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A powerful memoir about the complicated but ultimately loving relationship between a black daughter and her white mother Secret Daughter is a deftly drawn and moving portrait of a childhood spent in two very different worlds: one white, one black. In 1957, when June Cross was four years old, she was sent by her white mother to live with a black family in Atlantic City. Her mother, Norma, had left June’s abusive father, a comic in the well-known black vaudeville duo Stump and Stumpy, and gave June up when it became clear that her dark-skinned, kinky-haired child could no longer "pass." Within her adopted family, June struggled with her identity as the black radicalism of the times collided head on with her family’s more traditional ideals. Summer vacations were spent with her mother, now in Hollywood and married to F Troop TV actor Larry Storch. For many years, Norma, afraid that Larry’s career would suffer if anyone discovered the truth about her illegitimate daughter, told friends and reporters that June was adopted. Secret Daughter, which grew out of Cross’s Emmy Award–winning documentary, traces this thorny story with poignancy and skill. It is both a vivid snapshot of race relations in America and an inspiring journey of understanding between a mother and daughter.
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (May 18, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 067088555X
ISBN-13: 978-0670885558
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #782,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #83 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Race Relations > General #2934 in Books > History > Americas > United States > African Americans > Discrimination & Racism #5262 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National
In 1997 June Cross, a journalist, produced a documentary, Secret Daughter, with PBS Frontline about her life as a biracial daughter of a white woman and a black comedian. This was a poignant, difficult undertaking as Cross revealed how her mother, Norma Booth, for fear of jeopardizing her white husband's show business career coupled with her own insecurities about June's appearance, gave her daughter away to be raised by a middle-class black couple. This allowed June to be raised among "her people" in a safe, nurturing environment and kept Norma's former life a secret. Now in a revealing memoir, Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away, Cross chronicles in detail the circumstances surrounding her complex journey.June Cross was born in 1954 to Norma, as aspiring actress and James Cross, a comedian of Stumpy & Stumpy fame. When Norma left June with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Paul, June assumed it was just for a short visit; it became an extended visit, an informal adoption for the childless couple. Even though she visited her mother in New York and later Los Angeles, she always returned to Aunt Peggy in Atlantic City, New Jersey. June's visits with her mother were of a schizophrenic nature; she was told to pose either as a niece, an adopted daughter, or a friend but never as Norma's birth daughter. Norma was ever fearful that if she were to reveal she had a black daughter, Larry Storch, her husband and a star of the television series, F Troop, and several movies, would lose roles. June was always in a state of confusion about her mother's denial of her existence.Aunt Peggy, a school teacher, was close friends with the formidable Gregory family, a picture-perfect postcard for the Talented Tenth that Dubois endorsed.
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