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People of all races and ethnic origins might profit by reading this book. It is about Americans whose mixed racial inheritance places them between the boundaries of rigid racial categories. The editor, Maria Root, notes that a "biracial baby boom" began in the United States approximately 25 years ago, after the last state law on miscegenation was struck down. Although a recognized baby boom may have followed the demise of those discriminatory laws, racial mixing has been a fact of life in this nation since the continent was peopled from Europe and elsewhere, and the African slave trade was established.
Many Americans, regardless of their skin color and physical appearance, are descended from persons of different races who loved and bonded in spite of society's reproach. As noted in the book, many are proud of their diverse heritage, though they may have difficulty finding readily available terms for referring to themselves. The very subject of racial mixing, however, remains sullied by prejudices, taboos, and lack of common acceptance.
Thus, part of the strength of this book is that it broaches a topic that is rarely mentioned, or, if mentioned...