the accepted ‘One Drop’ rule.
At Urgent Care this morning,
the front desk attendant asks,
‘Are you hispanic?’
No.
‘What is your heritage?’
White, Black and Red, I say.
The attendant looks puzzled
I say,
My mom is Austrian-Polish Jewish.
.My dad is African American,
Cherokee and Choctaw
he says.
She types something on her keyboard.
There are a few more questions
and my Identification cards
are returned to me.
I ask,
What did you say my heritage is?
She hesitates a moment.
‘African American’,
then types more
information,
maybe.
f
