Brit Bennett, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Um, you are truly one
of the most prolific writers of our time.
And once again, you have written a book that has ascended
to the top of The New York Times--
and not only that-- got into a bidding war
where HBO topped out 17 other people, 17 other companies
that wanted the rights to this book, and HBO won it out.
How does it feel for yourself to have 2020 be a great year
when really it is like a dismal year.
Because it is like that for many people.
There's some great moments, and it's in the midst of this year.
Are you just gonna lie and say all the good things
-to you happened in 2021? -(laughs)
I know. It feels... it feels so wild, and it feels so obvious
to say that, because I think that's true of everybody
that this has been such a surreal year.
But I think, for me, I felt so just lucky, um,
to have experienced these highs
and to have experienced such a warm reception for this book.
Your book, The Vanishing Half,
is truly one of the most amazing stories.
You've set the story in the Jim Crow South world
that has come into D.C., let's say.
So it's 50 years ago, and it's the story
of twin sisters who run away from home,
and then go into world where, although they are twins--
they're identical twins--
one of them is lighter than the other,
and so she chooses a path where she passes as white.
And that is literally the jumping off point of the story.
Where... I won't lie. When I first read it, I was like,
"Oh, this is gonna be a book about,
you know, racism in the South or slavery, or this..."
Then, I was like, "Okay. No, no, no, it's about Jim Crow,
but it's still... Oh, there's gonna be a white man who's..."
And it's, like, no. I haven't read many stories like this.
It was a beautiful book about Black people tackling the issues
of race and colorism and the ideas.
Why did you choose to frame it like that?
It was a really interesting idea.
I mean, well, thank you, first of all.
Um, I think for me, I wanted to write a story
about those nuances within a Black community.
I think sometimes there's a tendency to think
that the more interesting story is conflict
between Black and white people.
But for me, really, I've always said,
the most interesting thing to happen
to Black people is not necessarily white people.
Often, the more interesting stories
and the more complicated stories are within our own community.
So I wanted to think about the affect of colorism,
which is a result of white supremacy,
and it's a result of that type of ideology.
But what does this colorism do to people,
and how does it affect the choices
that these characters are able to make in their lives?
Yeah, I mean, I grew up in a country where, literally,
shades determined your life, you know?
I'm seen as being... Oh, in...
During apartheid, it was like,
I'm technically superior to my mom,
and I'm inferior to my dad,
and yet, we're all in the same family.
And what I loved about this book is, you write in a way
where the characters themselves start to understand
how people perceiving them can determine their way in life.
When you think about race,
and when you are writing about it in the book,
is it interesting to rewrite the story
of, like, a ridiculous thing that was created
and then, like, try to figure out the rules
through the eyes of these characters?
Yeah. I think that that was one of the things
that was so interesting to me was the absurdity of all of it,
the absurdity of these rules.
The idea of what does it even mean to be Black
if it's not looking-- quote, unquote-- looking Black.
What does it actually mean for these characters
to be Black or to be white?
To what degree are they performing race?
Um, and-and how are they sort of creating
or-or deconstructing themselves in a different way?
So I think writing this book and-and... which...
It takes this idea of colorism
and really pushes it to a very extreme.
Um, but looking at it from that really extreme lens
gave me a way to kind of see the absurdity of race
and all of its... uh, all of its nuances,
even now, and when I'm growing up and when I'm alive,
which is a very different time period than the book is set.
Oftentimes when we read stories,
especially in the Black community,
of a Black person trying to pass as white,
that story's written from a place of judgment.
"Oh, of course you want to act like you're white.
"You want to act like you're better.
You want to escape, you want to be better than us."
And in this story, it was more like just a person going like,
"Hey, man, I've made these decisions,
I grapple with them."
And as a reader, we're just forced
to live with them grappling with that.
Why did you choose to write it in such a way
where it's, like, there's no... there's no you judging,
it's just you portraying what they're going through?
Yeah, I mean, I think you're right.
I think a lot of passing stories are very moralizing.
The idea that the character
who passes is deserving of punishment,
often death in a lot of these stories.
Um, and I think for me, first,
I just didn't find that interesting
to condemn somebody or to ask,
is it good or is it bad to pass?
That was just an uninteresting question.
Um, but I think, also, there's a weird way
in which those stories kind of reaffirmed the racial hierarchy
by punishing a character who has transgressed in some way.
So I objected to it from a...
like, a level of interest kind of standpoint,
but also from a kind of political and moral standpoint.
I wasn't interested in judging these characters.
I just wanted to think about what are the... what do you gain
and what do you lose in deciding to become somebody new,
and to leave your community behind
and create a whole new identity?
Well, I-I... Honestly, I understand why
17, you know, media companies were bidding
for the rights to your book.
Um, I should have jumped in and made it 18,
or just added my two cents.
Uh, because really, you've written a masterpiece.
Congratulations. There's a reason it was a best seller.
There's a reason it's gonna be turned into an amazing movie
or TV series, whatever it is.
You've done a phenomenal job once again, and I can't wait
to read your writing over and over and over and over again.
Thank you so much for joining me on the show.
Thank you so much. Thanks.
Thank you, Brit. Look after yourself.