Alexander David

AMNA AHMAD: OK, today is January 13th, 2012, and I'm Amna Ahmad from the Brooklyn Historical Society. Um we are here in my home in Bay Ridge interviewing for the Crossing Borders Bridging Generations Project. This interview um is starting at around two forty-five. So now would you please introduce yourself?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Hi. My name is Alexander David. Uh I'm mixed race. I was born and raised in Park Slope, Brooklyn. And uh I guess this is my story. OK?

AMNA AHMAD: So could you tell me about your date of birth?

ALEXANDER DAVID: I was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. Quickly came back to Park Slope. So we don't need to talk about New Jersey part.

AMNA AHMAD: Very nice.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: Um so would you be able to a little bit about where you come from?

ALEXANDER DAVID: I mean I come from Park Slope, Brooklyn. Which uh is very white neighborhood I'd have to say. A lot of -- lot of professionals around there. And it's actually very much like uh a closed community almost. I know 1:00when uh I've talked to people about this. It's -- it's very the same feeling. It's just like Park Slope has everything in it that you could ever need. Really you've got your -- like your stores. Your shopping. S- uh anything really. And so that's kind of been Park Slope for me. Though you know I always got out a little. But it's a nice place to be.

AMNA AHMAD: So um do you feel like you're very close to the people around you in your neighborhood or --

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh I know a fair amount of people there and I do hang out but uh I got to say that actually when I came to Stuyvesant I kind of lost contact with a lot of my friends in Park Slope. Uh a lot of my friends now actually are in Bay Ridge. Uh parts of Manhattan.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh all over the city really but uh not -- not so much in Park Slope actually. Because uh well the big separating point for me was that I kind of went to athletics.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And in Park Slope uh the athletics are not very good. I -- I can attest to that. And uh and yeah I mean uh I played -- I still played with some of the guys in Park Slope. But playing -- playing high school ball is uh 2:00kind of you know it's more like brothers with those guys in the team than like even like friends --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: -- really.

AMNA AHMAD: So which teams were you involved in while you were at Stuyvesant High School?

ALEXANDER DAVID: I was on the football team and the baseball team.

AMNA AHMAD: Football and baseball.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So which was pretty fun actually going on the mixed heritage thing. The uh baseball team was very white. And the football team was not as much at all. So which was -- which is interesting contrast. And also I was the only one in my year actually on both teams which uh the year before me there were at least two or three who were on both teams. And the year after there was at least two or three.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So that was a nice little interesting twist. Nobody else for some reason was on both teams.

AMNA AHMAD: So why don't you tell me a little bit about what it was like to be on the football team or the baseball team? Whichever one you prefer to speak to -- speak about first.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh I guess football since that was the one that I started with. Uh actually the summer before freshman year. I uh came to practices where -- I actually met James Morrissey, which I guess is going to work into the rest of 3:00this because he's really the reason I'm doing all this in the first place. Uh but I got to say it was -- it teaches you a lot of things. It gets you -- gets you in shape. Gets you committed to doing something. And it really teaches you you have to like put in the work.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: If you want to do anything. Especially on a team that it was our first actually winning record that year in a while. And so we were coming in with like we -- we have a lot to prove.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So just coming into that kind of atmosphere to begin with really. Really makes you part of the team. Because they needed everybody to -- to really put in everything you had. Which was good. Uh and I guess later it was the baseball team. Which for the first time uh ac- actually came as a shock to me. Because as I said Park Slope the sports aren't too good. So I always thought I was really good. And then I was playing g-- playing with guys who were actually really good. And then I realized like oh I really didn't learn anything I needed to for baseball. And so all of a sudden I had to start learning all these things that I thought I knew. Which -- which was tough but 4:00also uh you know coming from -- from the football I think really helped out with --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: -- just sticking with it and just like OK you know I -- I'm not where I was but I'm going to get there. Like I'm not where I thought I was going to be. And so that was -- it was a lot of fun too, which was good.

AMNA AHMAD: So do you remember your first you know your first game? Maybe your first practice? W-- what it was like to begin?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah actually. Uh my first football practice I was really out of shape. And I actually was like the last one by the end of the practice to complete any of the laps. To just do any of the running. I was just dying there on the field. And I just couldn't believe it. I thought I was in pretty good shape and then I realized like no. This -- this isn't good.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm. And um so what was the experience like with getting to know the other players on the team and integrating yourself um into something? I think you described it as a brotherhood before the interview.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah uh it -- I don't know. It's uh it's kind of like an experience that you can't really have with anyone who hasn't done it before.

And uh I can feel it sometimes where like you know you have uh you have friends. 5:00And you can be -- you have really good friends. But it's not exactly the same kind of like connection you have with someone who you were you know there out on the field with every day. Kind of grinding and just like it's -- because it's you guys against everyone else. It comes down to that. And we actually have for football, have like this -- this one moment our senior years where we just -- we come out and we just say everything that h- what the team has meant to us. And I mean it's been life-changing for some of these kids on the team. Like it really has. It keeps them from like you know keeps them out of trouble for some of these people.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And it's -- it's just been spectacular to share -- share the experience with these kids.

AMNA AHMAD: It's really great.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah it is. It was just fantastic.

AMNA AHMAD: So did -- did you find that it kept you out of trouble or --

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh I don't know. I really wasn't going to get into a lot of trouble at the beginning.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So uh for me it was like -- it was good though. I liked it. But I -- between -- I came from Mark Twain Middle School.

AMNA AHMAD: Hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And so you know strange to then go to Stuyvesant. It was always like a bit of a nerd. You know and I had a girlfriend at the time. So I 6:00-- I really wasn't going to d- my -- my life was fairly structured so I wasn't really getting into any trouble because it was like football, homework, girlfriend, just uh those were the big three things in my life. And like that -- that was really taking over everything. So lucky me, I got to stay out of trouble for at least a while.

AMNA AHMAD: Uh makes a lot of sense. Um so sounds like M-- Mark Twain is a very demanding school. As is Stuyvesant but um.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: A lot of students experience an interesting transition between junior high school and high school. Um in general. Like in -- I guess in addition to like sports, which you've already described. So would you be able to describe you know what that transition was like for you?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah that tr- transition for me actually uh wasn't there the way it was for I imagine everyone else. Mark Twain I think is one of the biggest feeder schools to all the specialized high schools with something like four hundred and something kids out of our total four hundred and eighty or less made it to a specialized high school of some kind.

AMNA AHMAD: Wow.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So actually the -- the huge transition for me was going from elementary school to middle school. That -- that for me was just like -- just like a kick in the teeth. And because uh in elementary school I went to is -- I 7:00was just so used to be -- having everything like just come to me. It's like this is easy. You know like y- one of the smart kids. You get everything done. You know you don't have to put in any work. And then all of a sudden you get to Mark Twain where everyone around you is like pretty smart and all the teachers know it so they're giving you work. And all of a sudden I'm like flailing around trying to get things done. Trying to get my work done. I just can't do it. And actually my first year there was really bad.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And then eventually uh you know I'm pretty smart. I was quick enough. I -- I got back on track and I was getting all my good grades. And then I came to Stuyvesant and I realized how well Mark Twain had prepared me for Stuyvesant. I get in my first year, it was actually my best year at Stuy. I had like a ninety-six point something average there.

AMNA AHMAD: Wow.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And like even with all the other stuff I was doing. I'm like you know this -- this isn't too bad. You know everyone else is like talking about Stuyvesant. It's like oh they didn't go to Mark Twain. You know which is kind of the same thing you have going from Stuyvesant somewhere else. It's like oh you didn't come from Stuyvesant. You don't really understand what's going on. But uh you -- you eventually do. And it's like Stuy uh Stuy picked up especially my junior year. I had to start working again which was --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Which wasn't pleasant.

AMNA AHMAD: Yeah definitely.

ALEXANDER DAVID: I'll say that.

AMNA AHMAD: So what about the transition socially from either you know middle 8:00sc- middle school to high school? Or elementary to middle school. Whichever one you prefer speaking about.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Well, socially from elementary school to middle school was very static. A lot of my -- a lot of my friends who were also fairly smart came from elementary school to Mark Twain with me.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And then from middle school to high school is when it kind of changed because they all went to -- to Brooklyn Tech mostly.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And I was the only one who went to Stuyvesant. And you know thinking back it was always like oh I should have gone to Brooklyn Tech. It's closer. My friends are there. But you know I -- I came to meet a lot of people at Stuyvesant. I don't think I really would have -- I probably would have met similar people I guess at Tech. But even talking with my friends I -- I -- you know so I'm connecting with them again.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: It's -- it was uh definitely a different experience there than it would be at Stuyvesant.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And you know I -- I think I -- I enjoyed it though. I made a lot of good friends at Stuyvesant, which was good.

AMNA AHMAD: So do you remember your first impression of the school when you first entered or maybe when you first got in, went to the open house, you know?

ALEXANDER DAVID: First impression of Stuyvesant. Hm. My first impression was 9:00really about the football team though because I'd gone beforehand with the team practicing, I'd already been in the school several times working out, seeing the school. And it seemed -- it seemed big. You know.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Especially you probably remember the seventh to ninth floor escalator.

AMNA AHMAD: Yes.

ALEXANDER DAVID: That was very big. I remember seeing that a few times and I was just like wow this school, there's a lot to it. Then they explained y- oh you're going to first flow to tenth floor and you're going to freshman book bag. All this stuff. And what else? There was like the other thing was that uh hm just trying to remember the social thing I was going to say about it. But what was it? Uh it's actually really hard to remember this. I'm trying -- my first impression socially at least of the people at Stuyvesant was I guess not as nerdy as people make it out to be.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: But then that's -- I wasn't really in more nerdy social circles. And I -- I kind of know they were there by the end of my -- my time at 10:00Stuyvesant. I realized that there were like these -- these groups of kids that were doing things that I just had no interest in and that's why I'd never met them, never dealt with them, and so to me like my experience at Stuy was probably very much different from theirs.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And just there at the end with like senior year I had all this free time, and I'd kind of like gone to some of my more like nerdy roots and I was just like playing Super Smash Bros. Melee in my -- in my free periods uh by the -- the second floor down the hall because I think we weren't supposed to have it or whatever it was. Just playing.

AMNA AHMAD: Yeah.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Because like I had nothing else to do. Some other people were like cutting class, not cutting class, or you know sneaking out, doing whatever they were doing. And I'm just like you know I'm just going to sit down and just play some Melee. And I realized like these kids like I'd never seen them before. And it's like oh well you know these are the guys at Stuy that actually represent Stuy much more than I do.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Which I thought was pretty interesting.

AMNA AHMAD: So why do you say that they represent Stuy more than you do?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Well because that's what everyone knows about Stuy. You know it's like you go to Stuyvesant. It's like seventy percent Asian now. And you 11:00know it's known for having like tons and tons of kids going to all these amazing colleges.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And just having these ridiculous averages. You know not st-- uh not sleeping. Just studying all the time. Doing homework. And you know you can tell like a lot of these kids had like their -- their you know really high averages. And they were like you know they need to do whatever they had to do to get into certain colleges.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: You know I -- I even heard like stories about some kids who you know you'd -- you'd fail a test and they like wouldn't go home. I remember hearing that. It's like you couldn't face your parents after that. I'm like you know I don't have that kind of thing. You know I'm only half Asian you know. So you know I have the thing where it's like I go back. It's like -- it's like you got to do better but I'm not getting the thing where it's like ninety-nine is just like where the hell did that last point go. You know the joke be like you know if you were real Asian we'd be like you know telling you where'd that last point go. But like ninety-seven, nine it's like all right. You know you're doing fine here. This isn't -- this isn't an issue. You know you're doing other things. It's OK so it was fun.

AMNA AHMAD: So you know you -- you're referring to um I guess the -- the high 12:00proportion of students at Stuy who are Asian. Um so how did it feel to be um a mixed heritage student? Partially Asian you know attending Stuyvesant High School?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: And how did people approach you?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Um well I was always the other. You know like the white kids. I was -- to the white kids I was like Asian. To the Asian kids I was white. Like my girlfriend at the time was Asian and she considered me as like her white boyfriend. Like pretty much like you know like they were like really Asian. They'd do these things like I would just have no clue what they were doing. Like I know a little bit. Just because you know like I went to have dinner in Chinatown every once in a while you know like the Chinese side of the family and just like there were other things, little things I'd kind of get. But I was like pretty much with me and my dad just like kind of like getting it in from the outside. Just like sort of understanding what's going on a little bit. You know can't speak the language, can't do anything. And so I'd go there and you know it's like you -- you -- just like you're the white guy. Like that's it. Like you -- you don't know any of this. It's like it's OK you know you -- you don't -- you're not expected to know. While at the same time I guess like with some of the -- the white kids you know it's kind of like kind of obvious that I'm like Asian.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Especially since I -- I look uh you know more Asian than I do white. Which has sort of been my thing. Because like I know a lot of the half Asians I actually uh was good friends with looked uh very much more white than I do.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: My -- my theory is because my dad is like eastern European as opposed to a lot of them who are more western European.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: On the -- you know the white side or whatever the other side is.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: So that for me was -- I don't know. It was -- it was nice though you know. You can kind of like experience both sides. And it's -- even though it's like -- it's -- it's fine though. It was good. Like yeah it's hard to explain I guess.

AMNA AHMAD: Uh so I mean did you learn to navigate your mixed heritage status um from a young age? Was it something that was always obvious to you? Or --

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah actually. Uh in elementary school I think I was the only mixed race kid.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: In the whole school. Which I just remember at one point for some reason I got to see uh like scores by race breakdown or whatever it was. Like there was some kind of like sheet that came out like how the school was doing.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And there was only like one kid who checked the box of other. And his grade was exactly the same as mine. I'm like oh. That has to be me. 14:00So which you know uh and the other thing was though because I went to a very white elementary school because it was in Park Slope uh they -- they assumed like every Asian kid was related. And that wasn't exactly wrong. Because many of them were. You know there -- there weren't that many. And so like I would sometimes get grouped. It's like oh you're related to him. Uh you're Asian. I'm just like wait but I go home and I see my dad. He's not Asian. Like it's -- it's weird. They're like -- they all assume I'm Asian. But at the same time like it's -- I'm not exactly Asian. You know I -- I never like had like much in common with the other Asian kids there. You know I was -- always had like white friends and very white school. It just seemed more natural to me anyway but -- and it was always like uh something was always like a little weird with that. So it was -- it was pretty obvious to me. And which I guess why you know being -- well I guess I started the half Asian club more than -- you know anyone else had the -- really an inclination to do so. Was because that for me seemed a little more obvious.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: That you know I -- I seemed Asian but at the same time it really wasn't really true. So you know we -- I'd said a few times. And 15:00everyone was really into it. But no -- nobody really wanted to do it. Nobody cared enough to -- to do it. And even at one point like I didn't really care enough for the most part. But then I had some time senior year. You know what? I was like let's g-- let's go for it. So that was -- that was one meeting. But it was -- it was nice.

AMNA AHMAD: So what did you guys discuss at this meeting?

ALEXANDER DAVID: Um well I -- I had to get people to come. So I was like OK I made the club. It was fine. I like finally got a room. All this date. And it was like how are you going to get people to come, how are you going to get people to come. You know I talked to half As-- they just show up just like you or me, just have a half Asian club. And uh it's like you know we'll talk about stuff. And they're like what are we going to talk about. I always reminded -- my dad is like what are we going to talk about at a half Asian club. You know what -- what issues. For him you know like a lot of people like love like hapas and half A- you know half Asians and all that other. Like it's like oh you guys have like models and all this stuff. And like it's -- you know it's like the -- you have no real issue to talk about. You're -- you're white, you're Asian, you know it's not like -- you've never had like a long history of like being persecuted or anything like that. It's -- it's not like you have any issues to 16:00talk about. Is it a culture club? You know like -- like what kind of culture exactly are you going to have, everyone's going to have all these different mixes, you're going all over the place, like -- like you have a French culture club, maybe a Spanish culture club, you don't have like a European culture club really. It's like -- it's such a broad --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: -- topic. How exactly do you approach it? And so I -- I had to think about issues I was coming up with. And one of -- one of the one was like recognition.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh hapas as like a separate group. And how we don't really get that much. And uh I even branched off into mixed race uh in general but it was -- it was really just going to be like half Asian. But uh I started -- I realized well you know mixed race in general is going to have the same issue. And one of the things is like you know mixed race doesn't really get as much credit as it really should. Like you think about all these guys. Like you think Barack Obama is the first black president.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: I'm like well mm he's the first mixed race president. Right? Like I think that he's more in common with us than there is like you know with just like you know it's not really like full black. He's mixed race. That's how -- that's how it is. And with Tiger Woods. You know people think like greatest black golfer.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: He's -- he's mixed race. You know it's like we had this one half black half Asian guy and like he's got more in common than -- with you than 17:00he does with like you know like a full black guy. You know he's -- he would have lived --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: -- more with you know your kind of life. He'd have been like seeing different cultures. All this stuff. You know that's -- that's probably one of the reasons he got into golf. You know as -- as opposed to other sports. Is just like the -- the whole mixture of stuff. He just sees you know sports that you don't like tend to associate. You know I n- I'm not trying to be racist here. But like you know you -- you tend to asso- you know you associate certain sports. Like golf is generally like a very white sport. And you would seem like you're doing different sport. But because mixed race, because of the way everything went on you know he went with that. And so I kept going a lot of like recognition. You know when you fill out a form. A lot of these forms recently you know will allow you to check two boxes. But --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Uh you know a lot of time we just have to check other. And it's like what -- what exactly is other. You know there's -- it's a very large growing population of half Asian. We're not exactly like other anymore. You know it's like you see others are like you know maybe you know Inuits or something. Just like some small group of people. It's like they're just -- I don't know. There's not enough space to make a box for each and every single one of them. But like half Asian is something or like mixed race is like 18:00getting --

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: -- pretty big. That always felt like it's just recognition was really the main issue. But eventually branched off like what are we going to do with the club. And one point everyone wanted to get shirts. And throw carnivals. And uh it'd be like you know don't be sad be hapa and these puns on the word with like happy and half and all these other things which was -- which was fun. Nothing ever came of the club sadly. But you know we -- we had actually a pretty good talk. People came up and they talked about their -- their mixed race and how -- how it affected them. And uh like food. That was a big thing. Everyone's like -- everyone had the same things with food. It's like -- like because generally the way it goes, at least recently, has always been like uh a white parent, Asian -- I mean a white father, Asian -- Asian mother. Is generally like kind of like standard. And so everyone had like uh a mother who would take like some kind of white -- white food and just do some kind of weird Asian twist to it. It'd be amazing. You know like -- like mine was my mom would take this -- this kind of chicken that my grandmother on my dad's side would make.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: This kind of baked chicken. And she would just add these weird spices and sauces. And all of a sudden it goes from like -- like it was a good 19:00chicken as it was. But it went from like sort of like a chicken and potatoes to like this -- this just Asian fusion of -- of like not uh like of the chicken. And it's like everything was based around just like these spices and the chicken. It was like really good. And other people had similar things. Like uh one of the guys who also talked about food was half English half Thai.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And he talked about how his mother would take like English food and like a fish and chips or something and do something you know interesting like really really weird with it. And y- it would just always come out really good. So it was -- it was a big topic about it though. Everyone likes food.

AMNA AHMAD: Definitely. Um so uh I'm interested maybe in the story of how your parents did meet. Because there are multiple ways that these mixed heritage families come about and um I'm sure maybe you know a little bit about how yours did.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah I do. I do actually. They were neighbors in New Jersey.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm hm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: And uh I mean there's a long backstory to each one. But they both ended up in New Jersey somehow.

And uh my dad actually, he tells this really funny -- because my mom has these 20:00two sisters. And at the time you know they always make the joke you know all Asians look alike. And to him, he comes from -- you know he comes from a place where he hasn't really seen any. And so he can't tell the difference between any of them. And so he used to always -- you know he made the joke how they'd all be coming and going. He'd just have no idea which one he's talking to. And he just ended up with my mom at some point. And then -- then -- I don't uh know, then I guess the rest is history. Then somehow they -- they got married, had me. And uh it's -- they j- I don't know. They just kind of met in New Jersey as neighbors. Uh the girl next door. Uh he kind of s- puts it that way. And so uh it's -- it's really it. It's not really like a big story. Uh I mean well one of the stories was actually a good story. Was my -- my uh uh my d- my -- ah. How my dad got into Asian food.

AMNA AHMAD: Mm.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Well, Chinese food specifically. Is like my aunt was like we're going to get rid of this guy. Like because -- because at the beginning it's like we're going to take him and get him some really Asian food. And he's just not going to do it. Then he's going to be -- he's going to be gone. Like the white guy is trying to -- trying to be part of it. And they took him in there. And they started ordering all these really weird foods. And he -- he'd 21:00have like -- he'd sort of had it before and never really liked it. Like he had like fish before and all this other stuff. And so he was like oh no they're ordering the really weird shit now. And he started eating it. And he's like this stuff is amazing. And he's just loving it. And the two of them are looking at each other like really wow. He's actually eating it. OK maybe the -- maybe he's not so bad. So that -- that was uh a good story how like he -- they just ordered stuff, he's just like ah, no, can't eat this, and just -- and he just started eating all of it and they couldn't believe it. Just looking at him like wow he's -- this white guy can eat -- eat Chinese food. OK. Fine.

AMNA AHMAD: Funny.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: So um growing up did your parents h-- ever have discussions with you about you know where they're from? You said that your mother is um Chinese by heritage but was born in the Bronx and your father is --

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: Um was born in Romania.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah.

AMNA AHMAD: And is Jewish.

ALEXANDER DAVID: Yeah. Uh like um my dad left Romania fairly early though. And