Identity crisis interuptus

I was speaking to a neighbor the other day (who is Jewish) who said she was born black and therefore has the wrong color skin (she is fair skinned). Another friend who sent me an article about adoption, about the guy who adopted two Chinese girls and wrote a book about it, said the guy had also mentioned a boy who was adopted and who thought he was American Indian. His adopted parents brought him up bringing him to the reservation and teaching him about Native American traditions and when he was all grown up, he met his biological grandmother, who told him they were not Native Americans at all. Yesterday, on the bayou someone asked me what religion we would bring Tin up in and I said, “Well that’s tough, T is an atheist and I’m Jewish, and don’t think either one fits him culturally,” and he said, “Well, pick something and raise him with it.” He said that he found out when he was older that his father was Jewish and he had been trying to recapture that heritage in his life. Sort of reminded me of that Korean woman in her 40s who wrote about being displaced via adoption and how she couldn’t eat enough kimchi – she needs it.

Sort of makes me think the best way to go with all of this would be to raise Tin pan-theistic, pan-cultural, pan-race – which is what we are doing already and sure feels like the right way to go.

Leave a Reply