In the News
New York Times Magazine
Rachel Dolezal’s ‘Passing’ Isn’t So Unusual
Why do we care so much about Rachel Dolezal, the head of the Spokane, Wash., chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. who apparently misrepresented herself as African-American when, according to her parents, she is Czech, Swedish and German, with some remote Native American ancestry?…read more
Vanderbilt Magazine
Thunder in the Mountains: Book Explores Clash between Two American Legends
Daniel Sharfstein’s forthcoming book, Thunder in the Mountains: The Clash of Two American Legends, explores the clash between two important late-19th-century Americans: an army general from Maine named Oliver Otis Howard and a Nez Perce chief named Joseph, leader of a small band of Native Americans in far northeastern Oregon…read more
New York Times Book Review:
Shades of White
Racial passing is one of America’s deeply hidden traditions, a largely unacknowledged and unstudied aspect of national life…read more
Slate:
Orindatus Simon Bolivar Wall
A hero of African-American history whose story is forgotten because his descendants decided they were white…read more
Christian Science Monitor:
Interview with Daniel J. Sharfstein, author of “The Invisible Line”
Vanderbilt University Associate Law Professor Daniel J. Sharfstein analyzes the constantly evolving perceptions and experience of race in his new book The Invisible Line: Three American Families and the Secret Journey from Black to White. Sharfstein uses his legal background to fill in the shades of gray and highlight an American experience, which for many changed with the stroke of a pen, or with hair dye…read more
