Fade: My Journeys in Multiracial America
I read this book after turning in my final project for my masters degree (the project that brought about this website) and was so sad that I had not been able to include it.
I liked this book for several reasons. The first reason, was that Elliot’s style for this book was a combination of personal accounts of experiences with race combined with theory and research. For me this made the book accessible to people who may not be that well versed in theories of mixed-race identity. For those who deal with theory and research more regularly, I think the way he presented the materials not only gave it an academic credibility, but also added a human dimension which is so important to this kind of research.
The second reason I liked this book is that even though he is mixed black/white and talks about his own experiences and some of the issues specific to that population, he is able to stop and say, while this is my experience, the experience of other individuals who are mixes of different heritages may have other experiences. This is important to do so that people who are reading this material understand that the mixed heritage population is not all the same. Another thing that he does in relation to shedding light on the variety of experiences, is to point out that mixed people of different generations have had very different experiences.
One section in particular (Part 3- Backdrop of History) did a great job of talking about the history of the black/white mix in America, some of the issues of power and the changes in construction of race, and most importantly discussed the One Drop Rule. This is something that I think more people need to know about as it is something that has affected us all whether we know it or not.
I would recommend this book to all audiences as I think that everyone could get something from this book.
Posted on Sunday, January 21st, 2007 in the following categories: 2007, Black/White, Book, Elliot Lewis, Memoir, Student Development Resources, Students/Family Resources
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