We Cast a Shadow

 

We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ruffin does an ingenious job of talking about race in a way that transcends it in a remarkable way. First of all, by setting the book in a future time, Ruffin is able to manipulate the situation without blame, shame, defensiveness, or justification because the offenders don't exist (yet)--yet the circumstances are familiar enough that it allows for contemplation of how we are presently doing as a society (and individuals). Then, to drive home the ramifications of the result of subtle/ not so-subtle racism, he brings in the possibility of demelanization--an expensive medical procedure that removes pigment from the skin. The question of whether the narrator should subject his son to this and why lets the reader really empathize and question race in a new and personal way. I found this book under the category of funny stuff- and while there is humor, it was a profound, moving and tragic story. I thought it was brilliant.

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The act of observing rewrites reality.

A dark-skinned child can expect a life of diminished light.  This is truth anywhere in the world and throughout most of history.