Most frequently asked question since I have moved New York City: “What are you?”
“You Italian?”. No.
“Spanish?”. Not really… but maybe a little.
“Brazilian?”. Haha, I wish!
I guess my uncommon accent, lean 5’10 frame, dark curly hair and olive skin confuses people about my “ethnicity”.
So…what AM I?
I was born In Montreal to a French Canadian mother and a French immigrant father. My paternal grandmother is an Algerian Jew and my grand father is from a Spanish decent community in France.
That would make me a half Jewish French/French Canadian with a splash of Spanish….
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Too long, sometimes too complicated to explain in most of my fast pace encounters. The “what” frankly says very little about me. Furthermore, the “what” makes it easy to be labeled under socially constructed assumptions, or stereotypes, about my “cultural identity”. Thus one can immediately assume that I am a die hart Canadian Hockey fan, or a fine wine and cheese connoisseur. Rest assured, I am definitely a hockey fan and enjoy good wine, I am also a lot more.
Profiling individuals based merely on their ethnicity is a common and widely normalized practice here in the United States. In one of the most multicultural nations of the world, this is striking. The US Census is a great example of racial cataloging. For those of you who struggled with its race related questions, rest assured: you are not alone. CNN’s Don Lemon reported last April that race related questions in the census were creating anger and confusion, stating that “many people feel long time racial classification are no longer accurate or even appropriate”.
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Race, or “ethnicity”, is an undeniable element of community bondage. It embodies a wide range of cultural practices, shared heritage, and, to some extend, a deep feeling of brotherhood and mutual understanding. One has to know where he comes from to know where he’s going; roots give you wings. But as much as these elements play a significant role in shaping ourselves, they shouldn’t ultimately define us.
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In the United-States, where immigration plays a major role in nation building, cultural identity has become a porous concept. And since diversity tends to generate different forms of cultural mingles, it is not uncommon to behold, like me, several cultural identities. Furthermore, the exponential growth of communication devices, such as Internet, widely contributes to the dissemination of cultural products such as music, fashion, and food, giving birth to new forms of intercultural conversations. This plays a major factor in identity building, especially for new generations.
When filling out a form that question’s my ethnicity, I leave a blank.
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By knowing that I am half Jewish French/French Canadian with a splash of Spanish, you will probably never guess that I grew up to combined sounds of Tracy Chapman and Sade. That my first love was basketball, and that I cook a “banging” Indian curry!
So I guess I can’t tell you what I am, but I can definitely tell you who I am.
And that i
