Passing as Persurverance

This is an image of three Harlem women taken around 1925 during the Harlem Renaissance. Passing, or being perceived as the dominant characteristic while in fact belonging to a minority, as White presents its own sets of challenges, rewards, and detriments. Because race is a social construct, the definitions of “Black” has shifted through US history. Due to intense racial boundaries and borderism surrounding non-Whites, the passing of mixed-race Black people becomes a necessity for avoid physical and emotional violence. In order to preserve the self, both physically and mentally, many Black women turned to avoidance of racial issues altogether, attempting to pass as White. Racial perils such as being outed as Black (because being mixed-race with anything other than White still meant racial discrimination on racial basis) was a common terror used to increase border control and maintain racial barriers. Navigating social pressures and oppression, Black people trying to pass as White were often seen by the Black community as traitors. Feeling betrayed in the choice of Whiteness over Blackness in personal identity created rifts throughout the Black community an regularly resulted in suppression between racial minorities.

Personal identity erasure is often psychologically detrimental and can manifest itself through isolation, fear, guilt, paranoia, and self-hate. The racial pressures that must be evident in order to suggest to people that passing as white is beneficial, must be intense to mitigate these detriments. Striving to pass as White, in an attempt to either distance yourself from Blackness or further your connection with Whiteness, proves the impact of the veneration of Whiteness on a large scale and should serve as evidence as to the inherently destructive quality of hegemonic cultures. It should come as no surprise that this is yet another reason supporting the intersectionality of inclusive minority movements.

This need to protect the self from racial violence not only strengthens the argument for inclusive movements for mixed-race people, but also urges recognition of specific activism efforts for this group as they are impacted by racism differently than others in the Black community.