Christopher Allen,
USA.
As far as we can go back thanks to grandparents, my family were farmers. More often for survival than profit. Now my family includes electricians, train operators, postal workers, teachers, military men and women,lawyers, one doctor, one engineer (my father), corporate drones, business owners. We’re an enormous and close extended family that’s done it all. I don’t know whether to laugh or be angry when white people express shock or disbelief when I tell them where I live and grew up. The worst was a guy asking whether I was from areas that were characteristically poor despite repeatedly telling him otherwise. Once he finally opened his ears, he paused and asked, ” is that integrated housing or something?” I find some reprieve and pride among these inquiries in the fact that my family has a longer history in this great country than those from families that didn’t arrive until the 1920’s and after. I should be asking where the heck they’re from.
