Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America
At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the United States. The year was 1982, and everywhere she turned, she was asked to self-report her race. Rejecting her “not quite” designation—not quite white, not quite black, not quite Asian—she spend much of her life attempting to blend into American whiteness. But after her teen years watching shows like The Jefferson’s, dancing to Duran Duran, and perfecting the art of Jell-o no-bake desserts, she is forced to reckon with the hard questions: Why does whiteness retain its cloak of invisibility while other colors are made hypervisible, and how much does whiteness figure into Americanness?
Part memoir, part manifesto, Not Quite Not White is a witty and poignant story of discovering that not-whiteness can be the very thing that makes us American.
Author: Sharmila Sen Suggested Retail Price: $16.00
At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the United States. The year was 1982, and everywhere she turned, she was asked to self-report her race. Rejecting her “not quite” designation—not quite white, not quite black, not quite Asian—she spend much of her life attempting to blend into American whiteness. But after her teen years watching shows like The Jefferson’s, dancing to Duran Duran, and perfecting the art of Jell-o no-bake desserts, she is forced to reckon with the hard questions: Why does whiteness retain its cloak of invisibility while other colors are made hypervisible, and how much does whiteness figure into Americanness?
Part memoir, part manifesto, Not Quite Not White is a witty and poignant story of discovering that not-whiteness can be the very thing that makes us American.
Author: Sharmila Sen Suggested Retail Price: $16.00
At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the United States. The year was 1982, and everywhere she turned, she was asked to self-report her race. Rejecting her “not quite” designation—not quite white, not quite black, not quite Asian—she spend much of her life attempting to blend into American whiteness. But after her teen years watching shows like The Jefferson’s, dancing to Duran Duran, and perfecting the art of Jell-o no-bake desserts, she is forced to reckon with the hard questions: Why does whiteness retain its cloak of invisibility while other colors are made hypervisible, and how much does whiteness figure into Americanness?
Part memoir, part manifesto, Not Quite Not White is a witty and poignant story of discovering that not-whiteness can be the very thing that makes us American.
Author: Sharmila Sen Suggested Retail Price: $16.00
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