Interwoven throughout the book are the family histories of three families:


The Gibsons, who were some of the first free people of color in 17th-Century Virginia, soon tired of the increasingly oppressive laws being made against free blacks. Although their arrival in South Carolina alarmed settlers who thought they were coming to head a slave revolt, the family settled peacefully in the South. There they were known as neither black nor white, but simply as planters. According to Sharfstein's research, the earliest members of the family were "reputedly ornery, never content with their station, [and]continually challenging attempts to classify them" (23). A generation or two later, Gibsons were graduating from the nation's best colleges, owning large tracts of land, buying slaves, and involving themselves in the political issues of the times.

The Spencers lived in the Appalachian Mountains, a place so remote that neighbors cared more about each others' dependability than about their ethnicity. Although Jordan Spencer's skin was visibly dark, his community accepted him as white. Since he married a white woman, his children, grand children and great-grand children had lighter skin tones, some pale enough to "pass" as Caucasian. While some members of the family left Appalachia, most stayed, finding work as salt miners. It was really only in the early 1900s, after a white man was shot, that the Spencers' ethnicity was called into question. Even then, residents of the family's community realized that the lawsuit brought against the family was more about revenge than anything else. For the most part, the Spencers stayed in Appalachia, straddling the color line for generations.


Using this trio of families, Sharfstein makes many interesting points about the history of race in The United States. Most fascinating for me was the difficulty different states had in identifying what made a person "black" or "colored." Did a person need to be 1/8 black, 1/4 black or simply look black, in order to be subject to the stiffer laws? If a person hailed from a mixed ancestry, was he black, white or something in between? To what laws was he subject? This confusion led to a plethora of court cases, including one against blonde-haired, blue-eyed Isabel Wall, who, in 1909, was expelled from an all-white school because she was "colored." Strangely, the Appalachian Mountain people seemed to have the most forward-thinking attitude; for them, "The difference between black and white was less about 'blood' or biology or even genealogy than about how people were treated and whether they were allowed to participate fully in community life" (84).

Because of Sharfstein's background in law, he delves deeply into both historical lawsuits and politics to prove his points, so much so that I got a bit bored with it all. Overall, though, The Invisible Line, is a fascinating book that explores a slew of issues related to the black/white experience. Each of the families the author highlights is fascinating in its own right and offers a unique perspective on the subject. The premise (Is there really such thing as black or white?) is eye-opening, groundbreaking and definitely thought-provoking. In fact, I'm still mulling it all over. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I read The Invisible Line, even if I did yawn through a few parts.

(Readalikes: Hm, I can't really think of anything. Can you?)