“Oreo,” “Uncle Tom” or “sellout” are just a few of the derogatory terms used to refer to someone who is Black but “acts white.” But what defines authentic blackness in the post-Civil Rights scene? What are the markers of Black authenticity, and how stable are they? Post-Authenticity investigates the concept of authentic blackness in memoirs written by authors born after the end of the Civil Rights and Black power Movements, when previous notions of racial authenticity are not only revised but completely debunked. Through a historical overview of how notions of racial authenticity have evolved over time, Post-Authenticity highlights the uniqueness of the post-Civil Rights era, where unprecedented opportunities for African Americans co-exist with the perpetuation of racial barriers that the fights of the previous decades should have removed.

Monia Dal Checco received her PhD in Linguistic, Philological and Literary Sciences from the University of Padua. She has been a visiting research student at Rutgers University and a research fellow at Leipzig University. Her publications include articles on the intersectionality of race and gender, the concept of racial authenticity, #BlackLivesMatter, the culture of dissemblance, and the use of space in contemporary African American fiction. Her research focuses on contemporary African American literature and on resistance strategies to race and gender stereotypes. She works as a copywriter and public relations consultant and specializes in writing and consulting about inclusion and diversity within the STEM sector.