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. |
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Page viii
... father was raised in a workingclass Irish American family in Fall River, Massachusetts. My mother was born near ... father's family were familiar with only stereotypes of Asian women, and so were not eager to invite China into the O ...
... father was raised in a workingclass Irish American family in Fall River, Massachusetts. My mother was born near ... father's family were familiar with only stereotypes of Asian women, and so were not eager to invite China into the O ...
Page 5
... father's side, my wife is descended from Mennonite farmers who moved to Oregon from Manitoba, where they had lived on a commune like the ones they'd been forced from in Ukraine and in Holland before that. The Mennonites are both a ...
... father's side, my wife is descended from Mennonite farmers who moved to Oregon from Manitoba, where they had lived on a commune like the ones they'd been forced from in Ukraine and in Holland before that. The Mennonites are both a ...
Page 8
... father's Chicano and tough, pero. They met overseas when he was in the military. They come home then, had me, and I grew up in El Monte.” I was liking anything he said by then because of the music in his voice, the way he formed his ...
... father's Chicano and tough, pero. They met overseas when he was in the military. They come home then, had me, and I grew up in El Monte.” I was liking anything he said by then because of the music in his voice, the way he formed his ...
Page 15
... father, and a face that harkens to Andalusia, not Africa. I was born in 1970, when “black” described a people bonded not by shared complexion or hair texture but by shared history. Not only was I black (and here I go out on a limb), but ...
... father, and a face that harkens to Andalusia, not Africa. I was born in 1970, when “black” described a people bonded not by shared complexion or hair texture but by shared history. Not only was I black (and here I go out on a limb), but ...
Page 16
... far in their struggle to instill a black identity in us. I remember my father schooling me and my siblings on our racial identity. He would hold his 17 own version of the Inquisition, grilling us over a —DANZY SENNA -
... far in their struggle to instill a black identity in us. I remember my father schooling me and my siblings on our racial identity. He would hold his 17 own version of the Inquisition, grilling us over a —DANZY SENNA -
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