How does an American Look?

EXCERPT FROM AFTERWORD of "Pressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be"

(The blurred photo wasn't intentional, but on reflection, it seemed appropriate.)

"During the opening ceremonies of every Olympic games, as the athletes march in country by country, I notice the homogeneity of most nations. Blonde Swedes, gangly black Kenyans, short reddish brown Pacific Islanders, and so on. Even without their uniforms, their common gene pool identifies them as countrymen and women. Then, as diverse and racially disorganized as a convention of Democrats, come the Americans: White, black, yellow, red and brown of every shade. Tall and short, stocky and slender, bound by commonalities more ephemeral than genetic, in they stride with a swagger that is not White, Black, Asian or Hispanic. It is, rather, distinctly American. We are taught from an early age that to have a nation as magnificent as ours sometimes requires a sacrifice of blood. Perhaps our attachment to bloodlines will be the next casualty. Procreation, adoption, and popular culture -not politics- are ushering the advent of post-racial America. It can’t get here soon enough for me. I say that knowing that when post-racialism arrives, my corner of Madison Avenue will either have claimed its rightful place at the center of the industry or become obsolete. ... My hope is that the inclusiveness of post-racialism will embrace the richness of all cultures and celebrate their beautiful potential. It’s hard to see how else a nation of tempest-tossed ex-refugees and nomads can work. It’s also hard to see why it wouldn’t be the best place on earth."