Comments on: Ken Zucker compares ethnic identity conflict and gender identity conflict

By: Eddy

Eddy — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:05:30 +0000

My bad–
it seems the definition of ethnicity goes beyond background.
Per Wiki dictionary:

ethnic traits, background, allegiance, or association.

By: Jayhuck

Jayhuck — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:00:29 +0000

Eddy,

Truth is that we can’t change our ethnicity

That’s true in one sense, but there have been times that, for all practical purposes, people HAVE changed their ethnicity – at least they have been able to fool everyone around them that they are not members of the ethnic group they were born into – that’s saying quite a bit I think!

By: Eddy

Eddy — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:58:19 +0000

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
–Reinhold Niebuhr
(I originally intended to copy the familiar ‘Serenity Prayer’ and honestly did not know that there was more to it than we usually read or quote. I elected to copy the whole thing for the benefit of others who also didn’t know that there was more to it.)
Truth is that we can’t change our ethnicity…and we aren’t born into the ‘wrong’ ethnicity. Our ethnicity simply is what it is…it’s in the genes passed onto us by our parents. We can, however, respond negatively to the trappings of those cultures and we have the freedom to appreciate what other cultures have to offer…even appreciating them more than our own.
Also, i don’t think ‘Caucasian’ quite fits the definition of an ethnicity. Rather, it’s a term used to describe a host of ethnicities (German, Irish, Italian, Greek, Lithuanian, Slovakian, etc.) as differentiated from a few that display stronger ethnic roots and bonds (as a whole). (You have people of German descent who have thoroughly blended into American culture and then you have the Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutch…from Germany) who have a unique expression of their ethnicity; on the other hand, you have Blacks and Latinos, where some have thoroughly blended, but where the majority retain a strong bond to their ethnicity. It seems to be very fluid.

By: Patrick McCoy

Patrick McCoy — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:36:45 +0000

Your article cites a black child wanting to be white. I am left wondering if this is because of racism he has experienced and thinks being white will eliminate it.
I definitely believe in being born into the “wrong” ethnicity exists, though. I was born a Caucasian male. Some would argue this gives me an unearned privilege in American society. However, I do not want this. I have an innate feeling that I was supposed to be Spaniard/of Latin dissent. I never have felt I fully belonged here in the U.S., but when I visited Spain I knew I was home.

By: Denise Leclair

Denise Leclair — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 09:38:32 +0000

The question is: What part of you is real? Is your body more “real” than your soul?
It is ironic that people who claim moral high-ground act as though the body trumps the soul, when to realize that your soul transcends your body is the essence of spirituality.
Zucker would bleach our souls to save our bodies.