What Are You?: Voices of Mixed-Race Young People

by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins (Editor)

In the past three decades, the number of interracial marriages in the United States has increased by more than 800 percent. Now over four million children and teenagers do not identify themselves as being just one race or another.

Here is a book that allows these young people to speak in their own voices about their own lives.

What Are You? is based on the interviews the author has made over the past two years with mixed-race young people around the country. These fresh voices explore issues and topics such as dating, families, and the double prejudice and double insight that come from being mixed, but not mixed-up.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, Anti Racist, Social Justice, Sociology, Poetry, Parenting

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1999

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a biracial person, this is the book I yearned to have when I was growing up but which sadly did not exist. As a school librarian working with a large community of mixed race children, it was one of the first books I made sure to have available on my library shelves.

What I found most valuable about it was the sheer diversity of the young people's backgrounds and experiences, from the highly positive to the highly negative (often within the same lifetime). In a country that still - even given our biracial president - often insists that you "check one box" (whether literally or metaphorically) it is crucial to remember that race and identity are fluid and mixed race people have the right to identify as they wish, even if that means identifying differently in different situations. This book communicates that message quite powerfully.

Gaskins combines just the right amount of historical context as a backdrop to the honest and intimate stories the young people tell. Ideal for use with middle and high schoolers, selected portions could also be used with upper elementary grades. I think it would also be good reading for parents who adopt interracially since much of the material touches on racial identity in a way that could be enlightening.

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerima McLucas
Informational

What are you?:Voices of mixed-race young people is a very eye-opening book. Pearl Gaskins has been able to bring together emotional, inner thoughts of many different mixed-race young adults. Issues in family life, dating, prejudice and multi-cultures are revealed in meaningful words of young people; young people who question how race is so impossible to handle by so many people. Inside the collection, Michael Logan explains that he doesn’t “fit” into a particular race idea; therefore he is not judged because people do not know what he is. Nicole Rivera questions why everyone is always staring at her. May Corey questions if race is a cover-up for other issues?

Reading this collection by Pearl Gaskins, a Japanese-European-American woman, will definitely lead the reader to a better understanding of mixed-race young people. Ideas about life, friends, and each one handled the differences between themselves and others around them. This book is very blunt in its wording with terms such as Oreo, Blackanese, the Seminole Nation, napification and samurai hair. Young adults, 12 and up, will most definitely have a new outlook on mixed-race, multicultural people after reading this book.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-done compilation of the perspectives of mixed-race young people. In a way, this was better than "Half + Half" because the p.o.v. isn't being filtered through memory and writer's craft. Don't get me wrong, the writing is thoughtful and tight. [It's not like grading a bunch of high school essays.] But, it's rare for an adult to present something without layers of information and bright, sparkly persuasiveness. What these young writers reveal is closer to the experience, so it's a bit more nekked.

This is a great read, and I absolutely recommend it for anyone who is mixed-race or raising someone mixed-race. In addition to the stories, the book has resources listed in the back for such families.

[Valarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays and personal stories about the experiences of young adults of mixed racial backgrounds. There were a lot of good insights here, and this is a great book to read through if you are interested in racial issues, adolescent development, identity issues, or race politics in America.

[Louis]

As the White parent of biracial sons, I often wonder what my sons will experience growing up. And I often feel completely unprepared to be a parent of mixed-race children. I have studied diversity for many years, pushed myself on my own issues, and tried to listen with an open heard and mind to the stories of people from different racial backgrounds. I have benefited a great deal from this, and not just as a parent, but as a professional in the mental health and educations fields and, most importantly, as a person.

What Are You? was a very new type of lesson. There were some beneficial new ideas that I was exposed to, but more importantly this deepened my appreciation for concepts I already understood. Well over 90% of the book is just the words of mixed-raced youth, aged teens through mid-20s, talking about their experiences. Their stories and wisdom are amazing. Unfortunately, I fear many who could really benefit from this book will never read it -- those who learn to be more understanding and respectful of mixed-race individuals. However, the main target audience was mixed-race youth, struggling with similar issues. This is a powerful resource for these individuals.

[Diana Welsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several dozen young people (approximately ages 14-28) of mixed heritage tell their stories. I kind of got the idea that the older writers were dumbing down their writing style to make it easier for younger people to read.

This book was interesting enough. It did get a little repetetive after awhile. There were only so many of these young people who had something new or interesting to say about the mixed-race experience. If they had cut out the parts that had aleady been said earlier in the book, it would be much shorter.

Overall, worth a look, but no need to read the whole thing.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made the whole mixed race discussion seem very dated. I agree with another reviewer's complaint that these "testimonials" got a little repetitive. Far be it from me to suggest that there's "only so much" that can be said about the multiracial experience, but...maybe there's only so much that a bunch of 16-24 year olds in the 90s can say.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, though it gets a bit redundant. I also found myself wondering if it would have been a better idea to leave the entire interview together rather than splitting them all up to have themed chapters (e.g. on benefits and drawbacks of being biracial).

[Diannablack123gmail.Com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read for biracial kids. true stories.

[Sundra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd known about this book when I was a preteen/teenager.

I think every bi/multiracial person has been asked the titular question "what are you" which may seem harmless enough but can range from frustrating simply in its frequency to insulting depending on the tone and intent in which the question is delivered.

In a series of short essays, a variety of young mixed people talk about their experiences and beliefs. I wasn't surprised to find myself relating to nearly every individual whether they were optimistic or pessimistic because that's just how it is - there are parts of being mixed that are awesome and parts that are not so great. Everyone is going to experience racism, but mixed people have the unique opportunity to experience it from both sides!

Many of the individuals did state they felt things were getting better for them as people are becoming more accepting and I do believe that's either true or it could be that now I'm an adult folks don't feel as comfortable asking me such a personal question. However, as the book mentions, the number of biracial individuals has increased exponentially in the last several decades, and I personally know many individuals whose mixed grandkids have forced them to become more open in their acceptance of other races. I would also recommend this book to those people as it's a great way to learn about how biracial people experience the world.

Another point mentioned was that the difficulty the mixed person experienced varied greatly depending on where they live. This resonated with me as well because I lived very different lives when I lived with my black family in Detroit versus my white family in Delaware.

I'm glad I stumbled across this one and wish I could find an updated version since this came out when I was a kid and times are a bit different now.

[Janet Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assembled by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins, a journalist who writes for an educational magazine for teens, this collection of poetry and essays, written by young writers of mixed-parentage, depicts the challenges, rewards, joy and sorrow of youth who are still struggling with ethnic identity in a culturally absolute world. (who writes of her own mixed-race parentage: half-Japanese half-European)in the late 1990’s, but the themes are eternal. This anthology has essays and poems thematically separated into six tell-tale parts: “Check One Box” (choosing an either/or identity); “Who’s That White Lady?” (what life is like inside of an interracial family); “Sticks and Stones” (experiencing racial prejudice from both sides); “My So-Called Identity” (fitting in and experimenting with cultural divides); “Are You Dating Me or My Hair?” (dating); and “Double Breed” (rather than "half-and-half", or "half-breed"). I have to admit to being slightly disappointed that there were not more Mexican voices, since the USA has "Hispanics" ranking second to African-Americans in minority populations. I counted only three Mexican, and six Puerto Rican contributors). Nevertheless, I was riveted and undone by the bold transparency of every essay, and I—like Gaskins—flashed-back to my own teenage years.

[D'Anna Pleasant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an incredible book that compiles stories and struggles of navigating as biracial people in the world. I was a little worried because it is a little bit older, but it was still relevant for today. It gave words to my own experiences of being biracial and helped me to feel more heard and validated in that part of my identity. My favorite quotes were:

“We are beautiful, but not because our parents represent different races. Our beauty is much deeper than that. What’s beautiful about us is that we embody harmony and we transcend racism in many ways.”

“The way I see it, America at the close of the close of the twentieth century and beyond is not a vast melting pot of assimilation, but a transient mosaic—a kaleidoscope—whose individual colors and patterns reconfigure from generation to generation and are never lost, but are constantly found anew.”

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, published in the nineties, includes a collection of essays from biracial teenagers and young adults. The introduction to each essay outlines the heritage of each writer’s mother, father, and stepparents (if these relationship existed). The essays are brief, and after a while, I noted a pattern: people feeling like outsiders to their parents’ heritage, mostly because their negative interactions with members of the different communities. The book’s title, “What Are You,” quickly sums up their fatigue in explaining who they are.

[Cara Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was life-changing for me because it was the only book of its kind published/available when I was growing up. It was published in 1999 so it is overdue for an edition that reflects the realities/experiences of youth today-but reading this made me feel seen and understood for the first time in my life.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated that this book centered the voices of mixed-race young people describing their own experiences. Since the book is 20 years old, some of the labels used seem a little dated. The experiences mostly represented here are biracial black/white and hapa, but there are a few other combinations as well.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of reflections from mixed-race young people (teens to twenties) on a variety of topics. I learned a lot from hearing their experiences and perspectives. This book is about 20 years old now, so I'd be interested to read a similar book that is more current.

[Janet Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt. Insightful. Necessary for anyone who wants to better understand.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really powerful resource for multiracial young people. I was blown away by the sheer breadth and diversity of this book. The 45 contributing authors range from 14 to 28 (mostly 18-25), come from all over the US, and from a variety of racial and family backgrounds. There probably over 100 essays in this 250 page book; each reflection is generally only 4 pages at most, and some are just a few paragraphs.

Some contributors wrote about their whole lives; some reflected on a single experience. I appreciate that the author does not try to collect statistics, or form a grand narrative, or analyze psychology - aside from providing the occasional clarifying passage or historical context here or there, she lets the contributors speak for themselves. The essays, while well-written, are not an agonizing magnum opus perfected over months or years - they are sincere, intimate glimpses at people's experiences.

In one of the essays (page 200), the contributor explained how reading helped them navigate their identity as a multiracial person - "It came from all the reading I did on what other mixed people thought, how they felt. Before that, I didn't think anyone understood what I was saying or thinking, or that anyone else even had these thoughts. As I read all of these things, I thought wow, they think the same things I do or feel the same ting I do. So what brought it all up was that I had sympathizers, through what I read, who understood what I was saying and validated what I was feeling".

The above quote captures why I think this book is so powerful. Even though none of the contributors matched my background exactly, I deeply resonated with these essays - as a multiracial young person, reading this made me feel validated. Granted, the book is almost 20 years old, and its age definitely shows at times - I wonder what a new, 2018 remake would look like. However, I still really enjoyed this book, and would especially recommend it to other multiracial people.