Having been raised by an Irish Catholic mother and a lapsed Jewish father, I have often referred to an immortal phrase I heard from a comedian whose name I no longer remember. "I know guilt and shame," I've explained to many people with whom I've discussed family backgrounds. Oftentimes, I go further, explaining that while Irish and Jewish are the biggies, my family's background is comprised of so many other ethnicities (Lithuanian, Brazilian and French/Creole to name a few) that being prejudiced is a dangerous enterprise: I could end up hating myself.
