Woman born in 1963
Librarian
Self Identification: African American
Father's Racial Identity: European American (Jewish)
Mother's Racial Identity: African American
Well, I identify myself as African American not because of what I think but
because of what everybody else thinks. And it's easier. And you don't write
"mulatto" or "halfbreed" on a form;...those aren't nice words, but it's very
descriptive in terms of what I am, because I don't feel like a Black person; I
mean I am; it's just being Jewish. You know, I was raised Jewish; I went to
temple--Reformed, and that's the way I was raised, but...I'm not
practicing...because of the way I was brought up, Black people look at me like
I'm strange too! I mean, you know, when I was at Columbia, I'd walk down the
streets in Harlem and they knew I didn't live in Harlem, they knew that I went
to Columbia, they knew that there was something different about me. I mean I'm
able to speak standard English, if nothing else.
[Being biracial] is kind of interesting, because...I sort of get to sneak
up on people. When they start--Black people and White people, when they start
talking about "those dirty Jews" and I say "Well, excuse me."
And the one thing that I try to really do on a daily basis--not
consciously--but I do try and I tried a lot harder when I was [younger] to
break that stereotype that people who don't like Black people--that's not only
White people in America, that's--there are a lot of people who don't like Black
people in America--to break the stereotype of the ignorant welfare mother who
would prefer to have children and do drugs than work, and I think that I'm a
good counter example. And I enjoy that a lot. I enjoy being able to hold
conversations with people that don't expect me to be able to; I enjoy going to
stores and talking to saleswomen who would really prefer to treat me or
probably anybody else like they're less than, and I like that.
