The Racism of People Who Love You: Essays on Mixed Race Belonging

Mehta (Beyond Chrismukkah), a gender studies professor, muses on race and the performance of identity in this candid collection. The essays present a “story of moments,” Mehta writes, “when my white family and the friends that I have made... in Primarily White Institutions have been, however unintentionally, sources of racism in my life.” In “Where Are You Really From? A Triptych,” Mehta examines how she navigates answering the question, considering her white mother was born in the Midwest, her father was born in Multan, now part of Pakistan, and she herself grew up outside New Haven, Conn. Elsewhere, Mehta probes the distinct discomforts of “mixedness,” which “does not quite fit into anyone’s boxes,” and wonders where the lines are that separate cultural exchange from cultural appropriation. Particularly strong is the title essay, about a close male friend who dismissed her humiliating and painful experience of being screened by the TSA: “What do you do about the people whom you cannot (or very much do not want to) remove from your life?” Though Mehta asks more questions than she answers, her emphasis on “listen[ing] across difference” is earned and lands with force. The result is a sharp, poignant series of essays. (Jan.)