When Barry Became Barack is an interesting article, and it is the first article that I've linked to on any site that has something to do with a possible future President of the United States. But that isn't why I've linked to it, and it also isn't the misspelling of 'reluctant' within the very first paragraph (come on people - spell check!).

The reason I'm linking to it is quite simple. I can sort of relate to it. Being of multiple cultures makes for some interesting times, and the fact that a human can't be striped has its own penances. For me, I was thought to be:

• Mexican in Texas
• Cuban or Puerto Rican in Florida - even being refused gas at one place in the Panhandle once.
• Cuban/Puerto Rican/Dominican Republic/Colombian in New York
• Filipino in Japan
• Mixed Samoan in Hawaii
• 'Red', 'White' or Venezualan in Trinidad and Tobago

Identity is simply something you either have or you don't - it isn't something that other people give to you, but as a younger man traveling around I quickly learned to use what other people thought of me to my advantage where possible. I've been called a greaser, spic, howlie and many other things. Over time, I learned that wherever I went, I was a minority in numbers - and because of my own weak personal identity at times, I wasn't respected here and there. What was worse was that the minorities I was identified with didn't see me as a part of the whole. A very odd existence.

My father, who was mostly East Indian (speculation is around, but it is just speculation), was much darker than I when we were in the United States. People often didn't connect us as father and son; in fact, one time when we were in Bensonhurst, New York, we were repairing commercial dishwashers - I was there on leave from the Navy, and was wearing the boots I earned at Field Medical Service School in Camp Lejeune. The owner of the restaurant refused to deal with my father over the invoice, blatantly ignoring my father. I looked over at my father, who nodded at me and walked off after handing me the invoice book. I added $300 to the bill of $1,800 - the same $1,800 my father had wanted for the job - handed it to the owner, and he didn't blink. They pulled it out of the register. That $300 was never questioned, but when my father asked for more than the $1,800, they refused to talk to the darker skinned person. Some places you're white. Some places you're not-white. It's all relative.

The $300? I called it the bigot tax. My father and I never spoke about that. He smiled and nodded when he saw the extra $300. But he and I both knew what happened there. At that point, he never introduced me as his son on jobs. And we made more money with my bigot tax, at least while I was there. The years while I was away, I suspect he didn't charge the bigot tax. But I kept that bigot tax concept. And that, more than anything, was what helped me give myself identity. I hit everyone who qualified with a bigot tax - Black, White, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Okinanawan, whoever.

Then the name. Barack doesn't go through how often you have to spell your name on the phone. His name is pretty phonetic, so pronouncing it isn't difficult. Most people manage to screw up pronouncing my name unless they're from Trinidad or Guyana, and even then the over-Americanized/Europeanized still screw it up.

On questions about race on forms, I typically go with 'Other'. When they ask for the explanation, I write 'None of the above'. Stick that in your computer.

So yes, I get the whole identity issue, and striking out on one's own. It forces a cultural maturity on people of visibly mixed heritage, I think. You learn how to be independent and self contained, whereas others seem to need to be worried about minorities, majorities, and 'fitting in'. After you hear the equivalent of, "You ain't from around here, are ya boy?" a few hundred times, you put on a smile and you say, "Nope". Sometimes you even say it with relief.

Now - back to Barack. Sure, he's aware of who he is - that's great. But it doesn't really impress me, either - I've walked that walk in my own way, and you learn that people are about as good as their prejudices. Does this mean that he will get my vote because of our similar experiences? No, not at all - it means he has to work harder for my vote. The nature of who we are doesn't permit us to identify with anyone wholly. Will his identity swing votes? Yes, it probably will - because he has the knowledge of how to work the American cultural system better than myself.

What he has done - what cannot be denied - is that he has opened the door not just for black (not-white) people, but for the increasing population of people of mixed descent folks. And that's good, I think, because the future is going to be people of mixed descent. Will it make him a good President? It could be an ingredient, but the jury's out.

I don't vote for identity. I vote on the issues... whereas most people seem to vote on their own identity rather than the candidates. Time will tell.