Blog #14 (yes, we skipped 13)

It's interesting how Jame's mother had so much pride and was so overly protective of her children, that she was incapable of opening up to them and answering their questions regarding their identity.  I guess I understand, given the time period, that she wanted to keep them safe so she sent them to the white, Jewish public schools instead of the schools near by where other black kids attended.  However, I think it is because she sent them to white schools that they were humiliated and hurt more than they would have been if they had gone to the schools in their neighborhood.  The white students and teachers were very racist, and for James this was very hard to deal with.  He was constantly being pushed around at school and eventually found that his only comfort was looking at his reflection in the mirror and pretending the person he saw has a better life than his.  It's really unfortunate that he had to go through all of that and then come home to his mother who can't answer his question "am I black or am I white?".  Not because she doesn't know the answer but because she doesn't want to deal with it.  Though she is proud to have married a black man and had black kids, she is embarrassed to reveal to her children that her Jewish family disowned her and that she has a strong Jewish heritage.  I was angry with her when James asked what a 'tragic mulatto' was and her response was "you're a human being".  Jame's life is so convoluted and all he wants to know is who he is so he can be comfortable in his skin and be able to identify himself and all his stubborn mother can muster is "you're a human being".  Thank you captain obvious, he's a smart kid he knows he's human.  And all of this led to James being ashamed that his mother was white and he didn't want to be seen in public with her anymore.  I found this to be very sad, but I feel like if his mother hadn't tried to raise her children in a bubble full of unrealistic ideals, then that wouldn't have happened.