ELLIOTT LEWIS
w w w . l e w i s f r e e l a n c e . c o m
Fade named as “staff pick” at
leading multicultural bookstore!
"A must-read for anyone beginning
a blended family, and a validating read
for anyone who has come from one."
-Busboys and Poets Bookstore
Washington, DC
ISBN-10: 078671882X
FROM THE BOOK JACKET: "What are you?" This seemingly ordinary but politically charged question has become a touchstone for debate around race and ethnicity. Now more than ever, mixed race Americans are calling themselves biracial and multiracial rather than feeling forced to choose only one race. Nearly seven million people checked more than one racial category in the 2000 U.S. census, the first time in history Americans had the option to mark more than one box.
With Fade, television journalist Elliott Lewis weaves his memoirs as a black-and-white biracial American with the voices of dozens of multiracial people who are challenging how we think and speak about race today. His interviews illuminate a variety of coping strategies and reveal stark generational differences in the ways mixed race people have come to terms with their identity.
A comprehensive look at the multiracial state of the union, Fade tackles hot-button issues such as the often complicated lives of multiracial people in communities of color, interracial dating, transracial adoption, "black versus biracial" identities, and the birth of a national multiracial movement. Elliott also shares his own moving - and often humorous -firsthand experiences with race, along with intimate stories from those at the forefront of nationwide efforts to formally recognize the multiracial population.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART 1: Who Am I?
Don't Adjust Your Television, I’m Biracial
A Mixed and Matched Family
Going West, Growing Up
The Wonder Years
The Science and Folly of Race
PART 2: Beige Like Me
The Baha’i in Me
The Chameleon Effect
The Clorox Complex
Two of a Kind
Barbershop in the Hood
PART 3: The Backdrop of History
The One Drop Suggestion
The Power of One Drop
Root of the Matter
When Perception Means Everything and Nothing
Black Backlash
PART 4: Evading the Border Patrol
Hooking Up
Monoracial People, Multiracial Families
Children of the Rainbow
On Neutral Ground
PART 5: The Politics of Being Biracial
Come to Your Census
Race Busters, Freedom Fighters, and Multiracial Village People
A Bonding Experience
Ones Who Understand
PART 6: Beyond Black and White
In the Mix
Generation M
My Survival Guide
Where Do We Go From Here?
Resources
Notes
Book signing at Elliott Bay Book Company
in Seattle, Washington
Fade was published in 2006 by Carroll & Graf, an imprint of Avalon Publishing Group.
Avalon Publishing was subsequently acquired by The Perseus Books Group in 2007.
Making an appearance on C-SPAN’s Book TV
Some of the people you’ll meet in Fade...
Sundee Tucker Frazier is a
fellow author on black-white biracial issues and a friend since high school
Jen Chau, who is of Chinese and Jewish heritage, is the founder of Swirl, a multiracial organization
Ramona Douglass, who was of black, white, and Native American heritage, served on the federal 2000 Census Advisory Committee; Ramona passed away in 2007
