Amazing to me how many people consider themselves to be part of some sort of club (whether Black, Jewish, or otherwise). I have no idea what my relatives were doing more than two generations ago, or where they lived, and they’re from several different places so I don’t feel strong ties to any of them. As a Washingtonian, I was brought up on the idea that we don’t have any representation in Congress, so the idea that one is “represented” in some broad cultural sense doesn’t compute to me at all. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room where I felt any sense of community, and it took me a while to grasp the idea that others do. I’m all alone out here.
At least in America, it seems to me that many of us are mongrels like myself in the genetic sense and lack any strong cultural affiliation, which I think is a good thing. I’ve got some Ashkenazi ancestry, but that doesn’t make me one of “the Jews”, and I’m fine with that. I just wonder how long it well take for the median American to move into that mindset.
Amazing to me how many people consider themselves to be part of some sort of club (whether Black, Jewish, or otherwise). I have no idea what my relatives were doing more than two generations ago, or where they lived, and they’re from several different places so I don’t feel strong ties to any of them. As a Washingtonian, I was brought up on the idea that we don’t have any representation in Congress, so the idea that one is “represented” in some broad cultural sense doesn’t compute to me at all. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room where I felt any sense of community, and it took me a while to grasp the idea that others do. I’m all alone out here.
At least in America, it seems to me that many of us are mongrels like myself in the genetic sense and lack any strong cultural affiliation, which I think is a good thing. I’ve got some Ashkenazi ancestry, but that doesn’t make me one of “the Jews”, and I’m fine with that. I just wonder how long it well take for the median American to move into that mindset.