Half and Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and BiculturalAs we approach the twenty-first century, biracialism and biculturalism are becoming increasingly common. Skin color and place of birth are no longer reliable signifiers of one's identity or origin. Simple questions like What are you? and Where are you from? aren't answered--they are discussed. How do you measure someone's race or culture? Half this, quarter that, born here, raised there. What name do you give that? These eighteen essays, joined by a shared sense of duality, address both the difficulties of not fitting into and the benefits of being part of two worlds. Danzy Senna parodies the media's fascination with biracials in a futuristic piece about the mulatto millennium. Garrett Hongo writes about watching his mixed-race children play in a sea of blond hair and white faces, realizing that suburban Oregon might swallow up their unique racial identity. Francisco Goldman shares his frustration with having constantly to explain himself in terms of his Latino and Jewish roots. Malcolm Gladwell understands that being biracial frees him from racial discrimination but also holds him hostage to questions of racial difference. For Indira Ganesan, India and its memory are evoked by the aromas of foods. Through the lens of personal experience, these essays offer a broader spectrum of meaning for race and culture. And in the process, they map a new ethnic terrain that transcends racial and cultural division. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 33
Page x
... asked of him, while I was mostly treated with polite comments about the style of my dress and carted off to watch TV. I'd sit in the corner, grumbling as I snacked on M&Ms and watermelon seeds and watched badly dubbed American movies ...
... asked of him, while I was mostly treated with polite comments about the style of my dress and carted off to watch TV. I'd sit in the corner, grumbling as I snacked on M&Ms and watermelon seeds and watched badly dubbed American movies ...
Page xi
... asked the white students to raise their hands if they had taken a course in black/Asian/etc. studies. A few proud students lifted their arms, and I was one of them. Then she asked the students of color to raise their hands if they had ...
... asked the white students to raise their hands if they had taken a course in black/Asian/etc. studies. A few proud students lifted their arms, and I was one of them. Then she asked the students of color to raise their hands if they had ...
Page xiii
... asked her if it bothered her that I looked so Western, so not-Chinese. What did she think when she looked at me? With seemingly uncomplicated conviction, she told me that she didn't care because she didn't break me down into Chinese and ...
... asked her if it bothered her that I looked so Western, so not-Chinese. What did she think when she looked at me? With seemingly uncomplicated conviction, she told me that she didn't care because she didn't break me down into Chinese and ...
Page 4
... asked for some photographs of himself as a baby. He needed them for a bulletin-board project his fifth-grade class was doing. The idea was to scramble up a bunch of baby pictures with current ones and make everyone try to match the baby ...
... asked for some photographs of himself as a baby. He needed them for a bulletin-board project his fifth-grade class was doing. The idea was to scramble up a bunch of baby pictures with current ones and make everyone try to match the baby ...
Page 9
... asked, looking in the rearview again, searching my eyes for a reaction. “Sure, I know them,” I said, laughing softly. "Ahh, let me see ...” “Well,” he said, “she used to come over to our house a lot when I was a kid.” I was impressed. I ...
... asked, looking in the rearview again, searching my eyes for a reaction. “Sure, I know them,” I said, laughing softly. "Ahh, let me see ...” “Well,” he said, “she used to come over to our house a lot when I was a kid.” I was impressed. I ...
Contents
12 | |
THE Double HELIX by Roxane Farmanſarmaian | 28 |
CALIFoRNIA PALMs by lé thi diem thúy | 38 |
THE ROAD FROM BALLYGUNGE by Bharati Mukherjee | 71 |
A WHITE woman of color by Julia Álvarez | 139 |
FooD AND THE IMMIGRANT by Indira Ganesan | 170 |
FROM HERE To Poland by Nina Mehta | 216 |
Other editions - View all
Half and Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and Bicultural Claudine C. O'Hearn Limited preview - 1998 |
Common terms and phrases
African American American Asian asked Aunt Bessie become began born boys brother brown called child China Chinese color conversation course cousin culture dark daughter didn't English ethnic experience eyes face fact father feel felt friends girl grandmother grew hair half hand identity Indian Japanese Jewish kids kind knew language later learned less lived look married matter mean mixed mother moved neighborhood never night once parents pass past person play questions race racial realized relatives remember seemed sense side sister skin sometimes speak story talking tell things thought told took trying turned uncle understand United walked wife woman writer York young