Mixed Race Studies

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

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Category: Passing

  • Cane

    A masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance and a canonical work in both the American and the African American literary traditions, “Cane” is now available in a revised and expanded Norton Critical Edition.

  • Imitation of Life

    Imitation of Life Duke University Press 2004 (Originially published in 1933) 352 pages 6 b&w photos, 1 line drawing Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8223-3324-1 Fannie Hurst (1889–1968) Edited by: Daniel Itzkovitz, Associate Professor of  American Literature and Culture Stonehill College, North Easton, Massachusetts A bestseller in 1933, and subsequently adapted into two beloved and controversial films, Imitation…

  • How Multi-Ethnic People Identify Themselves

    How Multi-Ethnic People Identify Themselves Talk of The Nation National Public Radio 2010-12-20 00:30:17 Neal Conan, Host Guests Nikki Khanna, Assistant Professor of Sociology (and lead author, “Passing As Black: Racial Identity Work Among Biracial Americans”) University of Vermont Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger NewsOne Kip Fulbeck, Professor of Art (and author of Mixed: Portraits Of…

  • Passing as Black: Racial Identity Work among Biracial Americans

    Passing as Black: Racial Identity Work among Biracial Americans Social Psychology Quarterly Volume 73, Number 4 (Published online 2010-12-13) pages 380-397 DOI: 10.1177/0190272510389014 Nikki Khanna, Associate Professor of Sociology University of Vermont Cathryn Johnson, Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies Emory University Drawing on interview data with black-white biracial adults, we examine the…

  • Reverse Passing? Kidding… Right?

    Reverse Passing? Kidding… Right? The Root 2010-12-14 Jenée Desmond-Harris A report that biracial people are denying their white parents seems absurd to me—but I’m paying attention anyway. Ever heard of Barack Obama? You know, the first black president? The one who won an election and near-deity status in the African-American community while openly discussing his…

  • Passing as Black: How Biracial Americans Choose Identity

    Passing as Black: How Biracial Americans Choose Identity Time Magazine: Healthland Friday, 2010-12-16 Meredith Melnick, Reporter and Producer The practice of passing—identifying with and presenting oneself as one race while denying ancestry of another—reached its peak during the Jim Crow era. Needless to say, the notion of having to “pass” as white is outdated and…

  • Passings That Pass in America: Crossing Over and Coming Back to Tell About It

    Passings That Pass in America: Crossing Over and Coming Back to Tell About It The History Teacher Volume 40, Number 4 (August 2007) 32 paragraphs Donald Reid, Professor of History University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill TEMPORARILY PASSING as an other is a universal fantasy and a not uncommon practice. From Arab potentates dressed as…

  • Passing for Black? Biracial Americans Are Increasingly ‘Passing for Black’

    Passing for Black?  Biracial Americans Are Increasingly ‘Passing for Black’ The Root 2010-12-14 Thomas Chatterton Williams A new study posits that black-white biracial adults are increasingly choosing, like President Obama, to emphasize their blackness. But in this country, “black” has always been a mongrel affair. It created a minor media frenzy last spring when President Barack…

  • Property Rites: The Rhinelander Trial, Passing, and the Protection of Whiteness (review)

    Property Rites: The Rhinelander Trial, Passing, and the Protection of Whiteness (review) Journal of Interdisciplinary History Volume 41, Number 3, Winter 2010 E-ISSN: 1530-9169, Print ISSN: 0022-1953 pages 478-480 Adriane Lentz-Smith, Hunt Family Assistant Professor History Duke Univeristy In October 1924, Leonard Rhinelander, scion of a wealthy and well-established New York family, wed Alice Jones,…

  • AAS 4570 – Passing in African-American Imagination

    AAS 4570 – Passing in African-American Imagination University of Virginia The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American & African Studies Spring 2011 Alisha Gaines, Post-Doctoral Fellow (English) Duke University This course considers the canonical African American literary tradition and popular culture texts that think through the boundaries of blackness and identity through the organizing trope…