Caucasia by Danzy Senna/Still Brings Up Questions of Racial Authenticity in America

So in my "Beyond Black" class (an African American literature course) we are currently reading Caucasia by Danzy Senna, which simply put is about a protagonist named Birdie who is telling her story as an older voice, but is reflecting on her experiences with race and identity growing up. Her mother's white and her father's black and this book takes place in the 1960s/70s, so as you know, there is also a lot socially and historically that's going on...the Black Power Movement, calls for African Liberation, etc. Now, Birdie has a sister named Cole. Birdie looks white, while Cole looks black, though they both have the same parents. It is a very enjoyable read, and throughout the story Birdie describes how people were always comparing and separating Birdie and her sister Cole because of their physical features, though the girls themselves had a close relationship and their own secret language, Elemeno. We had to write a discussion blog for class about the book and I found some of my peers' thoughts to be rather enlightening. It's nice to be able to hear the thoughts of your peers on sensitive issues such as this. I just thought to share with you some of my responses...feel free to agree/disagree.

Also, (just throwing in my personal experience) but I can truly empathize with Birdie and relate to her because as "she can pass for almost anything--white. Sicilian. Italian. French. Greek. Jewish. On the other side of things, I've been told all of my life that I could pass for many things--Ethiopian (Habisha). Hawaiian. Asian/African-American, etc. Most of this has to do with my unique features...my soft, curly hair texture, small, squinted eyes, my nose, small lips and curvy figure. But unlike Birdie, I have always been able to just pass and be accepted as black and not made to feel sorry because I wasn't. So I know how people who always think in black and white don't know how to categorize people like Birdie or like me, so we have to somehow either choose a racial identity or create one all of our own. Anyways, here are two of my responses.
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Response 1: Yes! This is very insightful of you to make the comparison between Birdie's experience of her "racial identity" at Nkrumah versus Birdie in New Hampshire. It is sort of sad to see her struggle just trying to be herself when all the while society is always telling her what she should be and how she should act. 

It is also insightful of you to draw from this text that society did and still does have "ideas" or expectations of how people of a certain race or ethnic group should act, when really, that's not necessarily true. 

The question that brings to my mind then is, how can we as people truly be ourselves when society and the media are constantly sending us messages about how we should, act, be and look, according to our race? Do we just accept it, or do we define ourselves by other means? 

Yasmine

Response 2: Very good observations. 

In your conclusion you mention that "the people of this time only accepted people because of the way they looked," however, this raises a question in my mind if many people in fact do still have this mindset. 

Granted, during the era this book's plot is set in it was definitely a time when racial divides were obvious and very clear in people's minds, in their neighborhoods and with the people they associated with; and also during this time an inner struggle for blacks to discover their voice and their identity and associate whatever that was with a sense of power, unlike the previous years of being treated and told that they were less than human...which is what I think makes Birdies struggle particularly interesting. Though today, we are more accepting or at least tolerant of other ethnic groups and those of mixed descent, it was not as common to see during this time.

However, I still believe that even today, youth particularly of white and black, or mixed descent, often find it hard to identify or fit in with one or multiple groups of people. Some may do this very well, but they may have to assimilate to a certain extent to do so...?

I think even today the so-called "one drop" theory applies, but moreso because society reinforces it--that no matter what ethnicities you are comprised of, if you have one drop of black in you, you are still black!--unless you don't look it, like Birdie. Ugh, all so confusing. Race as a social construct is certainly a monster.