Chris Kent
Jul 21, 2017 · 1 min read

I was a Weisman for 13 years, before being renamed Kent for the remaining 40+ since. I discovered four years ago via the state vital records office my sperm donor father’s name was Kiernan.

I self described as “German” when I was Weisman, not knowing he was a Lithuanian Jew. Told I was Lithuanian at age 18 (while a Kent) by an uncle, I carried on with reasonable suspicion & pride in small Baltic nations, until the discovery I am Irish as whiskey. It explained some things. I did up a fantastic corned beef the 1st ensuing St Patty’s Day and tried to think green thoughts, but the cache wore off and in fact I’m ok with the mixed bag, I suppose because I’ve lived it.

Do American people with black pigmentation have any feel for the difference between a Congolese and a Nigerian and a Hutu or Tutsi? I doubt it.

Overcome your name, or sidestep it. Not making a big deal of it works too. Heritage is a fluid thing, part substance and part myth. You don’t gain heritage by subtraction, I can testify to that.

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    Chris Kent

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