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“Women are keepers of a community’s faith, guardians of its deepest beliefs and lies, harbingers of its most vivid fears in a way that men can never be,” writes Marita Golden, who along with Susan Richards Shreve has edited Skin Deep: Black Women & White Women Write About Race. Golden, Shreve, and 16 other writers tap a bunch of truths, like the one above, from Golden’s introduction. While I am more inclined to want a public dialogue about class, the Golden-Shreve team make the overwrought topic of racism far more interesting than other recent publications have. The collection offers a host of gems, among them Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” and Lisa Page’s moving memoir “High Yellow White Trash,” about growing up “bi-racial” in Chicago. Golden, Shreve, and others read from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Chapters, 1512 K St. NW. $5. (202) 347-5495. (Jonetta Rose Barras)