{"id":42873,"date":"2015-09-24T00:35:34","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T00:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/?p=42873"},"modified":"2016-11-26T21:35:58","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T21:35:58","slug":"our-customs-grip-us-in-bands-of-steel-we-become-the-creatures-of-our-creations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=42873","title":{"rendered":"From slavery right down to this morning, countless African Americans have passed as white because they were evading the lynch mob or wishing for an equal opportunity."},"content":{"rendered":"

The few old schoolmates who ran into\u00a0him had to pretend they\u2019d never met. He was often seen around town with one of his best friends. the Indian-born actor Sabu<\/a>, an alliance that brings to mind the \u201carranged\u201d Hollywood<\/a> marriage of a closeted gay actor.<\/p>\n

Black novelist Charles Chesnutt\u2019s<\/a> The House<\/em> Behind the Cedars<\/em><\/a>, about a man who passes for white<\/a>, has a sentence that could apply to Korla<\/a>: \u201cOur customs grip us in bands of steel. \u00a0We become the creatures of our creations.\u201d<\/p>\n

From slavery right down to this morning, countless African Americans have passed as white because they were evading the lynch mob<\/a> or wishing for an equal opportunity. The subject has been taboo: Crossing over means denying who you are, means banishing friends and family from your life. You live in a gray zone, and it is the loneliest of places.<\/p>\n

Passing for Asian was a little different, because you did not blend into white society. The practice went on long before Korla Pandit<\/a> \ufb01rst appeared. In the late 1930s, Harlem\u2019s<\/a> Amsterdam News<\/a><\/em> reported that a Syracuse University football star named Wilmeth Sidat-Singh<\/a> was, as a columnist put it, \u201cabout as much Hindu<\/a> as flatfoot floogie.\u201d In 1947, around the time that Juan Rolondo was turning into Korla Pandit, the Los Angeles Tribune<\/em><\/a>, a lively black newspaper, heralded a stunt pulled by a brown-skinned New York<\/a> minister. He prepared for a visit through the Deep South<\/a> by donning a purple turban, affecting \u201ca slightly Swedish accent,\u201d and concocting a tale about being a visiting Eastern dignitary. He was doted on and able to eat at white-only restaurants. In Mobile, Alabama<\/a>, he impishly asked a waiter what would happen if a Negro came to eat. The Negro wouldn’t be served, he was told. \u201cI just stroked my chin and ordered my dessert.\u201d said the pastor.<\/p>\n

When John Redd crossed over, he didn\u2019t sever all ties with the world he had known. \u201cIt was not top secret,\u201d says Ernest. \u201cAmong the family we knew what he was doing and very little was said about it. There was times when he would come by, and it was kind of like a sneak visit. He might come at night sometime and be gone before we got up. He had to separate himself from the family to a certain extent. They would go to see him play, but they wouldnt speak to him. They would go to his show and then they would leave, and the family would greet him at a later time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation became even more complicated once Korla\u2019s Father, Ernest Sr., moved to Los Angeles<\/a>, by the early \u201950s. Reverend Redd became the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church<\/a>, a prominent institution in the community. Any night he wanted to, Reverend Redd could come home from the church, switch on the television, and watch his son play the organ, with that strange look in his eyes and that turban on his head. Korla kept in touch with his family, and on occasion he and Beryl scheduled a covert mission to the parents\u2019 West Adams<\/a> home. But even then, detection could not be discounted. Even then, Korla wore the turban. He didn\u2019t bring Shari or Koram, his and Beryl’s sons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

RJ Smith<\/a>, \u201cThe Many Faces of Korla Pandit<\/a>,\u201d Los Angeles Magazine<\/em>, June 2001,\u00a0148-149.\u00a0https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=aF8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA73#v=onepage&q&f=false<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The few old schoolmates who ran into\u00a0him had to pretend they\u2019d never met. He was often seen around town with one of his best friends. the Indian-born actor Sabu, an alliance that brings to mind the \u201carranged\u201d Hollywood marriage of a closeted gay actor. Black novelist Charles Chesnutt\u2019s The House Behind the Cedars, about a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21152,21089,21088,21150,21151],"class_list":["post-42873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts","tag-john-redd","tag-john-roland-redd","tag-korla-pandit","tag-los-angeles-magazine","tag-rj-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42873"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42878,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42873\/revisions\/42878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}