Split at the Root
question
Identity
Sheryl
Oct 13, 2014 02:57PM
I have 3 children adopted from Guatemala as infants. They are at an age where the journey of who they are is beginning to take place. They are looking at different pieces of their lives in order to discover their identity and where they fit. I have shared about this book and will encourage them to read it more in the future.
We are lucky to have formed a group of families with children adopted from Guatemala. We have been meeting for 10+ years and our children have grown up together. It is our hope they will be able to look to each other as they question their identity and struggle with being raised in the mainstream culture while being Latino.
That concept is what led our book-reading parents to read Split at the Root. We gathered recently to talk about the book and every parent at the meeting shared how profoundly she was touched by the book.
I found myself deeply moved and strongly identifying with Catana in the variety of racial/ethnic influences that have influenced her life. I look white, but was raised Portuguese, so I do not think the way other "white" friends think. It is difficult to be thrown in the white pot where I do not feel like I belong.
My grandfather was an immigrant and by the time I began asking questions, wanting to be part of the cultural rituals, speak the language, visit the islands, I was simply told that these things were not for me because I am an American.
What does that mean? I do not belong with my generically white friends and I do not belong with the Portuguese community. I also am partly Native American and I do not belong with them, either.
I am a hybrid with no solid identity other than I AM.
How has Split at the Root touched you in terms of your own identity?
We are lucky to have formed a group of families with children adopted from Guatemala. We have been meeting for 10+ years and our children have grown up together. It is our hope they will be able to look to each other as they question their identity and struggle with being raised in the mainstream culture while being Latino.
That concept is what led our book-reading parents to read Split at the Root. We gathered recently to talk about the book and every parent at the meeting shared how profoundly she was touched by the book.
I found myself deeply moved and strongly identifying with Catana in the variety of racial/ethnic influences that have influenced her life. I look white, but was raised Portuguese, so I do not think the way other "white" friends think. It is difficult to be thrown in the white pot where I do not feel like I belong.
My grandfather was an immigrant and by the time I began asking questions, wanting to be part of the cultural rituals, speak the language, visit the islands, I was simply told that these things were not for me because I am an American.
What does that mean? I do not belong with my generically white friends and I do not belong with the Portuguese community. I also am partly Native American and I do not belong with them, either.
I am a hybrid with no solid identity other than I AM.
How has Split at the Root touched you in terms of your own identity?
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