Read Ruth Padawer, “Sigrid Johnson Was Black.  A DNA Test Says She Wasn’t” in handout (and in Readings folder on course website) and annotate and blog post relating this reading to Chabon and Gay.  Try to trace an idea about how we define and express ourselves through Padawer’s article in your annotations and blog post. Don’t forget to blog on your own website and to publish/publish

The struggles of discovering one’s own identity, especially race and ethnic background, are evident in Ruth Padawer’s “Sigrid Johnson Was Black. A DNA Test Said She Wasn’t.” In much the same way that Abe Chabon struggled to discover his identity as a fashion designer and Roxanne Gay hers as a feminist, Sigrid Johnson struggles to accept her identity as several DNA tests send her conflicting messages on her ethnic background. Johnson struggles with the thought that she is an impostor because she is not certain of her African descent. However, Johnson’s struggle is a little more difficult than that of Chabon and Gay because Johnson could not choose her ethnic background whereas the other two had choice in the means they used to express themselves. However, Sigrid Johnson could benefit from Michael Chabon’s simple message of be whoever you want to be, that is the central argument of “My Son, The Prince of Fashion.” No one should judge Johnson for going to predominately black school or having a majority of African American friends and family even though she may or may not be ethnically African. It is truly her choice to identify and associate with whomever she pleases. Johnson should feel pride in who she is, however she chooses to identify, and be able to be confident in herself as a person.