Homecoming

Dear Pinky,

In grappling with what it means to live life "as an equal" how did you find the ease with which you made the transition into white society reflected in your difficult homecoming? Was it with reluctance that you turned to the woman who offered you a chance at living an "equal" life? Because home makes up such a large part of someone's identity, it seems as though the minute you felt at home in your skin was the minute you left your home with Dicey behind. For you, home could be a choice, and when you chose to return to the South, your ability to choose was stripped away, and you were an African-American woman again. If you could live today, with the freedom to choos, outside the bounds of your society's rigid categories, with whom would you be most at home? Did you feel the advantages of a privileged and humane existence outweighed the bonds of family, loyalty, and love that you forged with your grandmother and the home you were given?

Esther