The Promises and Perils of “Passing”
Given the litany of struggles inherent in being a Black person in America (especially during slavery and segregation) , it is absolutely no wonder that some people of African descent in this country have elected to “pass” for white. “Passing,” in case you didn’t know, is essentially when a lighter-complexioned Black person—someone who has significant European ancestry which profoundly affects their phenotype—decides to essentially give up their public identity as a Black person and move about the world as if they were a white person.
Naturally, due to the anti-Black racism endemic to the United States, passing for white is not without its benefits. Historically, it has opened opportunities in employment, housing, and marriage that would otherwise be denied to a person if the general public knew that they had African heritage. But in order to make the façade of whiteness really believable, people who passed would often have to sever all ties with their Black friends and family. That’s why, I think, people like my great-great-grandmother Neely Tucker decided not to pass. This was despite her being so straight-haired and light-complexioned that she was known to some people in her town as a white “nigger-lover” because she married and had children with a darker-skinned man, and that some of my older relatives still insist that she was 100% white. (She was, in fact, born enslaved and simply of mixed racial heritage.)
This fascinating idea of “passing” was on my mind recently on account a Netflix film released in late 2021. Titled Passing, the movie is an adaptation of a 1929 novel by Nella Larsen. I both read the novel and watched the film over Christmas break. The book, a true product of the Harlem Renaissance, is about two light-skinned Black women, childhood friends, both of whom are fair enough to pass—but only one of them does so. In fact, the one who does choose to pass marries an exceptionally racist white businessman. As you might guess, things don’t go well for all the characters in the book.
The trailer for the 2021 film, Passing, starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga and directed by Rebecca Hall.
The movie was, um, all right. I could write a whole review about it and whether it’s a good adaptation of the novel, but that’s not what you’re here for. Anyway, thinking about the novel, movie, and the idea of passing in general made me curious as to what the people in our Digital Archive might have to say on the matter. As usual, I was not disappointed.
Searching “passing,” “passing for white," or “white passing” in the Digital Archive unsurprisingly yields a veritable plethora of results. However, what was surprising was the amount of people who talked about passing from personal experience—that is, they not only knew of “passing” in the abstract but had known people who passed or had even done it themselves. Some HistoryMakers, like Gregory H. Williams, had even passed without even knowing it because he grew up almost entirely unaware of his African-American heritage.
I compiled this here playlist of some of the most interesting video clips I found related to passing, which entail both the positive and negative aspects of it. Luckily for everyone, I think, the practice isn’t nearly as commonplace today as it was for much of the 20th century, as people of mixed heritage are no longer as forced to “choose a side” as they were in the past. Of course, I also encourage you to look up the topic of passing on the Digital Archive if you find the clips I’ve collected interesting.
I write this blog post from Virginia, but I leave to go back to Boston tomorrow morning. There, I’ll start a new round of classes and continue my work in spreading the word about the HistoryMakers Digital Archive on campus. Looking forward to it!