Rebecca Walker's Memoir, "Black, White, and Jewish"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Rebecca Walker's book, "Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self", and its message of a fragmented sense of self. The paper looks at how Walker blames her inability to form a stable and permanent sense of self on her parents' liberal parenting style and multi-racial heritage and then discusses Walker's self-analysis regarding her feelings of alienation. The paper concludes with comments on both the strengths and the weaknesses of the book.

From the Paper:

"Rebecca Walker's memoir Black, White, and Jewish, is subtitled "Autobiography of a Shifting Self." Walker argues that because of the multi-racial and multi-ethnic identity, conferred by her parents and societal perceptions of race, she can never have a stable sense of identity or self. To demonstrate this, Walker uses not only the emotional devices of memoir, but also logical, sociological arguments in regards to her racial identity and ethical arguments about her parent's liberal parenting styles to establish her credibility as an author. Walker argues that her multiracial heritage, constant shifting of homes, and the liberal parenting style she received caused her current shifting and fragmented sense of self."

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