What Are You?

Lucy always saves her hard questions for bedtime, usually after the Bible reading, and the praying, and the singing are finished. I can’t recall how we got on the topic, but last night we talked about ways to answer the question, “What are you?” Of course, the obvious answer is: “I’m a person.” (This question is usually followed by, “No, I mean where are you from?” and then, “Where are your parents from?” with the goal of determining your race or ethnicity.) I told her that she could say she is both Japanese-American and White, or European-American. Lucy instantly responded, “Wait, we’re white? Who’s white?” (I was a little shocked, then I explained that Caroline’s ancestors are Scottish and English so that makes her European-American.)

Come to think of it, I've had my own moments of confusion in conversations about race and ethnicity. I attended the Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing in April. I had a great time, met tons of people, and had many enjoyable conversations. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that I had inserted an unusual level of awkwardness into around a dozen conversations. Several days after the fact, it dawned on me that when people had asked me about my background they didn’t want to know about my undergraduate education. I saw two other Asians at the Festival--out of a crowd of around 3,000 people--so I guess I would have asked about my background, too.