News Summary
Dorothy Roberts, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has launched her memoir ‘The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family.’ The book explores the history of interracial marriage in America, integrating personal experiences with an analysis of societal and legal frameworks. Drawing on extensive research by her father into interracial relationships, the memoir reflects on the complex interplay between love, race, and identity, offering insights into American family dynamics.
Philadelphia – New Memoir Explores History of Interracial Marriage and Personal Identity
Dorothy Roberts, a distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has recently released her new memoir, “The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family.” The book, which became available on February 10, 2026, delves into the complex history of interracial marriage in America through a deeply personal lens, examining how love, race, and law have historically intertwined.
The memoir is partly an exploration of Roberts’ own identity as a Black woman with a white father, reflecting on her childhood in segregated Chicago during the 1960s. Her father, an anthropologist, dedicated his life to an unfinished study of Black-white marriages, a project that profoundly shaped Roberts’ upbringing. He began interviewing interracial couples as a 21-year-old graduate student, accumulating stories from over 500 couples dating back to the 1880s. This extensive research continued for decades, with her mother later joining him as a full-time partner in the work.
Roberts’ journey to write the memoir was sparked by a significant discovery: while sorting through her father’s papers, she learned that his research into interracial relationships began more than a decade before he met her mother. This revelation prompted her to immerse herself in her parents’ extensive archive of interviews. Through this process, Roberts sought to better understand not only the complexities of her parents’ marriage but also her own identity within the broader narrative of interracial families in America.
A Blend of Personal Narrative and Historical Analysis
“The Mixed Marriage Project” skillfully combines Roberts’ personal narrative with rigorous historical and social analysis. The book traces how legal frameworks have regulated race and family, particularly interracial intimacy, throughout U.S. history, with some of the earliest colonial laws explicitly banning sexual relationships between white and Black individuals. This historical context illustrates how the government has historically reinforced racial hierarchies.
Roberts acknowledges her previous hesitation to focus on interracial intimacy and marriage in her earlier academic work, having considered other topics more critical. She also recalls a past debate with her father about whether interracial intimacy could truly overcome systemic racism. However, her immersion in the collected interviews, spanning from the 1930s to the 1980s, shifted her perspective, leading her to recognize the profound entanglement of love, race, and law. The memoir invites readers to consider the everyday lives of interracial couples in Chicago over four decades, drawing directly from the compelling accounts gathered by her parents.
Professor Roberts’ Esteemed Background
Roberts is the George A. Weiss University Professor of Africana Studies, Law, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, and holds the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights. She is also the founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science and Society. Her extensive body of work prior to this memoir includes influential books such as “Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty” (1997), a foundational text that highlighted the devaluation of Black women’s childbearing from slavery to the present day.
In 2024, Roberts was honored as a MacArthur Fellow, often referred to as a “genius grant,” in recognition of her exceptional creativity and significant contributions. The MacArthur Foundation specifically acknowledged her work in exposing racial inequities embedded within social service systems and her efforts to uplift the experiences of those affected. Her research extensively covers topics such as reproductive health, bioethics, and child welfare, with a consistent focus on systemic inequities and the need for transformative change. This memoir arrives at a time when national discussions surrounding race, belonging, and the definition of family are notably prominent.
Frequently Asked Questions about “The Mixed Marriage Project”
Q: Who is the author of “The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family”?
A: The author is Dorothy Roberts, a distinguished professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Q: What is the main subject of Dorothy Roberts’ new memoir?
A: The memoir discusses the history of interracial marriage in America, blending personal narrative with historical and social analysis of how love, race, and law have intertwined.
Q: When was “The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family” published?
A: The memoir was published on February 10, 2026.
Q: What is Dorothy Roberts’ professional background?
A: Dorothy Roberts is the George A. Weiss University Professor of Africana Studies, Law, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, and the founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science and Society. She is also a 2024 MacArthur Fellow.
Q: What inspired Dorothy Roberts to write this memoir?
A: The memoir was inspired by her discovery of her father’s extensive, unfinished research project on Black-white marriages, which included interviews with over 500 couples dating back to the 1880s, alongside her own experiences as the child of an interracial marriage.
Key Features of “The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family”
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Author | Dorothy Roberts, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and 2024 MacArthur Fellow. |
| Publication Date | February 10, 2026. |
| Central Theme | Exploration of the history of interracial marriage in America, intertwined with personal identity and family narrative. |
| Methodology | Blends memoir, history, and social analysis, drawing from the author’s personal experiences and her parents’ archive of interviews with over 500 interracial couples. |
| Historical Scope | Examines interracial relationships from the 1880s through the Civil Rights era and beyond, highlighting how love, race, and law have been intertwined in U.S. history. |
| Personal Connection | Reflects on Roberts’ upbringing as the child of a white father and Black Jamaican immigrant mother in segregated 1960s Chicago. |
| Previous Works | Roberts is also the author of “Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty” and other significant scholarly works. |
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