In the 19th century mixed race people would pass as white. I am interested in passing, it's what I do, it's what I've seen others do. I have seen homosexuals pass as straight, children pass as adults, the unprepared pass at tests and the insecure pass as confident.
Anita Florence Hemmings (above) applied to Vassar in 1893, there was nothing in her records to indicate that she would be any different from the 103 other girls who were entering the class of 1897. But by August 1897, the world as well as the college had discovered her secret: Anita Hemmings was Vassar’s first black graduate — more than 40 years before the college opened its doors to African Americans.
This notion of passing to me relates to an innate sense of survival, the kind of survival that often requires imitation or a change in form, much like a chameleon changes it's appearance to imitate its surroundings.
Passing also requires negotiation. Negotiating society's ever changing values. Negotiating what we inherit and what we absorb from our environment.
Some associate passing with deceit, this is something to bear in mind. Is it deceit? Is it survival?
This notion of passing to me relates to an innate sense of survival, the kind of survival that often requires imitation or a change in form, much like a chameleon changes it's appearance to imitate its surroundings.
Passing also requires negotiation. Negotiating society's ever changing values. Negotiating what we inherit and what we absorb from our environment.
Some associate passing with deceit, this is something to bear in mind. Is it deceit? Is it survival?