1. "It's the fear of being mistaken for Joyce that has always ensured that I ignore the box marked 'biracial' and tick the box marked 'black' on any questionnaire I fill out." (p. 187) Why is acknowledging one's multiracial heritage so dangerous, in Smith's opinion? Must the inclusion of all cultures always imply shame of at least one of them? Is that a fair assertion for Smith to make, in light of the idea that race might be a spectrum rather than so clearly divided?
2. "There was a popular school of thought that maintained the voice was at the very heart of the thing; fail to keep it real there and you'd never see your Blackness again." (p. 188) Is maintaining a cultural identity more important than maintaining a personal identity? Is a cultural identity necessary to having a personal identity?
3. "He's talking down to white people-- how curious it sounds the other way around!" (p. 189) Is Smith suggesting that black people unify themselves in this absurd fashion, or that white people do it? Perhaps both? What purpose does Smith this unification serves?
4. "For reasons that are obscure to me, those qualities we cherish in our artists we condemn in our politicians." (p. 189) Is Smith proposing that flexibility in voice is an art form?
5. Smith identifies as Black, and speaks in a singular voice- yet she proposes, "It is my audacious hope that a man born and raised between opposing dogmas, between cultures, between voices, could not help but be aware of the extreme contingency of culture." (p. 194) Why does Smith feel that a person with flexibility in voice is an ideal president, when she chooses a singular voice for herself?
6. "It's amazing how many of our cross-cultural and cross-class encounters are limited not by hate or pride or shame, but by [...] embarrassment." (p. 194) Why does Smith choose to introduce this new element at the end of her essay? Does flexibility in voice help one avoid the embarrassment of seeming out of place?
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