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Skin Deep: Black Women & White Women Write About Race
Candid, poignant, provocative, and informative, the essays and stories in Skin Deep explore a wide spectrum of racial issues between black and white women, from self-identity and competition to childrearing and friendship. Eudora Welty contributes a bittersweet story of a one-hundred-year-old black woman whose spirit is as determined and strong as anything in nature. Bestselling author Naomi Wolf recalls her first exposure to racism growing up, examining the subtle forms it can take even among well-meaning people; bell hooks writes about the intersection between black women and feminist politics; and Joyce Carol Oates includes a one-act play in which racial stereotypes are reversed. Among the other writers featured in the collection are Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Susan Straight, Mary Morris, and Beverly Lowry. A groundbreaking anthology that reveals surprising insights and hidden truths to a subject too often clouded by misperceptions and easy assumptions, Skin Deep is a major contribution to understanding our culture.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
12 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Marita Golden
30 books159 followersMarita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction writer, distinguished teacher of writing and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 30, 2015
This book was phenomenal. It speaks on the subjects that society is too afraid to touch on. The essays are captivating, eye-opening, and honest. It explores black-and-white relations in the most intimate of ways and will affect the way you think.
September 6, 2007
This book was a bandaid for a world of pain in friendships and experiences I had throughout my life...
July 13, 2019
No one wants to talk about race. This book faces it head on- acknowledging history, pain and joy, personal biases, and systematic issues.
Some people are angered by race problems, some people have lost loved ones to racism, and some people are just afraid of racial tension. None of these feelings negate the presence of race and it's unfortunate importance in our culture. Historically, settlers fabricated racial differences to build more efficient businesses, consolidate governmental power, and create division among the working class. That History feels long ago to me as a 22 year old as well as to the white people around me in the deep south- they have never experienced racial discrimination and they know no one personally who was a domestic or who marched in D.C. This doesn't change the fact that Ruby Bridges, the first to integrate an Arkansas school, who was escorted in by the police, is still alive. Race & racism are young in the face of history and current issues that need to be discussed.
This book discusses the racial divide between blacks and whites, specifically, through the voice of many educated, observant, and honest black and white women. As a white woman myself, I most appreciated the honesty some of the white women in this book offered regarding the outright racism and discrimination of their childhood or family and the personal biases they have to acknowledge (this is really the key) and work through. Race is so complex. No progress cannot be made without attentive listening to those unlike ourselves, empathy, and honest introspection. This book goes to the heart of many issues surrounding race and gender, allowing me to work through things about myself. The stories and essays of this collection allowed me to relate to black and white women that are brave enough to acknowledge race and its impact across all other parts of our society.
Some people are angered by race problems, some people have lost loved ones to racism, and some people are just afraid of racial tension. None of these feelings negate the presence of race and it's unfortunate importance in our culture. Historically, settlers fabricated racial differences to build more efficient businesses, consolidate governmental power, and create division among the working class. That History feels long ago to me as a 22 year old as well as to the white people around me in the deep south- they have never experienced racial discrimination and they know no one personally who was a domestic or who marched in D.C. This doesn't change the fact that Ruby Bridges, the first to integrate an Arkansas school, who was escorted in by the police, is still alive. Race & racism are young in the face of history and current issues that need to be discussed.
This book discusses the racial divide between blacks and whites, specifically, through the voice of many educated, observant, and honest black and white women. As a white woman myself, I most appreciated the honesty some of the white women in this book offered regarding the outright racism and discrimination of their childhood or family and the personal biases they have to acknowledge (this is really the key) and work through. Race is so complex. No progress cannot be made without attentive listening to those unlike ourselves, empathy, and honest introspection. This book goes to the heart of many issues surrounding race and gender, allowing me to work through things about myself. The stories and essays of this collection allowed me to relate to black and white women that are brave enough to acknowledge race and its impact across all other parts of our society.
August 20, 2022
I found this anthology in a charity shop about four years ago and as happens too often, it lingered on my bookshelves. I wish I had read it sooner now, because this is a really good anthology. It is a mix of fictional stories and essays, all of which have to do with the experience of race and the relationship between black and white and of black and white women in particular.
I definitely felt the essays were much stronger than the fictional stories, though I cannot deny the power of Toni Morrison’s Recitatif, which was included. There was true power in the words and experiences of these women, black and white alike. I would be lieing if I sometimes did not feel uncomfortable, because they did put a mirror up to my face, my white face. However, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it is good to be challenged on your own prejudices, which we inevitably all have, whatever the colour of our skin.
Not every essay was equally powerful to me personally, but the majority was very good or at least made me think. When I came to consider that this anthology was released almost 30 years ago, I was in shock. How much has actually changed since then. I do think some strides were made, but are they as big as they could or should have been? It’s never enough, was my conclusion.
This book is still available online and I would urge you to pick it up. My rating is an average of all 20 stories/essays, but there were a handful that I wish every woman would read.
I definitely felt the essays were much stronger than the fictional stories, though I cannot deny the power of Toni Morrison’s Recitatif, which was included. There was true power in the words and experiences of these women, black and white alike. I would be lieing if I sometimes did not feel uncomfortable, because they did put a mirror up to my face, my white face. However, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it is good to be challenged on your own prejudices, which we inevitably all have, whatever the colour of our skin.
Not every essay was equally powerful to me personally, but the majority was very good or at least made me think. When I came to consider that this anthology was released almost 30 years ago, I was in shock. How much has actually changed since then. I do think some strides were made, but are they as big as they could or should have been? It’s never enough, was my conclusion.
This book is still available online and I would urge you to pick it up. My rating is an average of all 20 stories/essays, but there were a handful that I wish every woman would read.
May 24, 2021
Like everything I'm reading from 20 years ago, this is so relevant today. I believe there is a famous person from the Mideast who said the same thing - there is nothing new under the sun. Such an insightful collection of essays from black and white women. I wish there was space for such an anthology from working women of all races. Contributors to this anthology are mostly from the world of academia.
June 28, 2022
Wonderful read, with enough variety between essays and other short pieces to keep the reader's attention the whole way through.
August 31, 2016
This collection of short stories and essays by luminaries such as Naomi Wolf, Joyce Carol Oats, Tony Morrison and Alice Walker, among others, focuses on the evolving relationships of black and white women as they encounter each other, and the obstacle of race. I encountered the book looking for clues: What was the black experience with white women? What was my obligation as a writer?
I loved Catherine Clinton's conclusion at the end of her essay, asking for more direct and unfiltered dialogue around race. “The passive forms of preservation – letting things lie fallow – haven’t worked in the past. So why not let some fertilizer get flung around, in hopes of a new crop of ideas? Let a thousand arguments bloom,” (p. 254).
This collection came out in the 90s, and I would be curious to see what has changed in terms of consciousness over the last five years of the Obama presidency. A more contemporary collection like this would also be a fascinating read.
I loved Catherine Clinton's conclusion at the end of her essay, asking for more direct and unfiltered dialogue around race. “The passive forms of preservation – letting things lie fallow – haven’t worked in the past. So why not let some fertilizer get flung around, in hopes of a new crop of ideas? Let a thousand arguments bloom,” (p. 254).
This collection came out in the 90s, and I would be curious to see what has changed in terms of consciousness over the last five years of the Obama presidency. A more contemporary collection like this would also be a fascinating read.
June 30, 2008
Fascinating subject that is not often addressed. Can white women and black women be friends in a society obsessed with melanin content? The aforementioned topic was explored in the form of poetry, literature, essays, and a play. I saw myself within the pages and recognized hurtful scenarios. The current fervor over constructed white feminists threatening to vote for a man because he is not white exemplifies this subject. Especially when the white candidates are not known for supporting feminism. Overall, the book's underlining message encourages one to transcend myopic perspectives.
July 3, 2012
so far this is an awesome book -- it is a collection of short essays which make it very easy to read in between activities. (for me that is lunch and work)
July 25, 2009
Great book about white women and black women relations from intimate relationships to beauty.
February 21, 2010
This book is hard to rate. I give Marita Golden's poem "white girls", and Joyce Carol Oates play 5's. I thought they were all interesting. A few were so-so.
May 22, 2015
An incredibly important read for all women.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews