The Politics of Mothering in a “Mixed” Family: An Autoethnographic Exploration

Interweaving excerpts from her personal journal with research and literature about mixed race, interfaith, and bicultural experience, Nora Lester Murad uses autoethnographic methods to explore the experience of mothering in an American–Jewish and Palestinian–Muslim family. She pushes theoretical discussion beyond the experiences of "mixed" people to consider how the identity of otherwise monoracial/ monocultural parents may be transformed through the experience of parenting across socially/politically significant differences, particularly, national origin, culture, and faith. She also extends theoretical discussion beyond the confines of identity to consider parenting as a political process with an impact within and beyond families. Key Words: mixed raceinterfaithbiculturalidentitymothering/parentingautoethnographypersonal politics Since writing this article, Nora Lester Murad moved with her husband and three daughters to East Jerusalem. They live in a Palestinian area illegally annexed by Israel and claimed as the capitol by both Israel and the Palestinian people. The author thanks Meck Groot, Donna Bivens, Jane Lazarre, Mark Solomon, Philip Thomas, Becky Thompson, and Janie Ward for reviewing earlier drafts of this article. Notes 1. Terminology is important but cannot be fully addressed here. For example, CitationParker and Song (2001) distinguish between "mixed race," which implies impurification of races, and "multiracial." However, they then critique how multiracial identification dissects people into fractional components, still " … reinscrib[ing] the notion of multiraciality within the discourse of mono-racialization" (CitationParker and Song 2001: 10). CitationIfekwunigwe (1999) explores terms like hybridity before settling on "métisssage." Many terms relate to mixing of (scientifically debunked) races, and not the mixing of cultures (e.g., White American and White Russian) for which the term "bicultural" is more common. In this study, "mixed" is used as a generic category reflecting lay understanding of parenting across socially significant lines of difference. 2. See CitationO'Leary (2000), for a rare discussion of interfaith marriage in terms of status rather than faith. Sansone, Christopher G. 1999. Shaping Children's Ethnic Identity: Fathers' Strategies. Unpublished PhD dissertation. The Fielding Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA.