The Patchwork Family

I've been accused of being a lot of things, mostly in excess: too militant, too radical, too left, too sensitive, too...basically too much on one side but I don't think I'm being too sensitive when I remark on a small article on msn. Recently interviewed and very pregnant, Heidi Klum made the statement,

"In Germany — and this started with a newspaper headline — they call us `the Patchwork Family...I was like, `Hmm, is this an insult or is this positive?' I talked to Seal about it, and we're, like, it's actually kind of great — we're all different shades and we came together and we all love each other."

The patchwork family. The idea that there had to be an official name to it is indeed troublesome. Positive, I declare would be remarks that state they are a beautiful or loving family. Again, race is a focal point. I'm sure Seal gave a pleasantly benign response to Heidi's question, refusing to dig deeper into why his hue or the hues of his son and soon to be born second child would play a role in the description of his family in his wife's native homeland. How will Heidi and Klum tackle race in their household? Unintelligently and uninformed I would imagine. How will they tackle the inevitable (if it hasn't happedned already, exoticism of their children by others? As compliments I suspect.

In other news, check out this article in the New York Times that discusses the, dare I say, trend in adoption --- white people adopting Black babies...

eremite -- n: A hermit, especially a religious recluse

"Since the 1960s, we have seen the failure of the melting pot ideology. This ideology suggested that different historical, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds could be subordinated to a larger ideology or social amalgam which is America. This concept obviously did not work, because paradoxically America encourages a politics of contestation" --- Edward Said