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Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black
“Heartbreaking and uplifting… a searing book about race and prejudice in America… brims with insights that only someone who has lived on both sides of the racial divide could gain.”— Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A triumph of storytelling as well as a triumph of spirit.”—Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning author of There Are No Children Here
As a child in 1950s segregated Virginia, Gregory Howard Williams grew up believing he was white. But when the family business failed and his parents’ marriage fell apart, Williams discovered that his dark-skinned father, who had been passing as Italian-American, was half black. The family split up, and Greg, his younger brother, and their father moved to Muncie, Indiana, where the young boys learned the truth about their heritage. Overnight, Greg Williams became black.
In this extraordinary and powerful memoir, Williams recounts his remarkable journey along the color line and illuminates the contrasts between the black and white one of privilege, opportunity and comfort, the other of deprivation, repression, and struggle. He tells of the hostility and prejudice he encountered all too often, from both blacks and whites, and the surprising moments of encouragement and acceptance he found from each.
Life on the Color Line is a uniquely important book. It is a wonderfully inspiring testament of purpose, perseverance, and human triumph.
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
“A triumph of storytelling as well as a triumph of spirit.”—Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning author of There Are No Children Here
As a child in 1950s segregated Virginia, Gregory Howard Williams grew up believing he was white. But when the family business failed and his parents’ marriage fell apart, Williams discovered that his dark-skinned father, who had been passing as Italian-American, was half black. The family split up, and Greg, his younger brother, and their father moved to Muncie, Indiana, where the young boys learned the truth about their heritage. Overnight, Greg Williams became black.
In this extraordinary and powerful memoir, Williams recounts his remarkable journey along the color line and illuminates the contrasts between the black and white one of privilege, opportunity and comfort, the other of deprivation, repression, and struggle. He tells of the hostility and prejudice he encountered all too often, from both blacks and whites, and the surprising moments of encouragement and acceptance he found from each.
Life on the Color Line is a uniquely important book. It is a wonderfully inspiring testament of purpose, perseverance, and human triumph.
Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
285 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1995
73 people are currently reading
4864 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Howard Williams
5 books11 followersGregory Howard Williams is a scholar, attorney, law school professor, author, and formerly the 27th President of the University of Cincinnati (2009 to 2012) and the 11th President of the City College of New York (2001 - 2009).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
October 9, 2008
It was very funny to read this book to later find out that he is the president of my former College.
We were assigned to read the book and no one ever pointed it out that the author shared the same name as the president of our school. I think we didn't notice because he truly looks "white" but when we found out we all looked at him differently but in a good way.
I loved this book even before i knew the author. I have a lot more respect for him.
We were assigned to read the book and no one ever pointed it out that the author shared the same name as the president of our school. I think we didn't notice because he truly looks "white" but when we found out we all looked at him differently but in a good way.
I loved this book even before i knew the author. I have a lot more respect for him.
January 17, 2020
I remember walking into a keynote address by the author several years ago where all I knew was the topic was related to diversity in the legal profession. Before he started speaking I remember thinking I was going to hear a lecture from a white academic who had no personal insights. I could not have been more wrong!! The first ten years of his life he had every reason to believe he was white and no reason to question it. He learns otherwise, which alone might give rise to some revelations, but his living circumstances change dramatically when he is suddenly sent to live with his black relatives in the upper midwest and is immediately living life in a highly segregated community. From the instant he is identified as black, everything about his world changes. How he is treated by the educational system alone is appalling, but there is so much more. His unique story of his upbringing and being thrust into confronting issues of family and racial issues at an early age is very compelling. He recounts his experience in such a way that the reader gets the raw, unvarnished feeling of what he was going through in the moment. Written with elegance and simplicity, yet direct and compelling. Excellent book.
May 14, 2008
Life on the Color Line is the perfect counter-balance to Rebecca Walker's Black, White, and Jewish. While Walker is a Generation X child in middle class, coastal America, Greg Williams' childhood is a 1960's, poor, midwestern tale, and highlights the absolute diversity of the multiracial experience.
Williams tells the story of his brutal, impoverished childhood with candor and sympathy, describing his tragic mulatto father and his distant white mother in differing levels of nuance. He manages to make both somewhat sympathetic, and adds a strong dimension of pathos to his younger brother whose life seems mired in drugs, alcohol, and violence. Williams' escape from such violence is not a "model minority" moment, rather it is one of extreme hardship and challenge. Williams' book provides candor, pathos, and intense insight into the multiracial experience of a previous generation and sheds light into the continued struggle for those of us who exist firmly "on the color line."
Williams tells the story of his brutal, impoverished childhood with candor and sympathy, describing his tragic mulatto father and his distant white mother in differing levels of nuance. He manages to make both somewhat sympathetic, and adds a strong dimension of pathos to his younger brother whose life seems mired in drugs, alcohol, and violence. Williams' escape from such violence is not a "model minority" moment, rather it is one of extreme hardship and challenge. Williams' book provides candor, pathos, and intense insight into the multiracial experience of a previous generation and sheds light into the continued struggle for those of us who exist firmly "on the color line."
September 26, 2010
When Greg Williams was growing up in Virginia, he was told by his parents that he was Italian so he always considered himself white. Imagine his surprise to learn at age ten that his father is really Mulatto and that he has a large extended family, living in Indiana who is black and who he has never met. That’s what happened to Williams when he moved with his father and younger brother to Muncie after his parents divorced. The next few years were rough on Williams—it was difficult to make friends due to his mix race, his father battled alcoholism and joblessness, and his mother disappeared from his life. The only person who he could depend on and who was a consistent, positive influence in his life was Ms. Dora, a family friend who took both him and his brother in and helped raise them. Through hard work, Williams managed to achieve some success but not without experiencing the pain that comes from the prejudice inflicted on him because of his biracial heritage.
They say that what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger and I think that what Williams had to endure in his early life enabled him to become tough and survive any hardship that came his way. It would have been easy for Williams to take after his father and become like him and while I was reading this memoir, I kept shaking my head and thinking that his father should act as a role model for his son but then I realized that he WAS a role model. Williams looked at him and learned what NOT to do. I’m glad that Williams shared his life story because I think people can learn from it and be inspired by his strength and his never give up attitude.
They say that what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger and I think that what Williams had to endure in his early life enabled him to become tough and survive any hardship that came his way. It would have been easy for Williams to take after his father and become like him and while I was reading this memoir, I kept shaking my head and thinking that his father should act as a role model for his son but then I realized that he WAS a role model. Williams looked at him and learned what NOT to do. I’m glad that Williams shared his life story because I think people can learn from it and be inspired by his strength and his never give up attitude.
April 17, 2011
Best Book I've yet read this year!!!
This is a dynamic memoir. Each time I look at Greg's smiling face on the cover reduces me to tears. Makes me think, what if there were no people in the world like his father, and mother, and Miss Dora, and the many people of Muncie... would there be a drive to help others? Would it alter they way we compete? Extolling another demographic of social intolerance intrinsic to the individual and collective human need to feel worthy... be superior? Would it ever lead a man such as Mr. Williams to bring his experiences to positions of influence that inspire us to take that step back to see further from a deeper scope?
Outside of appreciating the tremendously uplifting premise, I laughed the hardest about the rooster and that dang Buster kissing President Kennedy! Just as I did, Greg found a way to find humor in some of his father's embarrassments, which otherwise may have left him powerless to become the man he became. The greatest penchants however, were the numerous lessons he took from his father, and Miss Dora. There just aren't enough words to express what a spiritually grounded woman Miss Dora was. So much is contained in this book. No word is wasted. Every page rocks with raw emotion. Life on the Color Line is an absolute inspirational must read.
This is a dynamic memoir. Each time I look at Greg's smiling face on the cover reduces me to tears. Makes me think, what if there were no people in the world like his father, and mother, and Miss Dora, and the many people of Muncie... would there be a drive to help others? Would it alter they way we compete? Extolling another demographic of social intolerance intrinsic to the individual and collective human need to feel worthy... be superior? Would it ever lead a man such as Mr. Williams to bring his experiences to positions of influence that inspire us to take that step back to see further from a deeper scope?
Outside of appreciating the tremendously uplifting premise, I laughed the hardest about the rooster and that dang Buster kissing President Kennedy! Just as I did, Greg found a way to find humor in some of his father's embarrassments, which otherwise may have left him powerless to become the man he became. The greatest penchants however, were the numerous lessons he took from his father, and Miss Dora. There just aren't enough words to express what a spiritually grounded woman Miss Dora was. So much is contained in this book. No word is wasted. Every page rocks with raw emotion. Life on the Color Line is an absolute inspirational must read.
October 12, 2014
Very well written. I could not give it a five because I wanted to read more! He rushed the ending and cheated us out of celebrating with him for triumphing against all odds. It's a very thought provoking book and though I want my biracial children to read it, they will have to be 18 first. The book is very detailed and therefore had lots of sexual content and vulgar words that I don't want my children to read about just yet. I do however, understand why they were included. The true picture of Muncie and what the author went through requires all of his past to be included without censorship. I'm sure it was also cathartic. I look forward to discussing it with my children in the future.
August 1, 2012
I've had this book for several years, and have read it exactly twice - so far. Life on the color line may give people a better idea of why someone would try to pass for white, denying their family entirely, and sometimes with their family's blessing. While even today, life is quite difficult for minorities, particularly the non-white, dark ones - predominantly folk with African ancestry - it's nothing compared to what it used to be. Although, we still hold to the one-drop rule - just as one drop of ink makes pure water less pure, one drop of African blood makes a White person less pure.
I was fortunate enough to hear the author speak at the Public Library in downtown Cincinnati in 2011. I was even more fortunate to be able to ask him a question, one people wanted to ask, even though they weren't sure they wanted to ask it. I asked if people treated him differently, negatively, once they found out he had Black ancestry. Sadly, he was able to answer in the affirmative.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in US culture, and the ideas of race. It's also a reminder that not all racists and racial divisions occurred in the Southeast.
I was fortunate enough to hear the author speak at the Public Library in downtown Cincinnati in 2011. I was even more fortunate to be able to ask him a question, one people wanted to ask, even though they weren't sure they wanted to ask it. I asked if people treated him differently, negatively, once they found out he had Black ancestry. Sadly, he was able to answer in the affirmative.
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in US culture, and the ideas of race. It's also a reminder that not all racists and racial divisions occurred in the Southeast.
July 21, 2015
If this book were fiction you would find it preposterous, the fact that it's true makes it affecting and inspiring. I picked up to read because I am helping a college freshman with a term paper that analyzes this book. It seemed it would help him along if I knew the material too. I am enriched for the experience as the student predicted I would be when he talked about the book.
Gregory Williams is now the President of the University where this student is taking the course. That is a testament to Williams' determination, brilliance and forgiving nature. He takes on his ardous journey from believing he's a white child in a loving but volatile home to being abandoned by his birth mother and finding out he's the result of a mixed marriage and considered black.
His life with various relatives on his father's side is a nightmare until an angel on earth in the form of a woman in the neighborhood takes him along with his younger brother. She shares her meager possessions and her enormous faith with these young boys. Sadly, Williams accepts her gifts and finds his own strength, things don't go as well for his younger brother.
You will be frustrated at the patriarch of this family and uplifted by Williams as he makes his way in the world despite overwhelming odds.
Gregory Williams is now the President of the University where this student is taking the course. That is a testament to Williams' determination, brilliance and forgiving nature. He takes on his ardous journey from believing he's a white child in a loving but volatile home to being abandoned by his birth mother and finding out he's the result of a mixed marriage and considered black.
His life with various relatives on his father's side is a nightmare until an angel on earth in the form of a woman in the neighborhood takes him along with his younger brother. She shares her meager possessions and her enormous faith with these young boys. Sadly, Williams accepts her gifts and finds his own strength, things don't go as well for his younger brother.
You will be frustrated at the patriarch of this family and uplifted by Williams as he makes his way in the world despite overwhelming odds.
December 15, 2016
It never ceases to amaze me how cruelly human beings treat each other based solely on the color of skin, and I don't know how one can read this book without being overwhelmed by anger.
The author tells his story of life growing up in the 50s in small town, segregated Indiana. Brought to Indiana by his mostly absent, alcoholic father after being abandoned by his mother at age 10, he learned at that time that he was 1/4 black and overnight found himself having to contend with a new identity. Light skinned enough to pass for white yet unable to avoid conflict and torment due to his black heritage, the author struggles through childhood and adolescence trying to find his place in his deeply prejudiced world.
Powerful memoir - an eye opening perspective on growing up as mixed race, and a troubling account the problems he faced and adversity he had to overcome to ultimately lead a successful life, thanks to a wonderful guardian who raised him and a strong determination to work hard and persevere. And while it's hard to believe that 50 years have passed since the civil rights movement, it's sadder to realize how far we have yet to go.
The author tells his story of life growing up in the 50s in small town, segregated Indiana. Brought to Indiana by his mostly absent, alcoholic father after being abandoned by his mother at age 10, he learned at that time that he was 1/4 black and overnight found himself having to contend with a new identity. Light skinned enough to pass for white yet unable to avoid conflict and torment due to his black heritage, the author struggles through childhood and adolescence trying to find his place in his deeply prejudiced world.
Powerful memoir - an eye opening perspective on growing up as mixed race, and a troubling account the problems he faced and adversity he had to overcome to ultimately lead a successful life, thanks to a wonderful guardian who raised him and a strong determination to work hard and persevere. And while it's hard to believe that 50 years have passed since the civil rights movement, it's sadder to realize how far we have yet to go.
September 6, 2008
It was interesting to read a book that was true and took place in a town I lived in for 3 years! It was crazy that I waited until I lived in Seattle to read it, although I could picture in my head so much of the locale of the book. It was also crazy to kind of see things that changed and things that stayed the same in Muncie. The story itself was crazy, and to see that this kid became the man that he became in the world that he grew up in is amazing. I also have to say that racism makes no sence to me and certianly makes me sick. I also have to add that Gregory's dad was a true Muncie charector!
February 23, 2008
As a temporary housekeeper for a college in Vermont, I found this book.
I was so intrigued by Mr. Williams' struggle and his crazy yet intelligent father, Buster, that I finished it probably in a day. Yes, it is a page turner. But it also sheds light on the racism and discrimination experienced by blacks on a daily basis.
It was only until Williams "one drop" status was affirmed that his struggles began...
Perhaps that's why this book was left for trash in the more affluent and easy going life of the Vermont suburbs: one can not understand what he does not know.
Or maybe s/he didn't want to understand...
I was so intrigued by Mr. Williams' struggle and his crazy yet intelligent father, Buster, that I finished it probably in a day. Yes, it is a page turner. But it also sheds light on the racism and discrimination experienced by blacks on a daily basis.
It was only until Williams "one drop" status was affirmed that his struggles began...
Perhaps that's why this book was left for trash in the more affluent and easy going life of the Vermont suburbs: one can not understand what he does not know.
Or maybe s/he didn't want to understand...
October 15, 2014
This book had me from the first chapter. I grew up in the same time period as him but because I was in NY, we lived such different lives. I went to school with black children and never thought twice about it. I was one of ten children and we were poor, but after reading about how he was treated and what his life was like I feel that I never really knew what poor was, I never went to sleep hungry. The fact that he overcame his surroundings and excelled at life was heartwarming and he has much to be proud of.
February 25, 2010
I thought that was a very interesting book. It was a fascinating account of growing up black, and the trials he faced, while by all appearances he was (looked) white. I probably would have given this 4-5 stars, but I hated the ending. There was so much detail of his youth, and then the last couple of years were summed up in 4 pages. I wanted to know more about his experience in college, how he and his wife were reunited, etc. But overall, a great book.
November 7, 2011
This is an amazing story on many levels. The entire time I read this book I kept referring back to the picture of the author because I couldn't believe what I was reading versus what I was seeing. There were times that I felt I was reading the story in "real time" it went so slow for me, but overall, it was a wonderful book. For me the ending leaves room for a sequel....mmmmm, if Mr. Williams wrote one I want to read it!!!
June 14, 2008
My brother handed me this book to read while traveling home on the airplane. I started reading it in the airport, read it on the plane and stayed up until 3 in the morning until I finished it. I found it that amazing.
April 1, 2017
Wow what a story of personal triumph. Not as easy book to read and at times so heartbreaking to me the only thing that kept me going was because it had been written at all which meant that he was going to make it and overcome all the mess thrown at him.
A powerful memoir.
A powerful memoir.
January 5, 2020
This book had the potential to cross a lot of lines. However, the author took a responsible approach by only telling his story. This is, first and foremost, a memoir of Gregory Howard Williams' experience of being a quarter African-American, 3 quarters European-American and being raised in a racially segregated time a place.
It doesn't take much reading between the lines to see the (rather clearly intentional) social commentary of racial divisions in Muncie, IN in the middle of the last century.
It's interesting to me that Williams was socially identified as a black person but appeared like a white person. This label, though, placed him with all African-Americans, which means he was prejudiced in the same way African-Americans were. Occasionally, he would be given a break when a white person didn't know of his social label, a social benefit of his appearance, but Williams did not generally trust white people, and with good reason. The instant a white person learned Williams was even partially African-American, a toggle switched.
His white mother abandoned him at a young age. His father's mother was white and father was black, but was socially labeled as black despite his pale complexion and a history of "passing." This man selectively took care of him, but mostly concerned himself with his own affairs. Williams and his brother were raised by a loving older lady in the black neighborhood of Muncie. She had no obligation to these boys, but she knew the family history and she knew if someone didn't help them they'd both be swallowed up and become casualties of the city.
Williams spent some time in the white patriarchal idea of a family but was raised primarily by the black neighborhood.
Interesting story. Sad story. It's hard for me to imagine that this only happened a few decades ago. This country still has way to go to end racism, and this past couple of years seems to be a cyclical return of the 1950's. Just disgusting.
It doesn't take much reading between the lines to see the (rather clearly intentional) social commentary of racial divisions in Muncie, IN in the middle of the last century.
It's interesting to me that Williams was socially identified as a black person but appeared like a white person. This label, though, placed him with all African-Americans, which means he was prejudiced in the same way African-Americans were. Occasionally, he would be given a break when a white person didn't know of his social label, a social benefit of his appearance, but Williams did not generally trust white people, and with good reason. The instant a white person learned Williams was even partially African-American, a toggle switched.
His white mother abandoned him at a young age. His father's mother was white and father was black, but was socially labeled as black despite his pale complexion and a history of "passing." This man selectively took care of him, but mostly concerned himself with his own affairs. Williams and his brother were raised by a loving older lady in the black neighborhood of Muncie. She had no obligation to these boys, but she knew the family history and she knew if someone didn't help them they'd both be swallowed up and become casualties of the city.
Williams spent some time in the white patriarchal idea of a family but was raised primarily by the black neighborhood.
Interesting story. Sad story. It's hard for me to imagine that this only happened a few decades ago. This country still has way to go to end racism, and this past couple of years seems to be a cyclical return of the 1950's. Just disgusting.
February 13, 2011
What an amazing story (and true too). I am currently on chapter five and have really gotten into this story. I'm hoping it turns out as well as the last story I read that was a "down-and-out" story. It breaks my heart that kids have to live these kinds of lives because of their parents. It's so not fair.
Well, it's another story like the last one in the sense that it's not fair that kids can't pick their parents. This is an amazing young man who makes the most of his situation and I was glad to have the opportunity to read this amazing story. What an incredible young man. It's almost Forrest Gump with all the places he goes and all the things he experiences but they make him who he is. The story is really well written and kept me interested until the end. It's just so amazing the number of stories I have read lately that are like this one that just blows me away to learn there are parents out there like this. I am truly blessed!
Well, it's another story like the last one in the sense that it's not fair that kids can't pick their parents. This is an amazing young man who makes the most of his situation and I was glad to have the opportunity to read this amazing story. What an incredible young man. It's almost Forrest Gump with all the places he goes and all the things he experiences but they make him who he is. The story is really well written and kept me interested until the end. It's just so amazing the number of stories I have read lately that are like this one that just blows me away to learn there are parents out there like this. I am truly blessed!
July 27, 2007
Well my mother finally read it. Lo and behold she also knows the author and taught both of his sons. Only she didn't realize it until she started reading the book.
Attempts at name dropping aside...
The author's story is one that desperately needs to be told again and again in this country. I'll need another read of it to determine whether his tack takes too much from victimhood or not. Regardless, I feel some of the material could have been left out. The image of his first sexual experience just wasn't necessary, while the complications due to his skin color and the perceptions of people in the African-American community were.
more later...
Attempts at name dropping aside...
The author's story is one that desperately needs to be told again and again in this country. I'll need another read of it to determine whether his tack takes too much from victimhood or not. Regardless, I feel some of the material could have been left out. The image of his first sexual experience just wasn't necessary, while the complications due to his skin color and the perceptions of people in the African-American community were.
more later...
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January 26, 2023DNF/skimmed
This book was painfully boring… I thought it was going to be super interesting and engaging but the language is so dry and the story just does not seem to ever progress. That being said I am a fiction/fantasy reader so this change of pace was a huge adjustment. The premise and historical context are very unique and offer a niche story, but I just could not get into it at all.
This book was painfully boring… I thought it was going to be super interesting and engaging but the language is so dry and the story just does not seem to ever progress. That being said I am a fiction/fantasy reader so this change of pace was a huge adjustment. The premise and historical context are very unique and offer a niche story, but I just could not get into it at all.
June 2, 2015
I have great respect for Gregory Howard Williams. He defied the odds despite much adversity in his formative years with a broken family and discriminatory treatment in 1960s Indiana. This is a well written memoir - highly recommended.
November 23, 2024
This memoir is by Gregory Howard Williams and takes place mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. Williams was the son of a (white) woman and a southern Italian man. Except he wasn't from Italy. Williams' father was a drunk and abused his wife. Although they had a thriving business, and Williams' father (Buster) was charming and intelligent, he lost everything due to his drinking. His wife had enough and divorced Buster and took the two youngest children, while the two oldest, Greg and Mike, went with their father to his hometown Muncie, Indiana. And there they discovered they were Black. They looked completely white, but their swarthy "Italian" father was actually Black, and by the rules of the times, they were Black as well.
I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and am familiar with the "one drop rule."
This is a memoir about extreme poverty, abuse, love, and partial forgiveness. It is a reminder that racism doesn't exist only in the South but throughout the US (and while it was in retreat for awhile, it seems to be advancing again). It is a reminder of what poverty and discrimination can do, and while love can save some of us, it can't save all.
I wish this book could be taught in school, but I think I heard that some public schools (in Texas??) are playing down the role of slavery in causing the Civil War because it might make white students feel bad, so I doubt that it will ever be.
In any case, Greg (sometimes called Billy) succeeded, his brother Mike did not and was blinded in a bar fight. Many of his Black friends did succeed in life although many did not. Williams states this in the last few pages. He doesn't mention any white friends from Muncie. I guess being Black, he didn't have any.
Are we going to return to those days here in the US? Is racism toward those from Africa and the Middle East going to spread even more in Europe. Things don't look good.
4.25
I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and am familiar with the "one drop rule."
This is a memoir about extreme poverty, abuse, love, and partial forgiveness. It is a reminder that racism doesn't exist only in the South but throughout the US (and while it was in retreat for awhile, it seems to be advancing again). It is a reminder of what poverty and discrimination can do, and while love can save some of us, it can't save all.
I wish this book could be taught in school, but I think I heard that some public schools (in Texas??) are playing down the role of slavery in causing the Civil War because it might make white students feel bad, so I doubt that it will ever be.
In any case, Greg (sometimes called Billy) succeeded, his brother Mike did not and was blinded in a bar fight. Many of his Black friends did succeed in life although many did not. Williams states this in the last few pages. He doesn't mention any white friends from Muncie. I guess being Black, he didn't have any.
Are we going to return to those days here in the US? Is racism toward those from Africa and the Middle East going to spread even more in Europe. Things don't look good.
4.25
February 25, 2020
This is the fascinating story of a young boy, the son of a white mother and a dark-skinned Italian father, who finds out after his parents split that he is Black. I gave it 4 stars because the story is fascinating and i think more people, especially white people would benefit from reading it. but really, I should probably have given it 3 because the writing is dry and the book is somewhat slow moving. I believe, this could have been more powerful if told in a different sequence or story arc. It definitely makes you see race for the social construct it is and will make you wonder how the author would have fared if his phenotype were different. I don’t want to take away from what an incredible life the author led and especially how much he accomplished given his circumstances. This would be an excellent book to couple with Passing Strange by Martha sandweiss which tells the story of a white man who lived for thirteen years as a Black Pullman.
July 19, 2024
I read this book for a book club & it kinda fell through. However, I continued reading it because it's history (my major in undergrad) & it takes place in Muncie (I am indeed now a mocal).
June 18, 2021
An amazing story from start to finish. You won’t be able to put it down.
September 2, 2019
This was a very interesting and often heart wrenching read! The trials and tribulations that these boys went through within their white family and black family was a real eye opener to the depth of the pervasive racism in this country. It is a real testament to the strength and perseverance that the author displayed amid the huge obstacles in his life!!!This should be required reading for all ....
February 5, 2017
Fascinating! It was eye-opening to read about the horrific racism that occurred in Muncie, IN in the 1950s-1970s. The fact that the author looked white (but was part black) didn't help him at all as, once people found out he was black, they turned on him.
The author's father was a fascinating character and Miss Dora, who raised him, sounds like she was his salvation. What a wonderful lady!
The fact that his white mother could abandon him and his brother and leave them to their fate in such a racist community is astounding.
The author went on to great success and I found myself quite moved at the end of the book.
The author's father was a fascinating character and Miss Dora, who raised him, sounds like she was his salvation. What a wonderful lady!
The fact that his white mother could abandon him and his brother and leave them to their fate in such a racist community is astounding.
The author went on to great success and I found myself quite moved at the end of the book.
July 21, 2012
Gregory Williams, current president of University of Cincinnati, wrote his heart rending memoir in 1995 about growing up black in Muncie, Indiana after spending his first ten years as a white boy in Northern Virginia, believing his father was a dark-skinned Italian. He was uprooted when his mother left his abusive and alcoholic father who brought him to Muncie to be raised by his paternal grandmother. As a bi-racial child he dealt with prejudice and issues of identity as he was shunned by both blacks and whites. He was raised by a compassionate woman in the Muncie ghetto, and his father-- who struggled with alcoholism throughout his life -- continued to be a presence throughout his formative years. This a powerful story of strength and courage and a lens into the 1950's world of segregated and racist Indiana.
April 16, 2014
Life on the Color Line is both well written and interesting, and I highly recommend it. Williams describes the plight of his family- an alcoholic father, trouble-making brother, and absent mother in a straight forward manner. He depicts a social environment that never allowed him to get comfortable or be sure of himself. In the end he brings a positive perspective to a very difficult upbringing, remaining optimistic and thankful towards the people in his life that pushed, encouraged, and believed in him. This is a compelling read that will challenge the reader to examine the past, him or her self, and the society around them.
August 2, 2011
In all, I thought it to be a decent read, but it seems to be my luck this year to keep finding books where the author takes many pages to go short distance only to put their writing at mach speed in the end.
Williams describes in vivid detail the first 3 years of his life as a colored boy after having lived his first nine years as white, describes in somewhat less detail the early teen years, and then flies through late highschool and college. Is one to assume that his "life on the color line" was less tense/hurtful/diffcult during those years?
Williams describes in vivid detail the first 3 years of his life as a colored boy after having lived his first nine years as white, describes in somewhat less detail the early teen years, and then flies through late highschool and college. Is one to assume that his "life on the color line" was less tense/hurtful/diffcult during those years?
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