Colormute : Race Talk Dilemmas in an American School

Rating:
Summary: Colormute, complex, honest, refreshing
Review: I have been teaching for thirty three years in an East Coast urban district in schools that all have great variety of people and circumstances. I read Colormute last spring. I was intrigued by the title and the introduction and opening chapter. Though the setting of Colormute is California, I still recognized so much of the race/ethnicity talk. I could easily call up parallel experiences as a life-long teacher and student of race talk. I loved the dichotomous chapter headings each of which lays out a dillemma that usually has two opposing "solutions". She chronicles shifting definitions of personal identity among school people and shifting allegiences and shifting values about the meaning of one's race. I love that Ms. Pollack is a white woman listening hard to student and teacher talk about race and that she is not easily satisfied. She keeps digging deeper with those she is talking to and she does not propose pat or easy conclusions.
This book is real, thoughtful, honest, and useful. I really liked it.