Fade: My Journeys in Multiracial America
by Elliott Lewis
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Book Summary Information
Author: Elliott LewisEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-01-02
ISBN: 0786716681
Number of pages: 306
Publisher: Basic Books
Book Reviews of Fade: My Journeys in Multiracial America
Book Review: I wish every American would read this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to really commend Elliott Lewis for writing a very powerful book dealing with the challenges faced by multiracial people in America. This book not only taught me a lot, but also exposed some of my own ignorance as to the fluid nature of racial-identity in our beloved country. What makes a person black, white, Asian, Latina, Native-American etc? These are questions that have never really had any solid or concrete answers, even though the one-drop-rule suggests that any black heritage makes you black. Why does that not necessarily apply for other "racial" groups? We all know that our nation's history of racial segregation has something to do with this, and this book goes into other reasons. What if that "drop" of black blood is not visible to the naked eye because it is only like one sixteenth or less of the person's heritage. I was reminded of this recently when I wrongly assumed that a lady that I had met on a Social networking site was white, when she was in fact biracial, but with barely any visible signs of being black based on her skin tone...She says a lot of people either assume she is white or white-Latino.
This books deals with the complexity of the subject of race and how the challenges that face the muliracial community from all sides of their ethnic heritage. For instance, many people say Tiger Woods is black, but he is really multiracial even though American historical precendent says he is black. Remember how many black people got enraged when he told Oprah that he referred to himself as "Cablinasian"?
Maybe because I grew up in Europe and Africa (I was born here, but my dad's job had us travelling all over the world), I was shocked to see how the definitons of terms like "black" and "white" have not really been the same over the course of American history. There was a time when you could have been "black" in one part of the country by that State's definition and "white" in another part (especially if you had no visible brown hue on your skin) based on the subjective nature these terms had. For instance, take the case of the famous Plessy v Ferguson decision that started the whole "separate but equal" phase in America. Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in this case, was only 1/8th black (one of his great grandparents was black, everyone else white), but he was ruled black under the law, and his case ended up being one of the most pivotal cases in American history that solidified the use of the so-called one-drop rule into practice for a very long time. The 2000 census was the first time in American history where you could check more than one box under the question of race.
This is a must read for all of those who are concerned about the subject of "race" in America and how this plays itself out in identity-politics. It is truly a history lesson. It really brings a new light on the answer to the question, "who are you?", especially for people of multiracial heritage.
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