Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk about Race and Identity

In a sensitive exploration of the pressures and prejudices confronting biracial individuals, Funderburg, a New York-based freelance journalist, presents in-depth interviews with 46 American adults who have one black and one white parent. Her respondents report feeling tremendous pressure to choose one racial identity over the other as they were growing up, yet many finally embraced both racial heritages. The interviewees--among them teachers, executives, law students, a psychiatrist, a screenwriter, a newspaper reporter--talk about their developing sense of a biracial identity and how they confront expectations or stereotypes based on their physical appearance. In her insightful probe Funderburg, herself biracial, organizes the testimonies thematically around such topics as love, friendship, parenting, the workplace, religion and politics. Photos. (May)