Blended America

I have found it fascinating that the most read article on the NYT's website for the past couple of days has been this article on Obama's multi-ethnic, multi-racial family. There must be a great number of Americans who identify with his roots. I do.

Sure, I'm a white girl. Put me on the beach without sunscreen for longer than hour and I'll be sizzling like bacon. My people came either from Northern Ireland or Central/Southern Italy. I've got the Northern Ireland skin and hair. Steve is a Northern European mutt.

But if you look past my immediate nuclear family, you'll see a much broader spectrum of skin tones and countries of origin. At any family gathering, you'll see my Uncle from India, my cousins who are half-Indian/half-Italian, their spouses who are Puerto Rican and half Jewish, and my sister-in-law who is black from Guyana. There have also been less permanent girlfriends and boyfriends at these family parties originating from another half dozen areas of the world.

There has been much celebrating the fact that we have the first black president in the past week. And we should celebrate that fact. But we should also recognize that Obama is multi-racial. He is the face at our family gatherings.