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The Resource When I was white : a memoir, Sarah Valentine

When I was white : a memoir, Sarah Valentine

Creator
Author
Summary
"The stunning and provocative coming-of-age memoir about Sarah Valentine's childhood as a white girl in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, and her discovery that her father was a black man. At the age of 27, Sarah Valentine discovered that she was not, in fact, the white girl she had always believed herself to be. She learned the truth of her paternity: that her father was a black man. And she learned the truth about her own identity: mixed race. And so Sarah began the difficult and absorbing journey of changing her identity from white to black. In this memoir, Sarah details the story of the discovery of her identity, how she overcame depression to come to terms with this identity, and, perhaps most importantly, asks: why? Her entire family and community had conspired to maintain her white identity. The supreme discomfort her white family and community felt about addressing issues of race--her race--is a microcosm of race relationships in America. A black woman who lived her formative years identifying as white, Sarah's story is a kind of Rachel Dolezal in reverse, though her 'passing' was less intentional than conspiracy. This memoir is an examination of the cost of being black in America, and how one woman threw off the racial identity she'd grown up with, in order to embrace a new one"--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition.
Extent
292 pages
Isbn
9781250146755
Instance
Label
When I was white : a memoir
Title
When I was white
Title remainder
a memoir
Statement of responsibility
Sarah Valentine
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"The stunning and provocative coming-of-age memoir about Sarah Valentine's childhood as a white girl in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, and her discovery that her father was a black man. At the age of 27, Sarah Valentine discovered that she was not, in fact, the white girl she had always believed herself to be. She learned the truth of her paternity: that her father was a black man. And she learned the truth about her own identity: mixed race. And so Sarah began the difficult and absorbing journey of changing her identity from white to black. In this memoir, Sarah details the story of the discovery of her identity, how she overcame depression to come to terms with this identity, and, perhaps most importantly, asks: why? Her entire family and community had conspired to maintain her white identity. The supreme discomfort her white family and community felt about addressing issues of race--her race--is a microcosm of race relationships in America. A black woman who lived her formative years identifying as white, Sarah's story is a kind of Rachel Dolezal in reverse, though her 'passing' was less intentional than conspiracy. This memoir is an examination of the cost of being black in America, and how one woman threw off the racial identity she'd grown up with, in order to embrace a new one"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
autobiography
Cataloging source
LBSOR/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1977-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Valentine, Sarah
Dewey number
  • 305.48/896073
  • B
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
no index present
LC call number
F159.P653
LC item number
V35 2019
Literary form
non fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Valentine, Sarah
  • Valentine, Sarah
  • Racially mixed people
  • African American women
  • Whites
  • Passing (Identity)
  • African Americans
  • Whites
  • Pittsburgh (Pa.)
  • Pittsburgh (Pa.)
Label
When I was white : a memoir, Sarah Valentine
Instantiates
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1109396353
Dimensions
22 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
292 pages
Isbn
9781250146755
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2018055440
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other physical details
illustrations (chiefly color)
System control number
(OCoLC)1109396353
Label
When I was white : a memoir, Sarah Valentine
Publication
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Control code
on1109396353
Dimensions
22 cm
Edition
First edition.
Extent
292 pages
Isbn
9781250146755
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2018055440
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other physical details
illustrations (chiefly color)
System control number
(OCoLC)1109396353

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • Charleston County Public Library - John's IslandBorrow it
      3531 Maybank Highway, John's Island, SC, 29455, US
      32.7230088 -80.0772338
    • Charleston County Public Library - MainBorrow it
      68 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC, 29401, US
      32.7883294 -79.9309573
    • Charleston County Public Library - Mt. PleasantBorrow it
      1133 Mathis Ferry Road, Mount Pleasant, SC, 29464, US
      32.816169 -79.864089
    • Charleston County Public Library - Wando Mount PleasantBorrow it
      Charleston, SC, US

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