A review by amylee218
Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America by Sharmila Sen

3.0

I won this book in a giveaway. It was interesting to read of Sharmila Sen's experience as a new immigrant to America, and how the concept of Race as a way to classify and divide people was different than had been her experience in India. Of course, India has its own way of classifying and dividing, because wherever you go, people are people. Her story of trying to figure out where she belonged, and to what group, were interesting. I taught middle school in an inner city (in Massachusetts, where the Sen family settled) for years, and we had student body that was primarily students classified as black and hispanic, with white students being the next largest segment. We also had a cluster of immigrants, muslims from Africa, mostly Somali. These students were in class together (because of the language barrier, and the lack of translators who could help them, it was hard to integrate them), they sat together at lunch, and, despite well-meaning educators, it was obvious that they were considered "the other," kids who were not the same. Kids who fasted for Ramadan. Who wore scarves on their heads. Kids who had little to no formal educational experience. These students could never "pass". Not even for regular African-American kids. This is what Sharmila's story made me think of-- the struggle and reality of the real immigrant experience.