Greece in my pre-teens, making more friends and local contacts with each successive trip, I realized that many of the expectations and impressions I held of Greek culture were now outdated and unpopular. I was finally able to see Greece for its contemporary state, a place I’d pieced together in my mind a thousand times through fragments of social, cultural, and religious tradition in America. The conclusions I came to placed a key distinction between the identity of the Greek Diaspora, which remains static and petrified – true to the original values of Greece – and the collective identity of Greeks today, which has undergone many decades of modernization.

I believe that many Greeks in Greece today understand as little about the identity of the Diaspora as they claim that Diasporans know about Greece. Here, a lack of cultural exchange and dialogue has kept the two communities more separate than they ought to be, despite the many ties that bind all Greeks globally.

Greek-American identity has several distinct features, and it can be characterized primarily by a greater emphasis on religion and church attendance, and a more fundamentalist outlook on culture and politics – one that can certainly be at odds with many Greeks today. Only 17% of local Greeks attended church weekly in 2019, compared to 31% of Greek Orthodox Christians in America.

Case in point, the major waves of Greek immigration to America occurred before Greece underwent significant urbanization, industrialization, and secularization. Many of the ancestors that Greek-Americans attribute the fullness of Hellenic identity to village-dwelling farmers who maintained a very traditional outlook once living in the United States. They are much more likely to resemble the Greeks who preceded them by 70 years than to align with those who occupy the present day by the same interval of time.

The seeds of thought and patriotism my grandparents planted have informed the moral and political framework that guides many aspects of my identity. While Greek Americans often lack proficiency in the Greek language – due to assimilating pressures in American society – and formal education in Greek history and politics, the average Diasporan will still default to the traditional and conservative values of faith, family, and fatherland on many current issues.

Of course, Greek Americans are not a monolith. There is a great deal of diversity within the Greek-American community depending on one’s degree of assimilation, number of Hellenic ancestors, and other factors.

However, let it be said that the unique perspectives of the Diaspora can be incredibly important for Greece. Although many aspects of local Greek culture have changed since our grandparents left the country, the Greek state and the economy have remained stagnant. Conversely, the Diaspora has witnessed the nearly infinite possibilities of free market economics while maintaining an express loyalty to Hellenism.

The Diaspora has the ability, and the experience, to reintroduce many overlooked aspects of traditionalism in Greece, while simultaneously facilitating healthy modernization and economic growth in earnest.