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Op-Ed
Calming the Racial Storm
April 2 - A racial storm quietly brewed in the contest between the leading Democratic presidential candidates for months before bursting into a full-force typhoon last month. Until the tapes of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons surfaced, Barack Obama weathered the incoming gales rather easily, frequently shutting the door on any mention of race and racism. It proved a surprisingly effective tactic that often exposed the Clinton camp's cynical race-baiting. By Joy Zarembka, published in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Op-Ed
Racial Confessions in a Biracial World
March 27 - With one Kenyan parent and one white Midwestern parent, I share a similar racial background with Sen. Barack Obama. As such, I'm especially attuned to people's reactions to him, and one of the most common I hear, especially from white people, is: "He just doesn't seem black to me. When I look at him I do not see a black person." When white people, eager to vote for Obama, speak to me about his lack-o'-black, they seem to suggest that he doesn't come across as a black man or doesn't fit a negative stereotypical image of a black man. Class, accent, education and light skin color all make Obama a "safe" black man. By Joy Zarembka, published in Philadelphia Inquirer, The Belleville News-Democrat, The Fresno Bee, The Island Packet, The La Crosse Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, The Times Herald Record.
The Pigment of Your Imagination: Mixed Race in a Global Society
March 30 - Author Joy Zarembka and her brother, Tommy Zarembka (featured on the front of cover of the book), look strikingly similar but were labeled totally two different races at birth. Joy's birthing document states that she is "black" while Tommy's states that he is "white." How do these and other racial classifications effect the lives of mixed race people?
By combining vivid anecdotes of her travels, historical context, and oral histories from mixed-race families, Joy Zarembka examines the notion of race in order to explore the vastly different interpretations of racial identity in various parts of the world in her new book, "The Pigment of Your Imagination: Mixed Race in a Global Society" (Madera Press 2007). By Joy Zarembka.