Identity

A few days ago we went to the park that just re-opened right around the corner from our house. It is a wonderful place. There is a big grassy playing area for soccer or baseball, stadium like seating "grass style" on the hill, a fence protecting little wanderers from the road and a varied assortment of normal playground equipment at the far end. We love going to the park and hanging out. When we arrived a few days ago there were quite a bit more children than there had been on the other mornings and Joe and Louisa took off to play in a semi-large group of kids. Kev and I trotted off with the twins to the far end to play on the sliding board.
A while later, Louisa ran over all flushed with exertion, very happy and exclaimed.... "Finally, I found some Africans to play with!" Hmmmm. So we sat there on the park bench as I corrected her notion that these kids had also just flown in.
She looked shocked and said, "Oh! So you don't think these kids have ever been to Africa?"
"No, probably not. But their ancestors once lived in Africa and then they came here, so these kids are Americans just like you, but with an African heritage. So instead of saying they are Africans, you would say they are African-Americans."
She still looked thoughtful as she ran back over to re-join the game.

Today, she was reading a story about Walter Mosley and how he came to write his first mystery novel. Alice Walker was his inspiration. As she continued to read she came across the words "African-American" again. She paused and looked at me.
"Do you remember what this means?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes.
"It means that person or that person's family or ancestors came from Africa, but they now live in America, so they are kind of both."
"How can you tell if a person is African-American?"
A very lengthy pause as she stares out the window.
"Welllllll, sometimes that person has darker skin. But not always."
"What do you mean?"
At this point she stares straight into my eyes (no small thing with Louisa) and with great confidence says, "Well Mom, that's what I am, and just look at me. You can't always tell."

Well, good to know that she, at least, is not dealing with compartmentalization issues.