Lawrence Hill is now a well-known fiction writer ([The Book of Negroes] is probably his most famous) but before he started writing fiction he worked as a journalist in many places across Canada. This book, which combines autobiographical details with reports of interviews, came out in 2001. I found a few things dated because of that but I am sure that much of the first-hand and second-hand description of what it is like to be the child of one black parent and one white parent are still the same.

Hill's father is black. He grew up in the US and fought for the US during World War II. However when he got married to Hill's mother, who is white, they moved to Canada to live and raise kids. Hill's father went on to become head of the Human Rights Commission and both parents were active in human rights causes. At the time they settled in Oakville, Ontario there were very few black people living in the area. Hill's father used to point out black people to his kids because it was so rare to see them. I would imagine that has changed quite a bit in the almost 20 years since. Even in Winnipeg where I live there is no surprise in seeing black people (or people of any other colour of skin). Lawrence Hill also married a white woman and in the southern US his children would have been classified as quadroons. In this book Hill contends that it really doesn't matter what percentage of your heritage comes from which race. Hill considers himself black and so do most of the other people he interviewed for the book. I imagine that his children also consider themselves black.

Although Hill's parents chose Canada to raise their children that doesn't mean that there was no racism in Canada. As one example Hill says that he has been asked what he is at least once a day all his adult life. The subtle racism of this question is probably not something the questioner understands but Hill sees it as an example of the questioner wanting to point out that Hill is "different". I personally can't imagine asking anyone this question but I have asked people with accents where they are from (or tried to guess) and I wonder if I have been guilty of the same thing.

Hill has certainly documented an important facet of Canadian society. My one complaint is that I found it a little repetitive and I felt like he was bashing me over the head with some facts. Nevertheless I can see why this book was chosen by CBC as one of the 100 True Stories that make you Proud to be Canadian. ( )

On Being Black & White in Canada ( )

Published in 2001, this is Lawrence Hill's attempt to understand and define identity through the eyes of Canadians who have one white parent and one black parent. He includes lots of personal stories from his own life and his family's history. But he also interviews many people to learn and understand how each one defines his or her own identity. Hill discusses how the language of identity and race have determined and shaped how a person self-defines, society in general and how race is actually a social construct and not an exact, measurable science. I learned some shocking history of racism in Canada. Not that I doubt it existed or still does, but I did not know, for example, that the KKK came to Oakville, Ontario in 1930 to try to prevent a black man and a white woman from attempting to get married. The story of what happened is something you just couldn't make up! I did not know that the KKK had ever been north of the border.

I would love to have heard from some of the famous people I know who, like Hill, have one white and one black parent. People such as Malcolm Gladwell, Matt Galloway (a local radio personality on CBC), even Barack Obama or Halle Berry (although the last two would not have qualified for this particular book as they are not Canadian).

I found it to be a fascinating read. ( )