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celtic_oracle's review against another edition
5.0
I learned so much from this book - not only the experiences of people of mixed race, but also much I was unaware of in Canadian history (and some of it is pretty grim). A worthy read.
ahpotts's review against another edition
5.0
I took this one slow & easy, reading it largely during the class reading time, and I loved it. Hill's prose is a joy to read - I used quite a few sentences as mentors for my students - and the combination of memoir and dialogue with others makes for a book that feels deeply thoughtful in its discussion of race and society. Hill's topics are driven by his personal interests and experience but informed by research and reality. I have bookmarked many pages & will share at least one short section with other teachers and possibly with students.
fallingletters's review against another edition
5.0
Review originally published 24 January 2017 at Falling Letters.
Mom and I had tried reading two novels about Ireland for this month’s Family Reads. Unfortunately, we found both novels to be incredibly dull. I asked Mom if there were any books by authors she liked that she hadn’t yet read. That’s how we ended up on [a: Lawrence Hill|20411|Lawrence Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1233783749p2/20411.jpg]’s page. Mom has read and enjoyed [b: The Book of Negroes|23316548|The Book of Negroes|Lawrence Hill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417983381l/23316548._SY75_.jpg|860779], [b: The Illegal|25622897|The Illegal|Lawrence Hill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435193110l/25622897._SY75_.jpg|11205314] and [b: Blood|168642|In Cold Blood|Truman Capote|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1424931136l/168642._SY75_.jpg|1940709]. I knew virtually nothing about growing up biracial in Canada. Thus, we chose Black Berry, Sweet Juice for our January Family Read.
Hill explores how one’s personal identity can differ from the external identity thrust upon them by those looking at them from the outside. Hill writes about how people are judged by their skin colour as to what their identity is. But that, of course, is a dangerous and often wrong assumption to make. A person’s internal understanding of their identity might not have anything to do with their skin colour.
Hill’s book was an eye opener for Mom and I. We are white in every direction I can see on the family tree. We’ve never had to think about the possible discord between our identities and our skin colours. We’ve never had to think, “Oh, I’m white, I need to make a concentrated effort to connect with the white community, learn about my cultural identity, etc”. We are just that way, we are just white and we don’t have to do anything in particular to confirm that. In contrast, Hill and the people he interviews have all had to give conscious consideration, in one way or another, to their racial/cultural identity.
Hill writes about a “brewing interest in my racial identity” (64). This quote stuck out to me, as I’ve never had to ‘brew an interest’ in my racial identity. Mom and I can’t fathom what it must be like to have to actively learn about racial identity, cultural history, etc. Mom pointed out that she has never considered herself ‘German-Canadian’ (her father came to Canada when he was 19 years old). She has never had to assert that aspect of her identity or consider it in the way that biracial Canadians do. She and I have never had to ‘choose’ to be white, i.e. choose to fit in with that community – that’s the white privilege we have.
Towards the end of the book, Hill presents an imaginary dialogue of the ‘race’ question, an infamously pervasive question in Canada (and similar countries, I imagine):
Hill’s stories about growing up biracial added another dimension to his exploration of race, as we had not considered the identity struggles a biracial child may experience. Mom told me about a friend with a biracial daughter. Mom had never considered that that child may have difficult time growing up because of the different racial identities of her parents.
We appreciated that Hill includes interviews with a number of other Black-white biracial Canadians. Sharing various points of views shows that everyone’s situation can be different. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to the question of how to manage a biracial identity. Black Berry, Sweet Juice really hits home that a single voice cannot an entire community represent. Nearly all interviewees, however, understand they will almost always struggle with being defined against whiteness. Because white people do not consider biracial people to be white, they cannot find acceptance in those communities like they may find acceptance in Black communities.
Mom and I had tried reading two novels about Ireland for this month’s Family Reads. Unfortunately, we found both novels to be incredibly dull. I asked Mom if there were any books by authors she liked that she hadn’t yet read. That’s how we ended up on [a: Lawrence Hill|20411|Lawrence Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1233783749p2/20411.jpg]’s page. Mom has read and enjoyed [b: The Book of Negroes|23316548|The Book of Negroes|Lawrence Hill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417983381l/23316548._SY75_.jpg|860779], [b: The Illegal|25622897|The Illegal|Lawrence Hill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1435193110l/25622897._SY75_.jpg|11205314] and [b: Blood|168642|In Cold Blood|Truman Capote|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1424931136l/168642._SY75_.jpg|1940709]. I knew virtually nothing about growing up biracial in Canada. Thus, we chose Black Berry, Sweet Juice for our January Family Read.
Hill explores how one’s personal identity can differ from the external identity thrust upon them by those looking at them from the outside. Hill writes about how people are judged by their skin colour as to what their identity is. But that, of course, is a dangerous and often wrong assumption to make. A person’s internal understanding of their identity might not have anything to do with their skin colour.
Hill’s book was an eye opener for Mom and I. We are white in every direction I can see on the family tree. We’ve never had to think about the possible discord between our identities and our skin colours. We’ve never had to think, “Oh, I’m white, I need to make a concentrated effort to connect with the white community, learn about my cultural identity, etc”. We are just that way, we are just white and we don’t have to do anything in particular to confirm that. In contrast, Hill and the people he interviews have all had to give conscious consideration, in one way or another, to their racial/cultural identity.
Hill writes about a “brewing interest in my racial identity” (64). This quote stuck out to me, as I’ve never had to ‘brew an interest’ in my racial identity. Mom and I can’t fathom what it must be like to have to actively learn about racial identity, cultural history, etc. Mom pointed out that she has never considered herself ‘German-Canadian’ (her father came to Canada when he was 19 years old). She has never had to assert that aspect of her identity or consider it in the way that biracial Canadians do. She and I have never had to ‘choose’ to be white, i.e. choose to fit in with that community – that’s the white privilege we have.
Towards the end of the book, Hill presents an imaginary dialogue of the ‘race’ question, an infamously pervasive question in Canada (and similar countries, I imagine):
STRANGER: “Do you mind my asking where you are from?” [This is code for “What is your race?”]Mom and I discussed how that question, “Where are you from?”, takes on a completely different tone depending on who it is presented to. If someone asks us (my white Mom or I) where are you from, we generally know they mean it literally. If they want to know our family background, they ask directly. It’s not a challenge; usually it’s just polite conversation. Rarely is that question asked of a person of colour for the sake of polite conversation. As Hill notes, it becomes a challenge to a person’s Canadian identity (177). Part of our white privilege is never having people challenge our Canadian identities.
ME: “Canada.” [This is code for “Screw off.”]
STRANGER: “Yes, but you know, where are you really from?” [This is code for “You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?”]
ME: “I come from the foreign and distant metropolis of Newmarket. That’s Newmarket, Ontario. My place of birth. [Code for “I’m not letting you off the4 hook, buster.”]
STRANGER: “But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?” [Code for “I want to know your race, but this is making me very uncomfortable because somehow I feel that I’m not supposed to ask that question.”]
Hill’s stories about growing up biracial added another dimension to his exploration of race, as we had not considered the identity struggles a biracial child may experience. Mom told me about a friend with a biracial daughter. Mom had never considered that that child may have difficult time growing up because of the different racial identities of her parents.
We appreciated that Hill includes interviews with a number of other Black-white biracial Canadians. Sharing various points of views shows that everyone’s situation can be different. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to the question of how to manage a biracial identity. Black Berry, Sweet Juice really hits home that a single voice cannot an entire community represent. Nearly all interviewees, however, understand they will almost always struggle with being defined against whiteness. Because white people do not consider biracial people to be white, they cannot find acceptance in those communities like they may find acceptance in Black communities.
For many people with one black and one white parent, it appears to hurt more when we are rejected by the black community than when we are discriminated against in the wider community for being black (106).Mom and I both learned a lot from this book. We highly recommend it, especially to white people who, like us, had never really considered how the experiences of biracial people may differ from those who are ‘all Black’ or ‘all white’.
“When white people look at you, they’re never going to see white. They’re always going to see black. Therefore you’re black.” (110)
thehoserpolice's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Very well written and well researched with interviewees from across the Canada. Drawing on his own personal experiences as well the author paints a diverse image of race in Canadian/North American society.
stories_by_sharanja's review against another edition
4.0
Race is never a really straightforward issue, especially if you've grown up in Canada. It sometimes seems like this country does everything it can to not talk about race. How many times have you heard the words "I don't see color" from the people around you? That's nice...if race doesn't matter to you. But it does matter. And it matters to a lot of people. Especially when how well we are treated in society is in direct correlation with the melanin in our skin.
But this is where it gets really complicated. How does race affect one when your parents are from different races? What if you are both black and white? How do you construct your racial identity then? Are you black? Or depending the lightness of your skin, are you white? Then again, you might be neither and just "mixed"?
These are questions that Lawrence Hill attempts to answer in his novel "Black Berry, Sweet Juice". Hill examines the issue of being mixed race person living in Canada, and what role racial issues have in constructing an individual's identity.
I liked that Hill included stories from his own family's history to illustrate the complexities of being mixed. Hill's parents were involved in an interracial relationship during a time in U.S history in which blacks and whites couldn't even eat at the same restaurant together. They fled to Canada to start a family without the racism of their home country.These stories added something personal to a topic that is already interesting enough. There is an abundance of books on racism in the United States, but not a lot in regards to its neighbor to the north.
But this is where it gets really complicated. How does race affect one when your parents are from different races? What if you are both black and white? How do you construct your racial identity then? Are you black? Or depending the lightness of your skin, are you white? Then again, you might be neither and just "mixed"?
These are questions that Lawrence Hill attempts to answer in his novel "Black Berry, Sweet Juice". Hill examines the issue of being mixed race person living in Canada, and what role racial issues have in constructing an individual's identity.
I liked that Hill included stories from his own family's history to illustrate the complexities of being mixed. Hill's parents were involved in an interracial relationship during a time in U.S history in which blacks and whites couldn't even eat at the same restaurant together. They fled to Canada to start a family without the racism of their home country.These stories added something personal to a topic that is already interesting enough. There is an abundance of books on racism in the United States, but not a lot in regards to its neighbor to the north.
blue_squishie's review against another edition
3.0
I borrowed this book from the library after reading a small excerpt off of cbc.ca. I was especially interested after reading about the "So where are you from exactly?" exchange. As a Canadian, but also a visible minority, I felt like I identified a bit with the "not quite fitting into two worlds" sentiment.
ahpotts's review
5.0
I took this one slow & easy, reading it largely during the class reading time, and I loved it. Hill's prose is a joy to read - I used quite a few sentences as mentors for my students - and the combination of memoir and dialogue with others makes for a book that feels deeply thoughtful in its discussion of race and society. Hill's topics are driven by his personal interests and experience but informed by research and reality. I have bookmarked many pages & will share at least one short section with other teachers and possibly with students.
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