Analysis Of Emily Raboteau's Essay 'Searching For Zion'

In this paper, I will explain Emily Raboteau’s longing for Zion through her essays on friendship, race, home, and place. I will describe her journey of how she searched throughout Israel looking for place that felt like home. Additionally, I will discuss the Raboteaus’s desire for a sense of belonging and the role of music within it. I will provide my thoughts and offer evidence to defend my argument.

In the essay, “Searching for Zion'' author Emily Raboteau describes her experience of growing up as a biracial woman being half white and half black. She explains the strong relationship she formed with her best friend during her childhood who was Jewish. The two bonded over being different and Raboteau embraced much of her friend’s Jewish

She was looking for a place where she felt a sense of belonging, acceptance, and roots related to her heritage. The author was searching for a community of people like her. A place where she would not be judged or discriminated against for being different like her experiences of racism in the United States. She recounts one of her experiences of being racially profiled at an airport, “I wanted to say, not because they'd stripped me of my dignity but because they'd shoved my face into my own rootlessness” (Raboteau, 228).

Similarly, the author describes belonging in a metaphorical sense rather than a literal sense. She is searching for a place that makes her feel safe and accepted as a biracial woman of color. The place she is looking for is somewhere without discrimination, division, or racism. She desires a community with meaningful connections and a group of people with similar experiences and stories to her. The promise of belonging goes beyond simply the physical aspect of a house or living in a specific

Rabeoutaue writes, “‘Maybe that's why you like this music, Tamar,'' my father finished. "When we sang freedom songs about the ancient Israelites, we linked ourselves to you. Our people have a lot in common.’” (7). Like her father had mentioned, music has a way of universally connecting people across different backgrounds, cultures, and identities. The author states listening to specific genres of music like reggae to connect more deeply with her culture and to relate to the meaningful messages in them. Also, during her trip to Israel she was emotionally moved by her Ethiopian friend, Abate’s music. She states, “Everyone in that basement understood the song, including me. It was a sorrow song about homesickness, and it soothed us from our fear, just as it was meant to do. While it was being sung, the war outside went away” (Raboteau, 248). The music had transcended language barriers and made her feel a sense of belonging and connection with the people around