Uncovering Identity
Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights. By Kenji Yoshino. New York: Random House. 2006. Pp. xii, 282. $24.95.
Kenji Yoshino begins his thoughtful, often beautiful book with a series of examples of “covering”—“ton[ing] down a disfavored identity to fit into the mainstream.” In his opening example, he notes that “Ramón Estévez covered his ethnicity when he changed his name to Martin Sheen.” Sheen regrets his choice, and “exhorted his sons—Emilio and Char- lie—to use the family name. One of them has not done so, signaling the enduring force of the covering demand.”
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