Category: Passing

  • Book Review: “A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life” by Allyson Hobbs The Santa Fe New Mexican 2015-05-15 Adele Oliveira A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs, Harvard University Press, 382 pages In the first chapter of The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du…

  • Greason: Quiet reflections on the impact of race perception The Times-Herald Norristown, Pennsylvania 2015-08-05 Walter Greason, Executive Director International Center for Metropolitan Growth Imagine looking white, but not being white. It is an experience that exposes the limitations of racial perception, while reinforcing its power. As a child, the experience unfolds through the whispers of…

  • Brazil is combating many kinds of inequality. But one of the world’s most diverse nations is still just beginning to talk about race

  • The Surprising Story of Walter White and the NAACP Time 2015-07-01 Jennifer Latson July 1, 1893: Walter Francis White, head of the NAACP for more than 20 years, is born In the last few weeks, Rachel Dolezal—the Spokane, Wash., NAACP leader who recently left her post after being outed as white though saying that she…

  • The Original Rachel Dolezal Was a Jew Named Mezz Mezzrow Forward 2015-06-16 Seth Rogovoy As we all know, Rachel Dolezal was by no means the first white American to take on aspects of African-Americanness in her persona — calling Elvis, is anybody home? — although she will go down in history as one of the…

  • “Fake Black?” brian bantum: theology, culture, and life in-between 2015-06-12 Brian Bantum, Associate Professor of Theology Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington Theorist Stuart Hall suggests identity is better understood as identification. That is, our identities are not fixed as essential realities whether gender, or race or nationality. We are always living into or out of…

  • Rachel Dolezal Has Hijacked what It Means To Be Mixed-Race In America ARMED 2015-07-05 Sophia Softky Since the Rachel Dolezal trainwreck began unfolding, each day has brought ever-weirder allegations to light. From her upbringing, days at Howard University, involvement in the NAACP, and position as an Africana Studies professor – along with the predictable flood…

  • Meet the black woman raised to believe she was white The Telegraph 2015-07-12 Jane Mulkerrins Schwartz believes that racial identity is “fluid and contextual” Photo: Nicholas Calcott Growing up, Lacey Schwartz always felt different. It wasn’t until her late teens that she discovered the truth about her parentage – and her race “Throughout my life,…

  • It’s Impossible to Lie About Your Race The Huffington Post 2015-07-01 Ann Morning, Associate Professor of Sociology New York University There’s an important question being left out of the furor over charges that Rachel Dolezal, the former head of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter, has been “lying” about her race: How can you lie about something…

  • Cosmopolitanism, Black Culture and the Case of Rachel Dolezal Rooted In Magazine 2015-06-16 Annina Chirade In this past week the internet has been captivated by the unfolding tale of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who reportedly has been passing for black since 2007. She was, until recently, the President of the NAACP chapter in Spokane,…