David Matthews

Who is David Matthews?

David Matthews is an American author of Jewish and African American descent. His memoir Ace of Spades recounts growing up in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland as a biracial child who could pass for white. He has also written numerous articles for magazines and online publications on politics and racial identity.

Matthews' Jewish mother was schizophrenic and left his father when Matthews was only a few months old. As a result, Matthews was raised by his father, an African American journalist who counted Malcolm X and James Baldwin among his friends. The Matthews family lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., but in 1977 moved next to the segregated Bolton Hill area of Baltimore, a tiny enclave of rich, white families, which was surrounded by the primarily black ghetto of west Baltimore. He describes himself as not initially fitting in with either the black or white children in his public elementary school, sparking his decision to "pass" as white. Matthews attended Baltimore City College High School where he attempted to "pass" as not only white, but Jewish. Lacking any cultural knowledge of Jewish life, Matthews was not accepted as a Jew and continued to search for an identity. Matthews' first book, Ace of Spades details this search, and is presented in a somewhat acerbic coming-of-age literary style.