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 2
... wife, who is brunette, not my in-laws, who are also brown-haired. But it drove me into an instant panic. And I began to feel angry. I grew up among a mix of peoples both in Hawai'i and in Los Angeles. Born in Hawai'i, I spent my ...
... wife, who is brunette, not my in-laws, who are also brown-haired. But it drove me into an instant panic. And I began to feel angry. I grew up among a mix of peoples both in Hawai'i and in Los Angeles. Born in Hawai'i, I spent my ...
Page 4
... Being different wears you down. Eugene had been a choice of ours, my wife's and mine. She is from here and grew up feeling supported and secure. We came 5 because we knew the schools would be good, because —GARREII Horod—
... Being different wears you down. Eugene had been a choice of ours, my wife's and mine. She is from here and grew up feeling supported and secure. We came 5 because we knew the schools would be good, because —GARREII Horod—
Page 5
... 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 religious sect and an ...
... 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 religious sect and an ...
Page 6
... wives dressed in cottons from L. L. Bean, try switching subjects, and even risk putting them down. When things like the L.A. riots, Spike Lee's Malcolm X, or the Million Man March made the news, acquaintances in India Import skirts ...
... wives dressed in cottons from L. L. Bean, try switching subjects, and even risk putting them down. When things like the L.A. riots, Spike Lee's Malcolm X, or the Million Man March made the news, acquaintances in India Import skirts ...
Page 29
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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 |
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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