ELLE.IN 80 JULY
AK: Your in-laws, with whom you are
close, are avid Trump supporters. What
has that been like in these times?
MJ: My in-laws, who are Jewish,
became avid Trump supporters.
They love my son and they love
me. And yet, they are incapable of
connecting the dots between their
vote and the world it will build for
my son. There were a lot of white
people I gave the benefit of the
doubt to, and then I realised it was
wishful thinking on my part.
AK: Your book was optioned for
television. I think it is potentially
game changing for our kids to see
their stories on American TV and to
see these conversations advanced via
that medium. Is that something you
think about?
MJ: I can’t think about the impact
that my art could make while I am
making it or I won’t be able to say
the hardest parts; I won’t be honest.
I get 10 letters a day from people
who are in mixed marriages, with
usually the minority half of the
couple saying, “Oh my God you see
me. This is us too.” A lot of America
has fantasies about interracial
relationships, one of which is that
you will all have beige babies who will
save the world. But we know it just
can’t be that simple. The converse
reality is there is a lot of suspicion
about interracial relationships—
that the reason you are in one is
because you must feel badly about
yourself, that there must be some
inequality in the relationship.
Sure, it is hard to admit, but yes
there is sometimes inequality
in my marriage. Sometimes my
husband gets me, and sometimes he
overlooks me. We were raised in the
same white patriarchy as everyone
else, so we have the same issues in
our marriage. Love did not conquer
all of that. But to stand in that fiery
place and still say, “Yes, there is
love here, and it is real,” is deeply
gratifying. That is what I got to do
in this book, and I did it because no
one else was doing it. It was really
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