Creole Fails DNA Test

[arisbe]

"My son was flabbergasted by the results," says Joseph. "He said, 'Dad, you mean for 50 years you've been passing for black?'" Joseph admits that, strictly speaking, he has. But he's not sure if he can or wants to do anything about that at this point. For all the lingering effects of institutional racism, he's been perfectly content being a black man; it has shaped his worldview and the course of his life in ways that cannot, and probably should not, be altered. Yet Joseph struggles to balance the intellectual dishonesty of saying he's black with the unimpeachable honesty of a lifelong experience of being black. "What do I do with this information?" he says, sounding more than a little exasperated. "It was like finding out you're adopted. I don't want to be disingenuous with myself. But I can't conceive of living any other way. It's a question of what's logical and what's visceral."

From AlterNet

Comments

[rengal.livejournal.com]

Who cares what your freakin' blood test is - you are who you are. Are you going to let science define who you are? I should certainly hope not.
I am adopted, as is my sister. We have always been in our family, always been my mom and dad's daughters, and hold the family's background and cultural identity as our own.

I continue not to understand why 'blood' is so very integrally important to some people's idea of self...

Well I understand

[dotmeister.livejournal.com]

But thinking you are something you aren't, could be a huge culture shock for anyone. It doesn't change who you are, but it might have changed how one is treated, and unfortunately, that is a sad fact of life.