Legacy Lost

<p>Growing up white in Washington state Barbara's dad never told her anything about his family-except that his mother was crazy. Ten years after his death she learned his sister was living in Hawai'i. Discovering the family secret introduced her to the concept of <em>passing</em> and the complex nature of race and identity. Uncommon in the white world passing is a familiar concept among African Americans. </p><p><br></p><p>Meeting her aunt an African American woman deeply involved in state politics took Barbara's life in a new direction which led her to Hilo Hawai'i Minneapolis Minnesota Washington DC and the Deep South-researching the extended family she could never know and the historic times that defined them.</p><p><br></p><p>This story challenges America's oversimplified view of race and explores how different individuals across generations pursued all available avenues of opportunity to define their lives in a race-conscious society. American history is not white history although it has been presented that way. The times call for a truth telling.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>