Negroland: A Memoir

I chose to read this book to fill a square in a reading challenge bingo card: a memoir by a person of color. If fulfills that requirement. But this book is so much more than a memoir and so much more than the story of a person of color. It is a commentary on our ongoing racism. We will never be rid of that, I am afraid. This book does not offer hope that racism has been "conquered" or that racism will ever be "cured". It demonstrates racism and it's ever shifting mien. It is one woman's story but it describes the stories of the women who came before her and the differing paths chosen to become socially acceptable and therefore equal. But, as the book demonstrates, there was still no equality. One of the quotes from the book sums this up quite succinctly: "White people wanted to be white just as much as we did. They worked just as hard at it. They failed just as often. They failed more often. But they could pass, so no one objected." This is a mere 240 pages, but it is not a quick read. Take time to savor the pages. It is deserving of, demanding of your deep, thought-filled reading.

“Showing off was permitted, even encouraged, only if the result reflected well on your family, their friends, and your collective ancestors.” This is well-written and chock-full of interesting historical tidbits. Sprinkled in between, the author tells parts of her story. I would have liked more story and less history lesson.