"Grew up believing she was white until..."

"Lacey Schwartz, 37, only learned the truth about her birth – and her heritage – when she was 18 years old, while she was applying to college and was identified by one of the institutions as being black."

After hearing back from the college, Ms Schwartz immediately confronted her mother and learned that she was conceived while her mom was having an affair with a black man named Rodney.

'I come from a long line of New York Jews,' Ms Schwartz explained in the film. 'I grew up in a world of synagogue, Hebrew school and bar mitzvahs, so it never occurred to me that I was [different].'

She noted: 'I wasn't pretending to be something I wasn't. I actually grew up believing I was white.'

#Deflated...?

What's lighting up the NYT's Commentorati: "Students See Many Slights as Racial ‘Microaggressions’"

Apparently, and despite all that 2008 talk of the dawn of a post racial America, race talk, the race conversation is still going on. So, I have to go where the conversation goes, I can't just sit here and pretend that Althouse is staying above the fray. I have to bang the gong, bang the gong, get it on. Years ago, a boxing referee would forcefully say after the bell signaling the first round... "lets get it on"!.. I'm digressing. Lets get back to Race/Mix race...

A tone-deaf inquiry into an Asian-American’s ethnic origin. Cringe-inducing praise for how articulate a black student is. An unwanted conversation about a Latino’s ability to speak English without an accent.

This is not exactly the language of traditional racism, but in an avalanche of blogs, student discourse, campus theater and academic papers, they all reflect the murky terrain of the social justice word du jour — microaggressions — used to describe the subtle ways that racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes can play out painfully in an increasingly diverse culture.

On a Facebook page called “Brown University Micro/Aggressions” a “dark-skinned black person” describes feeling alienated from conversations about racism on campus. A digital photo project run by a Fordham University student about “racial microaggressions” features minority students holding up signs with comments like “You’re really pretty ... for a dark-skin girl.” The “St. Olaf Microaggressions” blog includes a letter asking David R. Anderson, the college’s president, to address “all of the incidents and microaggressions that go unreported on a daily basis.” READ MORE

I get mistaken for a Hindu/Pakistani sometimes. When I go to Dunkin Donuts, sometimes I get a stare that I recognize as "are you one of us?" kind of thing. Nothing to get hung up about.
However, if you read the linked column carefully, I believe the students are talking about something slightly, maybe not altogether different. Microaggression IS NOT ChipA taking a bat to his Microgreen Garden. I don't want you to jump into a conclusion. As difficult as that may sound,  "jumping into a conclusion" is never recommended. Like I said, read the article and please say something, even if it's of the microagressive variety.

"Can you imagine Mitt Romney and Kanye West as in-laws?”

It appeared as if MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry and her guests could not quite figure out what to say about the Romney's family picture, in which Mitt Romney is holding his adopted black grandson.

So, they made stupid comments, giving my side a rare, legitimate opening to call them on hypocrisy and other nasty things, they themselves, constantly, I mean night and day, attribute to tea party and the GOP... you know the drill.

 

For a sample of the swift reaction so far click read more.