Amid all the polarization in this country and fear of the other, there is also reason to believe that we may move past the vitriol one day and perhaps become a nation that looks and feels like a Benneton ad. I was reminded of this after a conversation with Mr. Nicholas.
Earlier this week, he had a play date with a classmate whose family is of Danish descent. The little boy's nanny picked up Nicholas and the little boy from school and took them to the little boy's home. After Nicholas got home, I was curious about whether the nanny was an au pair from Denmark, so I asked Nicholas if the nanny was American. He gave me a confused look and asked, "What is an American?"
This question made me think about myself. I am of Indian decent and was born in Canada. I immigrated to this country at the age of 11 and became an American citizen at the age of 30. However, for as long as I have been here, I have thought of myself as American. Whatever that means.
I am glad to see that to Nicholas the concept of being something- Indian, mixed race, or American- is quite foreign. Here's to Generation N(icholas)!
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