Mixed: My Life in Black and White
This is a good book. Angela Nissel chronicles what it was like for her growing up as a mixed race girl. She talks about many issues that are experienced by mixed heritage people with a sense of humor that pulls the reader in. Mixed race people will surely see themselves in many of the passages, and be able to say yes I know what you are talking about. Monoracial people will also get a good glimpse of what a mixed person may experience.
A couple of the key issues talked about include, issues of colorism that are found in the African American community (ie being light skinned vs dark skinned) and how that came into play when she was in fact mixed black/white. The differences of experiences growing up between her and her brother. The differences she talked about were both the the ways in which siblings may have a difference of experience in general just because they are look different or have different life experiences with regards to race, and then also talked about how gender came into play with the experience of being mixed race. And how parents choose to deal with the questions their children bring home. Some parents have a great understanding of what their children go through. Other parents don’t see their children as anything different than themselves and thus offer solutions to problems that worked for them.
The sense of humor that she brings to her work, for me, serves to show that mixed race people are not broken by default. We have experiences due to our heritages that others might not understand, and they ways in which we are taught to cope with them, may be difficult, but they may be funny. Its the same as any other aspect of growing up. And for this I thank her. I think that she offers a great portrait of a person who has grown up and had to work through questions of race/ethnicity/gender and so forth, and come to an identity that she is comfortable with on her terms.
Posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 in the following categories: 2007, Angela Nissel, Black/White, Book, Memoir, Student Development Resources, Students/Family Resources
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