In 1850 the student James Parker Barnett unintentionally became the first Black Student at Columbia’s college of Physicians and Surgeons. He was admitted because he “passed” as White. When they found out that he is a light-skinned African-American he was “expelled for African Blood”.
“Racial passing” refers to a person intentionally presenting themselves as a different “race” than the one society deems them to be, typically a Black person passing as white in the U.S. It's not about individuals unaware of their ancestry but about those who consciously decide to live as a different “race” for certain benefits, such as better job prospects or higher education access.
“Racial passers” are seen as a threat to the white supremacist structures in the U.S., where privilege is hoarded by the whites while denied to minority groups, particularly African-Americans. “Passing” blurs the distinction between the privileged and oppressed, challenging this power structure.
The American South's post-slavery “racial caste system” led the country towards the strict enforcement of “racial purity”. By the time the “one-drop rule” was formalized in the 1920s—stating a person with any African ancestry, however slight, was classified as black—any perceived advantage for “mulattos” had disappeared, firmly placing them within the black “race”, regardless of their actual ancestry or appearance.
History Fox
In 1850 the student James Parker Barnett unintentionally became the first Black Student at Columbia’s college of Physicians and Surgeons. He was admitted because he “passed” as White. When they found out that he is a light-skinned African-American he was “expelled for African Blood”.
“Racial passing” refers to a person intentionally presenting themselves as a different “race” than the one society deems them to be, typically a Black person passing as white in the U.S. It's not about individuals unaware of their ancestry but about those who consciously decide to live as a different “race” for certain benefits, such as better job prospects or higher education access.
“Racial passers” are seen as a threat to the white supremacist structures in the U.S., where privilege is hoarded by the whites while denied to minority groups, particularly African-Americans. “Passing” blurs the distinction between the privileged and oppressed, challenging this power structure.
The American South's post-slavery “racial caste system” led the country towards the strict enforcement of “racial purity”. By the time the “one-drop rule” was formalized in the 1920s—stating a person with any African ancestry, however slight, was classified as black—any perceived advantage for “mulattos” had disappeared, firmly placing them within the black “race”, regardless of their actual ancestry or appearance.
1 year ago | [YT] | 19