Have Your Say

I’m the product of a mixed marriage, but only mixed in some ways. My mother is a Jew, my father an Episcopalian, but they were, both of them, liberal, well educated, and proudly American. We didn’t have a Christmas tree or a menorah. I was raised a liberal American Jew, well educated and, to complete the connection to Mr. Burr’s book, gay.

I live with a non-Jewish man. He’s said that Jews believe themselves to be superior and cliquish. I agree. Of course we do. But that’s the nature of groups. Even in Junior High, the losers table thinks it’s better than the Dungeons and Dragons table. And be it Harvey Milk High School or a Brooklyn Yeshiva, every group thinks differences between it and others are important — as long as it’s their own differences you’re talking about.

It’s interesting that Anne calls herself half British. In fact, she is an American with an accent. Just because her father was a diplomat (for a country that epitomized racism, classism, and in general lorded it’s Anglo-superiority complex over the planet) doesn’t mean she can claim more than that. You, Anne, are an American. Why is that not enough? (I do wish that I knew more about Sam. His story was a bit too thin for me, and frankly I thought he was the most interesting character.)

I dislike fundamentalism, and was sorry for Howard’s situation. Be it Orthodox Jews, Christians, gays, blacks, whatever, fundamentalists are to be feared. I also fear that we are facing a future where various radicalized orthodoxies and tribalisms will dictate our future.

We Americans don’t live by any kind of Nuremberg laws. The key to America is being who you want to be. They’re not so lucky in Israel. Europe is using all kinds of racial, ethnic, and aesthetic lines to remind Muslims that they are the other and should assimilate or get out. Even the Swiss, so liberal the cheese avoids color and flavor, has said, “There are to be no minarets here, my friend.” America is the only country where this book could be written and understood. It will be interesting to see what Mr. Burr does next. I do hope that his next book helps me work out Sam’s (and our) next step as a world of “halves.”

Dan Berenson