Finding Myself

Dick strikes a chord with me; I can wear his shoes pretty comfortably because I am not part of any racial or ethnic groups outside the white American identity. I have experienced a similar desire to find my ancestry to develop an identity, but have had no success finding any ancestors that were from outside the states in any capacity. Aside from contributing only hotdogs to ‘ethnic food nights’, this has not been much of a problem . However, I have thought about the lack of identity before and this episode did bring up some issues I have considered.

The hardest parts about ultimately acquiring an identity are the sensitivity of the group and the need to be authentic. Dick should have used more caution when inquiring about different races, but he does accurately point out that he does not have the necessary qualifications for being black. Because I am white, and do not speak any European languages, I could not easily assimilate with a racial group. However, an identity that Dick, or anyone, can acquire without too much friction is religion. (full disclaimer: I am not religious so these are just my interpretations) Because religion based on belief, spirituality, and commitment rather than appearance or ancestry in many situations, I could feasibly convert later in life. Even though religion does not have all of the same characteristics as race, it is not a bad replacement. I think Dick should have researched religion and made an intelligent decision to learn a new faith. I think it is slightly easier to consider religions without ranking them, but that would be absolutely critical when choosing because there is no ‘best’.

The next step would be to actually convert. I tried, and failed, to find a wikihow on religious conversions (this was the closest I found), but it is a regular occurrence. It is important to fully invest in the faith, something that is almost as new for me as for Dick, because you do not get the experience just by observing a church service or two. I think being spiritual is probably going to be beneficial anyway (except maybe nihilism?), so there is no harm in trying -- I likely will later in life. If Dick takes this route, I am optimistic for him, but he has to be very careful, and take his time. Neither of those lent themselves to a sitcom for obvious reasons, but I think the core intent of discovery was a good idea.