Check All That Apply: Finding Wholeness as a Multiracial Person

by Sundee T. Frazier

Where do you fit? Who is your community? Who really understands you? Being multiracial is often confusing, frustrating and lonely. Perhaps you feel as Sundee Tucker Frazier sometimes does when faced with yet another form asking for her ethnic identifiction--like "none of the above." In this book, Frazier offers good God loves multiracial people and their interracial families. There is a special place for you in God's plan! And God wants to give you a sense of wholeness, worth and belonging--as one made in God's very likeness. Frazier helps you understand the experiences that form who you are and shows how to connect with others like you. She offers insight for developing your ethnic identity, understanding your family of origin--even figuring out who to marry! Most of all, she encourages you to gain a sense of God's purpose for your life. And for those who aren't multiracial themselves but know someone who is, she clarifies the challenges and rewards of sensitive relating. With Frazier you'll embark on a journey of personal discovery--with the goal of embracing all of who you are. You'll discover joy in living as a multiracial person as you gain the hope and courage to "check all that apply."

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, Faith

199 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2001

Reviews

[Tonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sundee shares personal examples of growing up as a Mixed Race individual. She gives her worldview on the subject which is helpful for any one who has experienced being uncomfortable in race-related situations. She also provides her view as a Christian. I thought the book was good and provided helpful thoughtful questions.

[Rushay Booysen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sundee sent me a copy of her book and i took ages to actually read it,but once i opened i couldnt lay it down.The book made me reflect not just on mixed race but our humanity,our difference and how we handle that.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a solid and encouraging account of the multi-ethnic experience and how to approach it from the a Christian biblical perspective.

Sundee Frazier, a biracial african-american/white woman writes candidly of her experiences moving us through the isolation, frustration, anger, blessing and joy that encompass her story.

I appreciated this book on many levels. First I felt the frustrations and challenges of being multiethnic were addressed with clarity and helped me articulate my own journey. I felt there was a strong awareness of cultural issues that I don't often see addressed in Christian literature.

What sets this book apart from other books that I've read on the multi-ethnic experience is that there is helpful and needed exhortation on how to move into the blessing of the multi-ethnic experience. Clear biblical teaching is used and powerful testimonies to the ability of ME people to discover themselves and thus become people empowered to serve others using the gift of their multi-ethnic identity.

This is quality IVP.

[T.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I, like Sundee Frazier, am a multiracial evangelical Christian, yet I found myself having difficulty with this book. Some of her writing is a bit too elementary and seems to lack a lot of nuance. Granted, I understand that our life stories are all very different, and I'm not judging the content of her life story so much as her presentation of said story. She does well in describing multiracial American identity in a Protestant Christian context, but overall her text falls flat for me; I feel increasingly, that if I really hope to see a book that best explains and understands my experiences as a mixed-race male Christian in this day and age, I'm gonna have to write such a thing.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of a group of books put out by Intervarsity Press (see also Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents and Being Latino in Christ) that explore ethnic identity from an evangelical Christian viewpoint. This particular work received a little more attention because there's just not a lot of literature out there about being a multiethnic person. Although geared toward people who are multiethnic, people who are not multiethnic (such as me) can learn a lot from this book.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the idea for this book fascinating simply because I am bi-racial myself. Once I started reading though I thought that she had a lot of good points but she became repetitive. I think it would have the most interest for bi-racial people because I've found that those who aren't don't understand what she's talking about.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks to the complexity of identity for multiracial people, and I really appreciated that it comes from a Christian perspective. Sundee Tucker Frazier shares her own story and the stories of other multiracial people as she examines what it means to find wholeness, particularly in spaces where we are often forced to choose. I need to buy a copy so I can revisit this book over and over.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated hearing Frazier's account of the complexities of being a multiracial person. It was interesting to think about what has changed and what hasn't in the 20 years since she wrote the book. It feels to me like there's a lot more acceptance of multiracial as a category or identity, but that group dynamics are still quite challenging. She helped me see some of my own blind spots in realizing how multiracial people might experience situations in ways I didn't expect.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

There aren't many books out there about multiracial identity and the unique position multiracial people hold in a world obsessed with defining identity by clear cut lines. She has some great reflections and stories from others like herself.

[Rebecca Catoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on biracial / multi-culture experience