Anyway, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. In many of the literature classes I have taken the term "passing" has come up several times in discussions. Most of the time it refers to people of color passing as white but I have come across instances of women passing as men or vice versa. However, this story is very much a story of a colored man passing as white.
What caught my eye was the beginning of the book. The narrator did not realize that he was considered colored. He had light skin and smooth hair. He even made fun of the colored kids at school (though not to the extent his white "friends" did). He was passing as white without even knowing that he wasn't considered white.
During discussion today I was reminded of a short story by Kate Chopin called "Desiree's Baby." The main character, Desiree, was found as a baby by a wealthy family and adopted by them. When she is of marrying age she is courted by a wealthy young man whom she later marries and they begin a life together. They have a baby and as the baby grows it becomes clear that the baby has darker skin and is not "white." Because Desiree doesn't know her background and neither does her husband, her husband claims that she must not be fully white. Desiree's adopted mother suggests that Desiree and the baby come back home and her husband basically kicks her out. Desiree doesn't go home though; she and the baby go out into the bayou and they are never seen again. The husband however is seen burning letters that Desiree had written to him while they were still courting and along with those letters we as readers discover that it is the husband that is colored. While it is assumed that Desiree is not at fault for the child's skin color, it is still never said what her race really is.
I just find it interesting how passing as white is such a predominate story line in many of the books and stories from the era.
I agree, I find it really interesting that this issue has come up in two of the novels we have read. The story you wrote about sounds fascinating, and it shows how much of an important issue “passing” is. Along with the one drop rule, it questions the concept of race and in many ways undermines it. If people can pass as another race undetected, then surely the differences between races are not so huge? They also highlight how much confusion many mixed race people felt, they often didn’t quite fit into either white or black society and some had to make the decision as to what race they would belong to. Rather than being allowed to embrace both parts of their identity, many had to choose which race to become.
ReplyDelete"Desiree's Baby" is a perfect example, Alyssa. I'm going to miss our conversations, too.
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