Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada by Lawrence Hill - Book Report/Review Example

Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada by Lawrence Hill (Book Review) More often than not, most books talking about the issue of race and ethnicity are full of ethnic and race diatribes. In this case, a reader would expect the same of Lawrence Hill’s “Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada,” well before they read the book. One thing for a fact is that, most books on race and ethnicity talk of the same issues on equality between the human race and different ethnic communities. In effect, a reader should be forgiven if they did not pick such books to form part of their read since reiteration of the same old issues tends to become monotonous. However, Lawrence Hill changes all this and brings out a compelling and thought-provoking analysis on the issue of race. In this case, the book emphasizes on the need to identify race as an issue that requires debate by all parties in Canada. Born out of a mixed race marriage involving two outstanding human rights campaigners, Hill delivers a masterpiece that is well researched and written. Lawrence Hill uses his intimate understanding, insightful comprehension, and a voice fuelled by forthrightness and dry wit to deliver this book touted as the first in Canada to look at the issue of being both white and black in the country. The title of the book itself is a saying adopted from the black people passed onto Hill. Hill says that, his father’s relatives used to say, “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.” While the obvious meaning of the saying is clear, Hill states that there exists a hidden meaning full of sexual undertones. In this case, the quote mythically suggests the overcharged and superior performing bodies of the black people. Hill further says that this expression has a problem in that it comes out as an effort to be of assistance to the blacks’ acceptance of their being black. Hill tells this compelling story of his struggles in trying to gain the understanding of his own individual racial uniqueness. Instilled with lingering memories due to his family background of parents who were human rights activists and in a predominant white suburb in Ontario, Hill offers a distinctive point of view on the issue of race. In addition, Hill tries to capture the readers mind and attention by offering his story and opinions in a tone full of satire but serious too. In this case, Hill describes the indistinctness and vagueness involved in his search for his individual identity. However, this search proves to be a challenging task to Hill in a country that has a preference of viewing him as neither white nor black. One factor that Hill clearly manages to bring out in his book is the important factor that the environment plays in the issue of race. Using his personal experiences, he effectively uses his personal experiences to narrate how his life changed to a point of a realization that he was of a different race when compared to others around him. He narrates of how he grew up in the suburbs of Ontario and as an average white kid who did not have to think of self as white. In effect, Hill explains how for a long period he lived as a normal white kid considering himself as white. However, as time went on, he further describes how the environment surrounding him started talking to him and made him the more question his real race. Hence, Hill realized that he was different from other people whom he considered neighbors. One other awakening call he got was from being called “nigger.” Although he admits that he never was called the word often, he admits this made him realize that he was not a white boy after all and he has been living some sort of a lie. While Lawrence Hill tries to explain the challenges mixed-colored people encountered, his intention to address academicians and the casual readers with his well researched and easy to understand expose is great. The book effectively falls in between some form of a personal journal and a sociological study. In this case, the book chronicling the journey through self-realization of Hill becomes the journal part. On the other hand, the sociological aspects and challenges that Hill encounters in his daily quest to define his identity forms the sociological study part of the book. One other thing a reader will get from Hill’s book when trying to understand the issue of race is some semblance of inconsistency over the race issue. In this case, Hill clearly speaks of the society, culture and communities as homogenous while depicting them as closed. Furthermore, Hill appears to have a mind change several times in his book about the issue of choosing an individual’s racial identity. In this regard, Hill seems to be torn between the two facts on whether an individual once born chooses their racial identity, or whether they choose their own racial identity. On one hand, he puts forth the argument that in modern day Canada, individuals are independent to self-identify themselves. On the other hand, Hill proposes that an individual of a mixed heritage who fails to make a choice of identifying self as black eventually discovers that their own race bites their backside (Hill). Evidently, Lawrence Hill faced many challenges while growing up and hence the need to find a new identity. Indeed, one challenge that Hill encountered was a failure to see black people in his neighborhood while he grew up. In addition, he could not see any people of mixed race in his own neighborhood. Furthermore, his realization of other people’s opinion and stereotypes about children from a mixed race union made him wonder why life for him would be so miserable. After all, he seemed to live a perfect white boy’s life before the quest to seek his racial identity began. However, one thing is clear though in that Hill’s experiences while growing up was not different at all from the life of any other black man living in Canada. In one instance, Hill illustrates how his friend’s mother could commend his performance in school while admonishing her child. On the other hand, Hill expresses his disgust on the same woman who praises his performance in school but goes ahead to embarrass Hill due to his mixed parentage. Therefore, this tends to be confusing to the young boy growing up and starts his path to the realization of how different he is in comparison to his neighbors (Hill). The book does not only use Hill’s individual experiences and his intriguing family background. However, the level of research that Hill carried out to come up with the book is amazing. In fact, most authors do not carry out research in coming up with books on race and ethnicity. In this regard, Hill uses the experiences underwent by thirty-six other Canadians of mixed parentage. He conducts interviews on the mixed parentage Canadians to ensure the issue of race is clear to his readers. Consequently, the conducted interviews reveal the tales underwent by Canadians from mixed parentage and exhaustively examines the issues of race in modern day Canadian society. In this case, Hill investigates the different names given to children of mixed race in the country. In addition, he further examines the real implications of being black and the inexorable hostility towards the mixed-race unions in the country. In conclusion, Hill delivers a masterpiece and is not afraid to undertake this big debate surrounding racial identity of individuals. Skillfully using humor to put forward his arguments, Hill explores this issue more than any other author has ever done. The book paints an image of modern day Canada on issues surrounding racial identity. Therefore, the book makes a fascinating and crucial good read to all of us due to its offering of a thought provoking discourse on contemporary race issues in Canada. Work Cited Hill, Lawrence. Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, 2001. Print. Read More