Check All That Apply

InterVarsity Press, 2002

“[C]ogently describes the particular tension of multiracial identity . . . there is an ever-enlarging audience for Frazier’s thoughtful reflections.”

–
Publisher’s Weekly

Being multiracial is an honor. But it doesn't always feel that way. We sometimes wonder where we fit, who our community is and who can understand us. When faced with a form that requires us to check an ethnicity, we sometimes simply feel like "none of the above."

Written especially to mixed race people, this book gives insight into the experiences that form who we are and the opportunity to connect with the experiences of others like us. It not only clarifies the challenges and pitfalls of the journey but reveals a path to new life – not as "half and half" but whole people. There's help here in developing ethnic identity, better understanding our families, even figuring out who to marry! Most of all, readers will gain a sense of their purpose for being. For those who aren't multiracial, but know someone who is, this book will give insight into a child, spouse or friend.

Living joyfully and peacefully as a multiracial person means finding the hope and courage to "check all that apply" and embrace all of who we are.

"Sundee Frazier, a self-described 'AmericanAfricanScottishDutchDanishSwedeIndigenousPerson,' tackles the ambiguities of being a multiracial woman of faith in Check All That Apply: Finding Wholeness as a multiracial Person. In it she cogently describes the particular tension of multiracial identity, the sense of never quite belonging anywhere; she also insists that one's core identity comes only from God. Considering that the number of interracial marriages has swelled from 310,000 in 1970 to 1.3 million in 1994, there is an ever-enlarging audience for Frazier's thoughtful reflections."

–
Publishers Weekly

Multiracial Identity on NPR
Listen to my guest appearance on NPR’s Talk of the Nation.

Why You're So Beautiful
A song written for Multiracial People

My husband wrote me this song. I share it in the book, and I share it here with you:

I know you haven't figured it out
How could you be both/and?
Not two halves but a whole – mysterious but it's clear,
And so hard to understand.
Like a good long laugh after a fight,
You're a story and sign of what's truly right.

Do you know why you're so beautiful?
Have you seen the sky when both the day and night are overhead?
And in between the dark and light there's a color seldom shed.
And the calling's high.
Now do you know why?
Do you know why?

When I look around this world,
I see you everywhere:
In music, even food; in everything that's art;
In the hope that the strongest bear.
When tension is transformed through resolution,
That's when beauty's born – it's like a revolution.

Do you know why you're so beautiful?
Have you heard the cry that pleads for violent conflict to be dead
When two who are from different worlds seek unity instead?
And peace comes by.
Now do you know why?
Do you know why?

You're remarkable, you're delightful,
You're precious and you're true.
Your entire existence shows just how much we've been wrong.
It lives inside of you.

Matt Frazier
From the CD Out of the Shadows
© 2001 by TAI Music (www.taimusic.com)
Used by permission