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The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America
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The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America Paperback - 2012

by Daniel J. Sharfstein

One of the nation's most accomplished historians unravels the stories of three extraordinary families from different eras in American history to represent the complexity of race in America, and to force readers to rethink assumptions about race, racism, and civil rights.


Summary

"An astonishingly detailed rendering of the variety and complexity of racial experience in an evolving national culture."
-The New York Times Book Review

In the Obama era, as Americans confront the enduring significance of race and heritage, this multigenerational account of family secrets promises to spark debate across the country. Daniel J. Sharfstein's sweeping history moves from eighteenth-century South Carolina to twentieth-century Washington, D.C., unraveling the stories of three families who represent the complexity of race in America. Identifying first as people of color and later as whites, the families provide a lens through which to examine how people thought about and experienced race and how, for them and America, the very meanings of black and white changed. The Invisible Line cuts through centuries of myth to transform the way we see ourselves.

From the publisher

"An astonishingly detailed rendering of the variety and complexity of racial experience in an evolving national culture."
-The New York Times Book Review

In the Obama era, as Americans confront the enduring significance of race and heritage, this multigenerational account of family secrets promises to spark debate across the country. Daniel J. Sharfstein's sweeping history moves from eighteenth-century South Carolina to twentieth-century Washington, D.C., unraveling the stories of three families who represent the complexity of race in America. Identifying first as people of color and later as whites, the families provide a lens through which to examine how people thought about and experienced race and how, for them and America, the very meanings of black and white changed. The Invisible Line cuts through centuries of myth to transform the way we see ourselves.

Details

  • Title The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America
  • Author Daniel J. Sharfstein
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 432
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books
  • Date 2012-01-31
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780143120636 / 0143120638
  • Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 in (20.83 x 13.72 x 2.79 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: African American
    • Ethnic Orientation: Multicultural
    • Topical: Black History
  • Library of Congress subjects United States - Race relations, Race awareness - United States
  • Dewey Decimal Code 305.800

Media reviews

END

Citations

  • New York Times Book Review, 02/19/2012, Page 24

About the author

Daniel J. Sharfstein is an associate professor of law at Vanderbilt University. Sharfstein graduated from Yale Law School and from Harvard College, summa cum laude in history and literature and Afro-American Studies. He has been awarded fellowships in legal history from Harvard, New York University, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Sharfstein has written for the Yale Law Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, and The Washington Post.
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The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America
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The Invisible Line: A Secret History of Race in America

by Sharfstein, Daniel J.

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