It's not a race thing

I am sick of being sick. I woke up Thursday morning with yet ANOTHER terrible head cold. I taught yesterday with a terrible head cold in which I had a coughing jag in the middle of class that had my students seriously worried that I was going to collapse. And a colleague of mine warned me that I should take it easy over the next four days and really rest and recuperate because he had something similar that lasted 6 weeks--in fact, I may not have caught something new; this may be a continuation of the head cold I got right after Christmas.

Why am I starting with this? Because when you are sick, the thing you think about the most is being healthy.

I am a professor who teaches and researches on the topic of race and anti-racism. My blog is called "Mixed Race America." But right now, I want to figure out how I can: stop coughing, get my voice back (I'm barely audible and when I do utter sounds I sound more like a toad than a human), and just feel better all around (I'll spare you the gory details of what I'm going through--lets just say, it's not pretty). In other words, I'm not thinking about race.

My friends and colleagues know that I think, and talk, about race a lot. Which is why I guess I can't be surprised that I get accused of turning something into a "race" thing or using coded "racial" language, even when I'm not (which was the topic of a blog post a few days ago).

I also get pigeonholed a lot, as an Asian American woman who works on ethnic American literature and race. At one cocktail party, I was introduced to my friend's neighbor, who asked what I did for a living. When I mentioned that I taught in the English department at Southern U., he said, "Oh, so you teach Asian American literature." Thinking my friend had mentioned me and what I did, I said, "Oh, did "E" tell you that?" and he said, "No, I assumed you taught Asian American literature because what else would you teach? You're Asian." To which I replied, "Actually, I almost wrote my dissertation on Jane Austen. There are a LOT of other authors I teach besides Asian American writers." The neighbor just shrugged dismissively. For him, I was an Asian American person who, of course, must work on Asian American literature because my identity limits my interests.

But here are a few things about me that tend to surprise folks:

*John Steinbeck is my favorite author.
*I golf.
*Italian is my favorite ethnic cuisine.
*The first album I ever purchased with my own money was AC/DC's "Back in Black." (The soundtrack to "Grease" was technically the first lp I ever owned, but I received that as a birthday gift).
*My partner is a non-person of color: in other words, Southern Man is white.

Anyway, I have an assignment for those of you out there reading this.

The first thing: Please listen to my fellow blogger and cyberfriend (I say cyberfriend because while I've never met her or even spoken to her live and in person, I feel like we are kindred spirits and friends) Tami doing her weekly podcast, "The Best of What Tami Said" (click here). Tami had invited me to participate in a discussion of the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama and the topic of race, but considering I don't have much of a voice and what voice I have could peel paint, I've had to decline, which distresses me to no end. BUT...I'll be one of her devoted listeners tomorrow (Sunday, Jan. 18) at 4pm EST. And definitely check out her blog, "What Tami Said"--it's a MUST READ.

The second thing: If you have suggestions of any type of remedies (home, homeopathic, organic, pharmaceutical, physical, metaphysical) to help with a really bad head cold (or to prevent against future colds and illnesses), I AM ALL EARS (or EYES). Seriously, I've been told to take

*zicam
*zinc
*Wellness forumla
*Mucinex
*a flu shot
*saline nasal solution

I really am eager to know how you all stay healthy or get healthy once you are sick. Because lets face it, regardless of how we identify or feel about race, we are all susceptible to those germs out there this time of year.