Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race Thomas Chatterton Williams

Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race

Author: Thomas Chatterton Williams
$31.99 3199
Out Stock
Successful pre-order.Thanks for contacting us!
Book Title
Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race
Author
Thomas Chatterton Williams
ISBN
9780393608861
A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family's multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white. Thomas Chatterton Williams, the son of a "black" father from the segregated South and a "white" mother from the West, spent his whole life believing the dictum that a single drop of "black blood" makes a person black. This was so fundamental to his self-conception that he'd never rigorously reflected on its foundations--but the shock of his experience as the black father of two extremely white-looking children led him to question these long-held convictions.It is not that he has come to believe that he is no longer black or that his kids are white, Williams notes. It is that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them--or anyone else, for that matter. Beautifully written and bound to upset received opinions on race, Self-Portrait in Black and White is an urgent work for our time.Binding Type: HardcoverAuthor: Thomas Chatterton WilliamsPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyPublished: 10/15/2019ISBN: 9780393608861Pages: 192Weight: 0.70lbsSize: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.00dReview Citations: Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2019 pg. 86Publishers Weekly 08/05/2019Library Journal 09/01/2019 pg. 88Booklist 09/15/2019 pg. 4

A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family's multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white. Thomas Chatterton Williams, the son of a "black" father from the segregated South and a "white" mother from the West, spent his whole life believing the dictum that a single drop of "black blood" makes a person black. This was so fundamental to his self-conception that he'd never rigorously reflected on its foundations--but the shock of his experience as the black father of two extremely white-looking children led him to question these long-held convictions.

It is not that he has come to believe that he is no longer black or that his kids are white, Williams notes. It is that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them--or anyone else, for that matter. Beautifully written and bound to upset received opinions on race, Self-Portrait in Black and White is an urgent work for our time.



Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Thomas Chatterton Williams
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 10/15/2019
ISBN: 9780393608861
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2019 pg. 86
Publishers Weekly 08/05/2019
Library Journal 09/01/2019 pg. 88
Booklist 09/15/2019 pg. 4

A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family's multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white. Thomas Chatterton Williams, the son of a "black" father from the segregated South and a "white" mother from the West, spent his whole life believing the dictum that a single drop of "black blood" makes a person black. This was so fundamental to his self-conception that he'd never rigorously reflected on its foundations--but the shock of his experience as the black father of two extremely white-looking children led him to question these long-held convictions.

It is not that he has come to believe that he is no longer black or that his kids are white, Williams notes. It is that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them--or anyone else, for that matter. Beautifully written and bound to upset received opinions on race, Self-Portrait in Black and White is an urgent work for our time.



Binding Type: Hardcover
Author: Thomas Chatterton Williams
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 10/15/2019
ISBN: 9780393608861
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2019 pg. 86
Publishers Weekly 08/05/2019
Library Journal 09/01/2019 pg. 88
Booklist 09/15/2019 pg. 4