Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood, and Rethinking Race By Thomas Chatterton Williams

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Rating: 9.3 (2002 reviews)
Author: Thomas Chatterton Williams

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A Time “Must-Read” Book of 2019“[Williams] is so honest and fresh in his observations, so skillful at blending his own story with larger principles, that it is hard not to admire him.” —Andrew Solomon, New York Times Book Review (front page)The son of a “black” father and a “white” mother, Thomas Chatterton Williams found himself questioning long-held convictions about race upon the birth of his blond-haired, blue-eyed daughter—and came to realize that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them, or anyone else. In telling the story of his family’s multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white, he reckons with the way we choose to see and define ourselves. Self-Portrait in Black and White is a beautifully written, urgent work for our time.

At this time of writing, The Ebook Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood, and Rethinking Race has garnered 8 customer reviews with rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Not a bad score at all as if you round it off, it’s actually a perfect TEN already. From the looks of that rating, we can say the Ebook is Good TO READ!

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The topic of race is a serious and at times detrimental one. In my opinion it is the most important subject of the last four hundred years, (especially when you consider that race sub-textually pervades other exigent issues like hunger,homelessness and "justice for all") and Thomas Chatterton Williams navigates it with an acute intellectual prowess.That said, there are some facets of race that in my opinion do not have enough skin (no pun intended) in the global issues game to demand drastic agency or actions that can risk the balance of family harmony and stability, which I think Thomas is unfortunately doing.Swimming as we all do, whether conscious or not, in the cold river of reality, a river with a strong current that at timescan flow in directions we are not headed, Thomas comes to some definitive conclusions. These avowals represent thetraction he has used to gather the momentum it took to blaze his admirable, yet slippery, new trail. One of theseconclusions is his repudiation of what he has deemed, "The vaguest sense of indebtedness to past suffering. Inother words a form of guilt pure and simple" -- Thomas' way of honoring the pain and triumph of Black people.Though in a way I accept his train of thought I don't feel it is as "pure and simple" as he contends. In fact I thinkhis analysis is slightly skewed.The indebtedness that Thomas feels is more than real, feelings I would say many people of African descent share,including myself, but speaking for myself I wouldn't interpret those feelings as "guilt" -- the language I would applyis "respect" which unlike guilt does not evoke to my sensibility a negative connotation, and in turn would notinspire a need to aggressively rectify, as negativity tends to do.Thomas' interpretation of "guilt" (and perhaps other things) has understandably made him a worried parent, worriedthat, to quote him, "his children might not also feel guilty" -- the way he does or once did. In the book he sharesthis particular concern with Mrs. Adrian Piper (a renowned American conceptual artist and philosopher) who interestingly responds with two questions: "Why would you want that in the first place?" (and) "If the pain and the guilt isn't there why introduce it?" I find Mrs. Piper's response interesting because I don't know if she has truly taken the time to evaluate the veracity and merit of Thomas' assertion of "guilt" OR if she has herself decided to retire from race (which she has) by adapting the same dismissal of allegiance to the black historic narrative due to similar feelings of "guilt." Either way she hits Thomas with her rhetorical questions, and according to Thomas, her response and personal example is the push that has determined his new walk in life.Unfamiliar with Mrs. Piper a quick google search informs me that she is divorced with "no children" -- information thatdoes not surprise me. In other words it is easy to retire completely from race when you are not responsible for informing a child on how to navigate a world full of racial red tape, and encouraging a sense of respect and tolerance for all people and ways of life.As a fellow parent I totally understand Thomas' concern for his children, guilt is not something you want to bequeath your child. However it is my belief that if Thomas were to simply exchange the word "guilty" from his statement, "It (worries) me that Marlow might not also feel guilty" with the word "respect" I don't think he would feel the burning parental desire to assert such a definitive declaration, by abjuring from his and his children's African heritage.In fact, I think he might feel an overwhelming responsibility to insure that his children not only respect the black experience but that they likewise respect their mother's and everybody else's historic narrative as well.The danger I see in Thomas' new approach to life appears in the book by way of his friend who he calls "B" for the purpose of anonymity. Thomas writes that B speaks of, "the decades-long struggle she endured just to accept her own body as a brown-skinned, curly-haired girl growing up in Switzerland. She confessed to having, at times, WISHED TO BE WHITE simply to make her life easier." In a New York Times book review titled "How Moving to France and Having Children Led a Black American to Rethink Race, journalist Andrew Solomon states, with out quotes, that (Thomas) "fears the integration that will be available to his blond daughter, Marlow, enabling her to erase aspects of her identity."There are two brilliant works of art that I am aware of that illustrates some of the horrible ramifications "Passing" can inflict on families: the film "The Imitation of Life" starring Lana Turner and the Nell Larson novel "Passing" -- (The Imitation of Life is based on Author Fannie Hurt's novel of the same name, respectfully). In an already extensive book review I won't go into detail about either film or novel, but they are both tragic tales that I am all but certain have played out, in various degrees, in real life -- especially during the period after the civil war, up to middle 20th century. That said, I will acknowledge that plausible tragic conclusions, in today's society, would not be as severe, but there are risks still on the table, especially, but not limited to, the micro-aggression's that Thomas mentions in the book. Results that could topple upon his family, specifically Thomas, his father, brother and anyone else he cares about that starkly represents their African heritage.In the "Acknowledgements" section of the book Thomas thanks his wife Valentine for her, "very healthy skepticism in discussing the ideas in the book" but he doesn't reveal said skepticism or her perspective -- an opinion, along with his father and mother's, I would've been interested in reading. That aside, I think "Self Portrait" is a fascinating read that in Baldwin-like flair explores an intriguing new approach to life, while simultaneously deriding the Antebellum perspective for the delusional farce it has always been. I just can't help but sense that Thomas is discerning with over-anxiety, for reasons that I suspect he (and perhaps his Mother and Father) can only interpret. Moreover, I think he could have come to a similar conclusion without risking his families harmonious equilibrium. In my opinion, there is a much safer fulfilling and less extreme approach to transcending race.

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