I wonder if you feel loyalty to a clan. If so, how do you define that clan? I can easily define mine and I am fiercely loyal to it and trust its members. In fact, it is only those in my clan that I can count on and who can count on me without reservation. This is one of the many lessons that my father taught me. Its truth has been demonstrated in a great many ways.
My father was born as a minority member in a truly feudal society. His family, for generations beyond knowing, had lived in a small Greek village in a vast Turkish world, planted there sometime during the four hundred year reign of the Ottoman Empire. The local Pasha ruled his domain and was, in turn, ruled by Pashas of greater rank and dominion. The Greeks, including my father, were, I suppose, serfs, working the land that they really didn't own, paying tribute to the Pasha and cut off from the rest of the world.
So, what has this to do with me, a child born in Cleveland as a member of the white, educated, dominant culture? Let me tell you a few stories about who I am.