A few weeks ago we discussed a new kind of camp for Indian children adopted by white American parents. Today, via a tip on the news tab, I came across an article on Alternet by a Jewish New Yorker who adopted an Indian baby as a single mother, and was somewhat taken aback by the darkness of her child’s skin:
The first photo I received of [Redacted] showed her with fair skin. I was surprised, because from what my adoption agency told me, the child assigned to me would be much darker. After I got over that surprise, I had another: I felt relief. Suddenly — guiltily — it was a comfort to know that she would not look so different from me, and even more important, that her light skin would save her from a lifetime of prejudice. But ah, the magic of flashbulbs. A few months later I received several more photos and gaped at them in shock. The baby was much, much darker. (link)
[Redacted] has, initially, a lot of anxiety to deal with about the gap between her skin tone and that of her adopted daughter (read the whole article for examples: the kicker is the diaper change). She gets over it, but is still often surprised by the fact that no one in her social circle — including her Indian and Black friends — is as dark as her daughter:
Very soon, my daughter will have a lot to process. She’s adopted, she’s the child of a single mother, she’s an Indian Jew by conversion. We spent the summer with my father in upstate New York, and she was nearly always the darkest child in music class, gymnastics and day care. In New York City, even Blacks and Indians in [Redacted]’s and my social circle are lighter than she. Over and over I see how light skin equals privilege. Now that I have become [Redacted]’s mother, I realize: We need darker friends. (link)
I’m sure there will be some folks who will be offended that [Redacted] is publicly stating some of these things she says in this article. I personally am not: she’s expressing the shock she felt along with her embarrassment about that shock, and describing how she got past it. Yes, her initial reaction to her baby’s skin tone betrays “racism,” but it looks to me like she’s recognized and dealt with it.
Still, I wonder what people think about the solution she outlines: “We need darker friends.” Is it really damaging to a child (the baby has grown up some now) not to be around anyone who physically resembles her? And wouldn’t it be slightly strange to seek out “friends” on this basis?
[Oh, and one more thing: the Times recently had an interesting article on the growing number of cross-racial adoptions in the U.S.]
“We need darker friends.” Is it really damaging to a child (the baby has grown up some now) not to be around anyone who physically resembles her? And wouldn’t it be slightly strange to seek out “friends” on this basis?
i think there are better uses of her time & energy. also depends on the child. some here (on these boards) seem to be relatively negatively affected by being the “only brown kid” in their school. others do not seem to have been impacted.
props to her honesty and reflectiveness, but, she needs to be careful not to overanalyze this issue (though this is the only slice of this woman’s thoughts i know of, so i need to be careful in assuming she really is thinking about this as much as the impression i get from the article).
Speaking from my own experiences, I think it is damaging for a child to grow up around people that do not look like her
speaking from my own experience, it was the bomb 🙂 the mindless palefaces were nothing but my playthings, as are all humans. life is not delivered, it is hunted and subdued.
i think that the woman above isn’t racist or ignorant, i think she is an attempting-to-be-sensitive liberal who is overthinking the issue and trying to be aware to the point where it might be interfering with the primary concern: loving & raising a child. i say this primarily because she wondered what black people would think if she adopted a dark-skinned child: my response, “black people” don’t have any reason to think jack, it isn’t their kid, races don’t have any moral right to a kid, parents do.
So wait, are you offended by her essay or aren’t you? If not, I don’t know why you’re bringing up this old thing again.
What Lisa Lerner’s daughter will face and what you faced will probably be pretty similar. By your logic, one could argue that Indians should stay in India to avoid having their kids be damaged by looking different in American society.
Finally, as a Jew, I think she probably has some idea about how ethno-religious exclusion works.
I think this is article is a really, really honest attempt to think thru some of the challenging issues in adopting a child who is perceived to be really different from a parent. The perceived part is important: the mother perceives the difference and she also worries about other peoples perceptions.
In almost all cultures, skin color is significant and north america is no exception. It shouldnt be so, its an insignificant part of our heritage etc. but it is. Much better to acknowledge it and work thru it, ask for help etc.
When I first came to the US, I couldnt tell light-haired north europeans apart. To add to this, the men had these short names like “joe” and “ed”, and there were at least two called “bill”; that didnt help either.
I dont think I had “some race and color issues”, it was just something outside my experience. It was really embarassing as several of my most helpful colleagues fell into this category. I had to consciously note some details of dress, facial expression etc. for several weeks until such folk became more individuated to my eyes.
on a personal level – i think the lady’s good intentions cant be doubtde – but to echo razib i think she’s thinking too much about this. relax.
kids of a certain age growing up in a racially different environment, and i was one myself, do not think about it – but then i think i was privileged not to realize i was different – that came later. i dont think the kid will have any issues and she’s going to be as white/jewish as her mum provided the mum doesnt try to confuse matters by providing a clumsy ‘authentic’ indian experience.
one request for the posters… as someone who’s considering adopting this is one of the points i havent exactly brooded over – but it’s been on the edge of my mind – but the thing i fear the most are the questions from strangers – as to ‘why did you pick him/her’… i dont think there is a good answer… so be nice guys/ladies. a kid has a mother. a woman has a daughter. why poke holes.
I can’t say I’m offended by the adoption itself… a child needed a home, and she is providing one. But I AM severely annoyed at her lack of forsight. Her choosing to adopt is bringing forward many of her own issues with race. Issues that she really needed to at least look into before adopting. I can’t help but feel that her worry about the child’s skin tone is related to how SHE will be treated by people who might assume the child is hers. Her relief that the girl was lighter probably stemmed from a deeper desire to have the child “pass.” At least then she could do a good deed without really having to experience any overt racism.
More specifically, I think she is worried V(aishali) will be mistaken for black and that would result in scorn from both white and black communities… which explains her preoccupation with what people in the black community will think. Adopting a brown child says she’s not racist; liberal, “colorblind” but without really having to face the… more tumultuous race debates that would happen if she adopted a black child.
Or maybe she should realize that people come in a variety of colors and its more important to find positive role models in V’s community than to try and find people of the same skin color.
YES. It IS damaging. If she is surrounded by all lighter skinned, lighter haired people throughout her childhood, it is VERY likely that she will feel like an outsider, even if no one expliciitly tells her she is.
Yes, this would be strange. It is also a burden on that particular “friend” to be the representative of all things X. Goodness, I have so much to say on this. I’ll stop now.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this article. Part of me wants to give her props for openly admitting that she has certain biases about darker skin, since most goras I know will get uber-defensive whenever the topic of racism is even discussed. “I honestly don’t see color,” or “I’m so glad to see people mixing these days” are some examples of idiocy that i’ve heard lately.
On the other hand, I kind of agree with Gautham — I got the feeling she was interchanging/conflating the identities of being “Indian” and “dark”. As in, “being around darker people will make Vishali feel better about herself.” Not necessarily true. I grew up around Latinos, Asians, and black people — but I was always the only desi. And just like my desi friends who grew up around white people, i was still called “gandhi lover” and “dot head” and “curry girl” — BY PEOPLE WHO WERE DARKER THAN ME. This Lerner chick has it all wrong — it’s not simply darkness that makes a kid feel different, it’s the slightest sense of otherness that other kids are quick to pick up on.
That all being said, they live in NY, not Iowa, so I’m sure Vaishali will at least have some exposure to other desis.
i don’t think it is really appropriate to take the darkness thing as a literal root of her issues, i think it is more totemic/symbolic. if her baby was lighter brown i’m sure she might have other issues.
i think that one needs to be careful about attributing problems/outsiderness to color/physical differences. some people will always be outsiders because they are shy or awkward. i think saying that it is about ‘race’ is an out for some people, in brownland they might be taunted for a different reason because there’s something about them that screams ‘i am prey, come hunt me’ (though i could be convinced by social science studies which control for variables).
i would say that in general, white people need darker friends…
but the way that should happen is by people putting themselves in the position to make friends of all backgrounds, and then let whatever happens, happens. looking for dark friends to serve a specific purpose is, as oneup points out, very problematic. it’s rather like stephen colbert’s gag about his search for a new black friend.
from the article, it feels to me as well that the author is (subconsciously) worried the child will be taken for black. that, as oneup points out, exposes mother and child to a whole set of issues that perhaps she didn’t “sign up for.” she may also be worried that she – the mother – will be taken for a white lady who adopted a black child.
life is case by case so we are in no position to know whether this mother is “good” or “bad” for this child. but i do agree with gautham and with oneup that the author doesn’t seem to have prepared herself very well for the role of white mother of a non-white child. hopefully writing this article, clumsy as it is, and the conversations that will ensue, will help her find her way.
Right Al Beruni. A lot studies have been done on how people have trouble individualizing those outside their own “kind.” That’s just being realistic. My first uncharitable thought was, “why the hell did this idiot even think about adopting a child from India if color was significant?” Did her only knowledge of India come from Air India advertisements? Her trepidation about color is not “racist” IMO. If, for some weird reason, an Indian family had to assume parenthood of a blue-eyed blond, unrelated to them, I expect they’d have to grapple with a few uncomfortable feelings too, unrelated to the British Empire. They’d feel really funny introducing that little tow-head as theirs. Even within families, an “odd” sibling can draw tiresome remarks. I do have problems with interracial adoption though. If it works out and the kid is happy, and the parents are happy, ok. But later, especially during her adolescent angst period, the kid could grow up feeling “kidnapped” from his or her own culture.
Since we are speaking from our own experiences, mine was like Razib’s. Growing up, I was the only Indian in school and I loved it. It made me feel like I stood out. It was a little harder to get girls, but–probably since I lived in a highly educated jewish neighborhood–not too much so.
I was aware of the differences between me and the other kids and I think this made me more aloof and individualistic. Not being automatically part of any group can make one less inclined toward group-think. Nor did I revert back to my parents culture and revel in my Indianess.
I wonder if this partially explains how I ended up an athiest (like razib). I do know indian kids who had a very tough time with this, as lack of acceptance and lack of girls can do that to a person. But for me, it was a happy childhood.
From the article:
I can’t help but wonder what the racial and economic backgrounds of her liberal friends are. I think this idea the race doesn’t matter at all is one of the biggest reasons I don’t identify with liberals.
It DOES matter. It SHOULD be thought about. And it SHOULD be dicussed.
But at the same time, the fact that race (and more specifically and accurately, culture) is a factor that needs to be considered shouldn’t mean that it has to completely take over every decision and action.
amen.
It was a little harder to get girls, but–probably since I lived in a highly educated jewish neighborhood–not too much so.
i grew up in the intermontane west for my adolescence. i didn’t perceive any problems. a half-black girl and a cambodian girl (the only other non-whites in a school of 900) were always dating as well. the school was 50% mormon btw. social science studies do suggest that dating should be a problem…but i think it can be contingent upon personality.
I think this idea the race doesn’t matter at all is one of the biggest reasons I don’t identify with liberals.
i think that’s a overly simplistic. there’s a grain of truth in this, but on the other hand many white liberals make unctuous attempts to be racially insensitive.
Right. I sincerely hope that she, and other women in her situation find a niche in their adopted child’s communities… Or at least are exposed to people who will be honest with them about what types of situations they might encounter. Because right now I feel like if little V ran home crying because the boy in class didn’t like her dirty black skin… or if someone called her some terrible racial slur, the author wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to console her… and that’s rough.
find a niche in their adopted child’s communities and or if someone called her some terrible racial slur, the author wouldn’t know the first thing about trying to console her… and that’s rough.
hm. perhaps (if she is a believer) she should tell her she is a child of god and one of the chosen people who must be a light unto the nations? though seriously, there is a chasm between those of us who think that genetic origin necessarily implies membership in a community and those of us who tend to lean to the idea that values and experience dictate that. she will experience racism within the jewish community, but she will be american and jewish.
Prof. Amardeep,
And wouldn’t it be slightly strange to seek out “friends” on this basis?
But don’t some Indian/Pakistani parents here in the US seek out Indian/Pakistani friends with kids of the same age so that their kids have a few brown playmates? I wouldn’t necessarily fault her.
“i think that one needs to be careful about attributing problems/outsiderness to color/physical differences. some people will always be outsiders because they are shy or awkward. i think saying that it is about ‘race’ is an out for some people, in brownland they might be taunted for a different reason because there’s something about them that screams ‘i am prey, come hunt me’ (though i could be convinced by social science studies which control for variables).”
Color differences may not be a necessary component for outsiderness and/or exclusion, but in general it’s sufficient.
Color differences may not be a necessary component for outsiderness and/or exclusion, but in general it’s sufficient.
not necessarily sufficient (i would say that your generality is too broad a scope to be precise in the context of this conversation).
superdork
Exactly. A light-skinned indian friend who has married an uber north-european woman now has two light-haired children. And this is not very easy for him to handle !! Of course, he loves his kids but they are perceived to be different by others and even sometimes by him. I almost get the sense that he is sometimes annoyed that they dont look “indian” ! So these expectations and assumptions can be very tricky to work through, its not enough just to say “Vasudeva Kutumbham” or whatever and expect everything to be fine.
Oh, I don’t totally identify with either side of the political bandwagon… but I feel like liberals often take their whole “we are the” world-view to a level that still doesn’t see non-whites as inviduals who are capable of normal human thought. And then you have crap like this happen.
Since I grew up like this, IMO Oneup is half right, she will feel like an outsider but this is not necessarily damaging. She, or her mother, is going to have to learn how to turn this into a positive, ie an opportunity to build a genuine identity for herself while the other kids are “trapped” in a group identity not of their own making.
Just to nit-pick a little… why is her use of the term “black” a portrayal of ignorance? Most of the black (yes I use that word) people I know (aged 14 through mid-60s) prefer to be called black, or Black American. Many of them do not (or choose not to) identify with Africa, and therefore do not like the term African-American. I don’t think using the term makes her ignorant. I usually try to pick up on what people call themselves and use that.
Also, in terms of our personal experiences: I don’t think that just having more brown/desi/whatever people around makes one more comfortable; that’s ignoring the diversity within our community. There were a couple of desis in my school situation, but one was a Gujrati Muslim, one was a Pakistani Muslim, one was a Malayali Catholic (I am Maharashtrian Hindu). So, while it might have seemed like having them around provided some sort of relief, I actually had more in common with my non-desi friends, whose families came from Ireland, Hungary, China, Italy, Trinidad, etc. in different centuries. In fact, some of my so-called countrymen were the only ones to ever tease me about the dancing Shiva on our mantle, or the elephant-headed statue in our living room.
You never fail to amuse.
Al beruni,
my family has acquaintances where the father is bangladeshi and the mother irish. one of the sons looks “latino” (he lives in NYC, people assume he’s puerto rican from what he tells me), while the other kid looks basically “white” (irish with a tan basically). it is pretty clear that the father favors the former over the latter, and he has talked about how it was initially embarrassing to introduce his auburn haired baby to his relatives back home. so it goes both ways.
Get yer dark friends right here at Rent-a-Negro. I’ve used the service and they have very reasonable rates. Going once…
Now if only someone would open up a Mango Store in this neighborhood, so I can get me the new iMacaca.
I agree… sorry if I didn’t fully get that point across. There ARE ways to spin this positively, but it takes an informed and prepared parent (regardless of race) to be able to do this. By reading this article I don’t feel the author is prepared at all.
Tricky topic. But the bolded part is off base. I think the desire to use “black” is more based on the fact that “African-American” is cumbersome to type or say over and over. Formally, the majority of black people choose “african american” because we DO want to acknowledge that part of our history… but in conversation and practical everyday speech, “black” is more common. In my experience anyway…
to me, individual ethnicities are artifacts of our respective selves… and i know kids dont see race as a social differentiators the way grown-ups do. so why make it so? why go out of the way to create the imbalances, the partitions and the powerplays that are primarily societal constructs?
are y’all parents? have you been around young children? my experience is that race matters very little to them – i love kids and kids love me back regardless of ethnicity differences – and i find the thought a bit hurtful that some parent would put thought barriers around this.
Ohh please. Indian’s are more obsessed with light skin then anyone on the planet. I bet a light skinned indian couple wouldnt adopt a dark skinned indian baby.
just an fyi, it seems that preference for black or african american is 50/50 among blacks/african americans.
to me, individual ethnicities are artifacts of our respective selves… and i know kids dont see race as a social differentiators the way grown-ups do. so why make it so?
teensy kids perhaps. but teens can be brutal and very racist, until the veneer of adulthood dries off and seals away the ugly honesty
I don’t think Lisa is racist. She seems very open minded .
—The very way she contrasts her daughter’s skin color with peers makes it clear she hasn’t “dealt with it” yet.—
Of course she is wondering how to fuse her daughter into society given she lacks experience in situations her daughter will be subject to. How can Indian’s speak so highly as if we are not racist in our own ways. Infanticide. Most Indian’s are racist (albeit quietly and not violently) against African Americans. Don’t tell me Indian parents approve when their daughter or son marries someone African American. To not talk about it, as suggested in an earlier post, is not the answer.
Amardeep,
Based on anecdotal evidence, notably from desi friends who have adopted from India, it appears that it is easy to adopt Indian girls since there are so many that are given away for adoption. However, boys are just not given away. Friends of mine (inter-racial couple – Indian man, Caucasian American woman) had adopted a girl from India. They desired to adopt a second child who was male. The only one they could find had a deformed arm. They did adopt him.
The reason I bring this up is that there is another facet to this story. And that is one of gender and its correlation with disability. That combined with the racial factor that others have discussed here, is a dual challenge for the parents. I am amazed by these folks who face these adoption related challenges head on and raise successful kids.
“. A light-skinned indian friend who has married an uber north-european woman now has two light-haired children. And this is not very easy for him to handle !!”
and that, even though they’re genetically his too, and must bear some resemblence to him. So for love of Shiva, of course there’s going to be an element of strangness in all this interracial adopting. Confucious says: “It can be good or it can be bad.” Most people who think at all, feel a little alien now and then, no matter how smothering the family is, how same the population.
Oneup, I see your point, but this is not the experience I have had, especially with younger generations. I grew up using “African American” but have often been specifically asked to use the term “black.” To each his or her own, I suppose. Plus, teenagers are a different and constantly changing (but deeply thoughtful and highly opinionated!!) breed.
I wonder if you are falling into the same trap that you accuse many of us of doing before: generalizing completely from your own experience.
no, but, i’m going to speak up to contradict your own perceptions, as you do see to speak in a manner which tends to elide the difference between your own experience & opinions and those of “indians” or “desis” or “hindus” or whatever you claim as your group.
Just to nit-pick a little… why is her use of the term “black” a portrayal of ignorance? Most of the black (yes I use that word) people I know (aged 14 through mid-60s) prefer to be called black, or Black American Some mutineers are pretty young, so a little history lesson:
Anybody who lived during the 60s learned to use the term black for people of sub-Saharan African descent. It was a term promoted and insisted upon by BLACKS–excuse me, African Americans. Before black, the official and perfectly polite, non-racist term was Negro, which simply means black in Spanish. “Colored” was also used, by blacks themselves, and was not insulting. There was some move towards “Afro-American” during the 60s but it never caught on. Now it has. African American. Long and annoying to have to say. How about European American. Asia American (that trips off the tongue a little fast), Indian American, etc.
“it is pretty clear that the father favors the former over the latter, and he has talked about how it was initially embarrassing to introduce his auburn haired baby to his relatives back home. so it goes both ways.” Again, whatsup? Lisa the Adopter maybe didn’t know what they’d pull out of the hat considering there are a billion or so people in India, but the father in razib’s anecdote had married an irish person knowing what she looked like and evidently approving, so why the shame for his kid, a veritable red-headed step-child to his own dad? I think maybe people fall for the specious expectation that “dark” genes dominate and the offspring at best will be mid-way. Not necessarily–they can lean hard either way. When you marry (or whatever) with someone outside your genetic comfort zone, expect some people to be uncomfortable. Expect the unexpected.
Gautam wrote: As long as darker coloring is looked at as a “defect” then people like me should feel free to point out the stupidity of such a position.
To be fair to the writer, I think in this case, she was doing what one of the comments in that article in AlterNet suggested and I take the liberty to quote: “My husband and I are white and adopted two African-American boys out of foster care. I wish I could say the world is colorblind and all kids needs is love, but you have to be realistic. I know that the only people who say race doesn’t matter are white people. Race does matter, and I love my sons enough to know that I am raising black men in America and that their opportunities may be different than white boys.
Part of loving my sons is understanding the role race plays in our world and preparing them for it. Right now they are young and it’s easy for them. I fear it will get more complicated as they get older.”
asically every group of people on Earth is racist because most people are programmed from Birth to prefer people that look, think, talk and act like themselves
no, i doubt this. there is evidence for example that sexual attraction tends to resemble something like the opposite sex parent. in other words, it seems plausible that one identifies with the majority, not themselves.
Again, whatsup?
the human mind is not integrated into a unitary whole. one can be of multiple minds, perceptions and preferences in different domains.
to be specific, humans seem cued to accept the norms and values of your peers. this does bring up issues that are relevant in light of this thread, especially when peers and parents pull in different directions….
So true!
I do notice a profound disconnect in the experiences of the people here on Sepia and the brown people I know in my life. and But I also think that the Mutiny is a pretty self-selecting community
both are self-selecting. your problems in the past have been to assume that your norms are authentic (e.g., hinduism), while those of those who don’t fit your box are somehow not authentic. SM is self-selected, but so are those who you know in your own circle.
i await the social science. i wouldn’t be surprised if the science is on average on your side. perhaps we should go back to an all-white immigration policy to shelter people from hurt and tension that ensues in a multiracial republic? 🙂
Ravidner, Gautham,
While it may be true in general, the statement was an absolute one [I bet a light skinned Indian couple…] and is therefore incorrect. See this..
The more pertinent question is: Why don’t more Indian parents adopt? [And the answer has to do with governmental norms in addition to social attitudes.]
perhaps we should go back to an all-white immigration policy to shelter people from hurt and tension that ensues in a multiracial republic? 🙂
boo, may the hordes of ormuz, abyssinia and hind tramel upon this land 🙂
non-racist term was Negro,
I believe the spanish term “negrito” – little blackie, is (was?) a term of endearment in Spain. But it is interesting to me how a longstanding community like the blacks still have dynamic contestations of identity; desis/browns are schizophrenic at the moment, but I write that off to being young here.
Gautham,
i think saying that it is about ‘race’ is an out for some people, in brownland they might be taunted for a different reason because there’s something about them that screams ‘i am prey, come hunt me’ (though i could be convinced by social science studies which control for variables).
i admitted my opinions were speculative and wanted some studies to shed light on it. i will stop assuming that those who feel the boot of racism more heavily than i are defective, yes, but please be a little more cautious in your generalizations of white people. i take it personally, some of my best friends are white 🙂
There are a number of things that are problematic about that survey… including age group (what age range is considered “adult”), economic status… I only took a cursory glance, but I won’t believe that statistic until they control for more variables.
In the case of the bolded, I don’t doubt that you have had an entirely different experience then. I’m college-aged and at a pretty decent university… and for the most part, when black people get to college, they become much more aware of who they are. We don’t emerge as pod people, but we definitely tend to change in a positive way, and generally this means learning about and having more of a desire to acknowledge our african roots. So I’m surrounded by people who prefer “African-American” in the formal sense.
This would be a great way to “end racism” if ALL parents stuck to the FACT that we are all essentially the same. But children are impressionable and if they have parents who have certain views, at least some of the time they will share those views themselves. Trying to ignore the race conversation(s) would be setting your child up to fail. The fact is, kids don’t care about a multitude of issues… that doesn’t mean those issues aren’t important.
desitude: “I believe the spanish term “negrito” – little blackie, is (was?) a term of endearment in Spain.”
Yes, that has to do with a little pig called by that name, which is served as a delicacy. Hence, it is used as an affectionate term. Funnily, I came across this trivia in some article/book on the Tour De France. Can’t recall which. 🙂
Funny, I just blogged about that NYTimes article a couple of days ago. IMO if you’re not down with the brown already, leave the babies where they are and walk the other direction…
I am AMAZED at the way people don’t think about the simplest of things before they have, or in this case, adopt kids. I realize that the lady who wrote the article was being vulnerable and in doing so, really put herself out there but she was foolishly naive in her outlook.
It takes a remarkably adept and ferociously committed parent to adopt and raise that child in such a way that they feel grafted into their new family. That process is significantly complicated when everybody from the mailman to the grocery store clerk can see from a mile away that the child does not resemble the adoptive parent. I’m not sure why this woman didn’t realize/think about that before she started seeking adoptive children–or have the balls to say, “I want a kid that looks like me.”
Most people do want their kids to look and act like them whether or not they’re honest enough to admit it. Is that racist? Naw. Vain? Yup. Wrong? You decide.
personally i really like this woman. every one of us without exception have prejudices. for some it is color, for some it is the languages spoken, accent or national origin, for others it is height, dress sense, education level, and what not.
the most i expect of anyone is that they recognize prejudices in themselves and try to correct themselves. i am surprised by the number of people who are jumping at her (in the original article comments rather than this thread)—and as always, i tend to be real wary of people who are “sure” they don’t have prejudices.