Comments on: Recasting The Story of African-Americans http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/03/25/recasting-the-story-of-african-americans/ A School Library Journal Blog Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:26:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Marc Aronson http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/03/25/recasting-the-story-of-african-americans/comment-page-1/#comment-23559 Marc Aronson Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:55:42 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=976#comment-23559 sure, but my point is that -- while for you being a member of a nation is related to how you live (as you discuss in your blog) for others it may be a matter of name, memory, law, -- a whole host of different factors and I would hesitate to lean too heavily on any one definition of identity and connection. As you may know there have been lengthy legal debates in Israel on What Is a Jew -- which has legal consequences since any Jew can become a citizen of Israel. But those debates turn into charged power struggles -- where, for example, orthodox groups do not recognize a woman who converted to Judaism with a reform rabbi as Jewish, and thus her children are not Jewish. Yet in America most Jews are reform Jews. Setting up a guardian of who gets to qualify quickly gets into difficult and fraught territory. For the purposes of a census it seems fine to me to say: you are X if you say so. sure, but my point is that — while for you being a member of a nation is related to how you live (as you discuss in your blog) for others it may be a matter of name, memory, law, — a whole host of different factors and I would hesitate to lean too heavily on any one definition of identity and connection. As you may know there have been lengthy legal debates in Israel on What Is a Jew — which has legal consequences since any Jew can become a citizen of Israel. But those debates turn into charged power struggles — where, for example, orthodox groups do not recognize a woman who converted to Judaism with a reform rabbi as Jewish, and thus her children are not Jewish. Yet in America most Jews are reform Jews. Setting up a guardian of who gets to qualify quickly gets into difficult and fraught territory. For the purposes of a census it seems fine to me to say: you are X if you say so.

]]> By: Debbie Reese http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/03/25/recasting-the-story-of-african-americans/comment-page-1/#comment-23535 Debbie Reese Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:40:55 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=976#comment-23535 You and I know that tribes have the authority to decide who is on their census, and how that can be contentious, but I doubt that most Americans know about Native Nation sovereignty. They know "treaty" but not what it means in terms of the government-to-government relationship tribal nations have with the US govt. You and I know that tribes have the authority to decide who is on their census, and how that can be contentious, but I doubt that most Americans know about Native Nation sovereignty. They know “treaty” but not what it means in terms of the government-to-government relationship tribal nations have with the US govt.

]]> By: Marc Aronson http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/03/25/recasting-the-story-of-african-americans/comment-page-1/#comment-23478 Marc Aronson Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:19:59 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=976#comment-23478 Debbie: I'll read your article. Though, as you know, what qualifies you as "Indian" depends on the rules of the rolls, and those vary greatly, and, as in the case of the Florida Seminoles, can be quite controversial. And that's just talking about belonging to nation, as opposed to a family story or a name on a family tree. Debbie: I’ll read your article. Though, as you know, what qualifies you as “Indian” depends on the rules of the rolls, and those vary greatly, and, as in the case of the Florida Seminoles, can be quite controversial. And that’s just talking about belonging to nation, as opposed to a family story or a name on a family tree.

]]> By: Debbie Reese http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/03/25/recasting-the-story-of-african-americans/comment-page-1/#comment-23471 Debbie Reese Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:28:36 +0000 http://blogs.slj.com/nonfictionmatters/?p=976#comment-23471 Marc, I've got a quibble with the essays/articles coming out that point to multiracial individuals---particularly those who say they are "part Indian" but don't know much, if anything, about that Indian ancestor... http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2011/03/multiracial-identity-and-american.html Marc,

I’ve got a quibble with the essays/articles coming out that point to multiracial individuals—particularly those who say they are “part Indian” but don’t know much, if anything, about that Indian ancestor…

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2011/03/multiracial-identity-and-american.html

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