"This collection explores racial awakening. Including the first-person perspectives of women of color, white women, and those caught between two worlds, Under Her Skin traces themes related to double lives, fear, envy, lineage, and family, expanding the often painful exploration of difference." "Essays include the reflections of a woman whose girlhood is spent deciphering levels of oppression, from her Jewish family's past and internment in Nazi camps to her own spiteful treatment of their African American maids; brutal memories of "Beat the Buddha Day," a tradition of schoolyard violence that transfers discrimination from one group to another; and an unexpected contrast in how one childhood racial incident is recalled by two women, both challenging and complicating the notion of "victim." The first book of its kind to examine the impact of racial awareness on women of all colors, Under Her Skin embodies a vital and unique contribution to the national discussion on race."--BOOK JACKET.