Crossing Color Line in Politics and Literature
Byline: Clive Davis, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Obama Effect is being felt in this household too. One reason I'm following this year's campaign particularly closely is that I like to see my people making their mark. By "my people," I mean mixed-race folk. My father, you see, was Jamaican (although he was actually born in Cuba, but that's another story) and my mother was a white Englishwoman with a large chunk of Welsh and Swedish ancestry thrown in for good measure.
When I was a child, in the 1960s, "half-caste" was still an acceptable term for people like me. Naturally, it always made me wince, and I was very glad when it was superseded by "mixed-race." The American word "biracial" has never gained a foothold on this side of the Atlantic, and I can't recall the last time that I heard anyone use the word "mulatto" …
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Publication information:
Article title: Crossing Color Line in Politics and Literature.
Contributors: Not available.
Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC).
Publication date: January 13, 2008.
Page number: B06.
© 2009 The Washington Times LLC.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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