A first-generation Americans searing appraisal of race and assimilation in the US At the age of twelve Sharmila Sen emigrated from India to the US. The year was 1982 and everywhere she turned she was asked to self-report her race. Rejecting her new not quite designation-not quite white not quite black not quite Asian-she spent much of her life attempting to blend into American whiteness. But after her teen years watching shows like The Jeffersons dancing to Duran Duran and perfecting the art of