Publisher's Synopsis
Colourism and colour bias--the preference for or presumed superiority of a person based on the lighter colour of their skin--is a pervasive but rarely openly discussed phenomenon, one that is centuries old and continues today. In SAME FAMILY, DIFFERENT COLORS, journalist Lori Tharps, the mother of three Mixed Race children with three distinct skin colors, uses her own family as a starting point to explore how skin color difference is dealt with in African-American, Latino, Asian American and Mixed Race families and communities. Along with intimate and revealing stories and anecdotes from dozens of diverse people from across the US, Tharps adds a historical overview as well as a contemporary cultural critique. SAME FAMILY, DIFFERENT COLORS is a solution-seeking journey to the heart of identity politics so this more subtle "cousin to racism," in the author's words, will be acknowledged, understood and debated.
