Why was I surprised when Toi told a story of house-hunting so she could buy a house near where she worked?  She would go alone because she was lightskinned and could pass for white, and her husband would appear just before signing the sale.  Why was I surprised in those days when just before that we ourselves seemed to have problems as Jews getting accepted in something of normal society?  

it was my sixth grade class when the recognition was the most extreme.  In a class of about 30 children there were four jews.  Miss Faye was certain never to call on us.  Perhaps she didn’t even see us because we had been placed in the back corner of the room.     For the final play of the year we were given a dance to do in the back of the stage.   The year after – in 7th  grade – we took over the stage, the class, enjoying every moment of free expression.  Mr. Cruikshank saved our lives.

But I digress.  When my younget neice married a dark man we were not surprised, since she had been brought up with an adopted sister of color, and perhaps she knew that her cousins and aunt saw nothing unusual in her choice.