鈥淏aba,鈥� I told my father in Persian a year after we arrived in the United States, 鈥淢y teacher says I have four fathers.鈥�
Upon hearing this, my mother looked a little nervous.
鈥淲as your teacher referring to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and … me?鈥� my father asked.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 go to a 91传媒 school, remember?鈥� my mother said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to teach her those things. Maybe it鈥檚 some Christian value.鈥�
鈥淚 think Christians have a father, a son and one more name, I forget which one, but she doesn鈥檛 go to a Christian school, either,鈥� my father said.听
They were both right. I attended a wonderful public school, made even more wonderful by the fact that it was free.
鈥淲ell, you must have heard wrong, Tabby. You have one father, although he eats as much watermelon as four.鈥�听
鈥淣o!鈥� I snapped. 鈥淪he said I have four fathers and then she showed me paintings of a bunch of old men wearing white wigs.鈥�
I couldn鈥檛 fathom how I was related to these men. Brown-skinned and brown-eyed, my father boasted a full head of black, curly hair, as did nearly every ancestor I鈥檇 ever heard about.
鈥淐an I borrow a picture of grandpa to take to school?鈥� I asked. The picture showed my grandfather wearing a fez and standing next to a Persian rug hanging from the ceiling. 鈥淢aybe my teacher thinks I was adopted by old, American men. I can show her my real fathers.鈥�
鈥淲ait a minute!鈥� my father said. 鈥淒id she say any names like George Washington or George Jefferson?鈥� My father had learned a lot about American culture while studying abroad in New England in the mid-1970s, and his primary source of education was television.
鈥淚 think so,鈥� I said. 鈥淚 think there was a 鈥楪eorge鈥� in there.鈥�
鈥淭hen she didn鈥檛 mean 鈥榝our fathers,鈥� but 鈥榝orefathers鈥�! This is the word Americans use for the founders of this country,鈥� my father declared excitedly.
She said I have four fathers and then she showed me paintings of a bunch of old men wearing white wigs.
I had a lot of questions. When did these forefathers live? What kind of leaders were they? And what could I, a Jew whose family had lived in the Middle East for 2,700 years, possibly have in common with men who most likely had never met a Persian or maybe even a Jew?
鈥淲hy does my teacher think I鈥檓 related to these people?鈥� I asked my father. In hindsight, his answer expressed a hope that some Americans still long for today:
鈥淏ecause the people who founded this country wanted it to belong to everyone who lives here.鈥�听
That sounded noble but I still wasn鈥檛 convinced. Those men looked ancient.
鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 live here when they were alive,鈥� I protested. 鈥淲e just came here last year.鈥�
In my 8-year-old understanding of history, statehood and democracy, I couldn鈥檛 fathom how 214 years before, the forefathers could have set up this miraculous country with a little Persian 91传媒 girl and her family in mind.听I thought for a long time, then asked, 鈥淏aba, are we American?鈥�
鈥淭echnically no. Not yet. But we鈥檙e American up here,鈥� he said, pointing to his head. 鈥淵ou and your sister are going to get the best education here. You鈥檒l have total freedom. You鈥檒l move forward, instead of backward.鈥�
鈥淥K. I鈥檒l try to be American up here,鈥� I said, pointing to my head.
A few days later, my mother banged on the bathroom door, wondering what I鈥檇 been doing in there for 45 minutes. Little did she know that I鈥檇 used Elmer鈥檚 glue to stick together every single cotton ball she owned to make a white curly wig.
I wore it on my head during Shabbat dinner.
鈥淒id you know we have forefathers?鈥� I asked my cousins. I then pointed to the wig and explained being American 鈥渦p here.鈥�
That night, we recited ancient Hebrew prayers, ate Persian delicacies and watched Barbara Walters discuss critical American issues on 鈥�20/20鈥� before changing the channel to a Lakers game.
Happy Fourth of July.
Tabby Refael is a Los Angeles-based writer, speaker and activist.听
