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Passing as White
Racial passing occurs when a person is accepted as a member of a racial group other than their own. Historically, the term passing has been used in the United States to describe people of color who, because of their appearance, are able to assimilate into the white majority. Hypodescent is a system which classifies mixed-race people in the same race as their parent with lower status. To escape hypodescent and the lower social status it brings them, mixed-race people with lighter features sometimes choose to pass and enjoy the social benefits of whiteness. Passing as white is a way for people to safely live in a society where perceived "whiteness" gives one the highest spot in the social hierarchy. Though it is most commonly associated with people of color, white people, namely Jews during the Spanish inquisition and in Nazi Germany, have also had to pass as white, Christian, or "aryan," for their own safety.

Passing in America
To fully understand how some black people are able to pass as white, one must acknowledge the rape of slave women at the hands of white plantation owners. Although Anti-miscegenation laws outlawing racial intermarriage existed in America as early as 1664, there were no laws preventing the rape of enslaved women. For generations, enslaved black mothers bore mixed-race children who were deemed "mulattos," "quadroons," "octoroons," or even "hexadecaroons" based on their percentage of "white blood." Although the aforementioned mixed-race people were often half-white or more, institutions of hypodescent and the one drop rule classified them as black, and therefore, inferior. This is where passing as white comes into play. Black people with lighter complexions and straighter hair sometimes used this racial ambiguity to pass as white and seek better lives. For some people, passing as white and using their whiteness to uplift other black people was the best way to undermine the system that relegated black people to a lower position in society. Although reasons behind passing are deeply individual, the history of African Americans passing as white can be categorized into the following time periods: the antebellum era, post-emancipation, and reconstruction through Jim Crow.

Antebellum America
During the antebellum period, passing as white was a means of escaping slavery. Once they left the plantation, escaped slaves who could pass as white found safety in their perceived whiteness. To pass as white was to pass as free. However, once they gained their freedom, most escaped slaves intended to return to blackness - passing as white was a temporary disguise used to gain freedom. Once they had escaped, racial ambiguity acted as a safeguard to their freedom. If an escaped slave was able to pass as white, they were less likely to be caught and returned to their plantation. And if they were caught, white passing slaves like Jane Morrison could sue for their freedom, using their white appearance as justification for emancipation.

Post-Emancipation
Post-emancipation, passing as white was no longer a means to obtain freedom. As passing shifted from a necessity to an option, it fell out of favor in the black community. In "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man," by James Weldon Johnson, the narrator closes the novel by saying "I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage," meaning that he regrets trading in his blackness for whiteness. The idea that passing as white was a rejection of blackness was common at the time and holds true to this day.

Reconstruction through Jim Crow
During the reconstruction era, black people slowly gained the constitutional rights of which they were deprived during slavery. Although they would not gain full constitutional equality for another century when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, reconstruction promised African Americans equality for the first time. However, abolishing slavery did not abolish racism. Reconstruction quickly ushered in the Jim Crow era and with it, segregation and the Ku Klux Klan. Here, passing comes back into play because of segregation. Those who were able to pass as white often engaged in tactical passing, or passing as white in order to get a job, go to school, or to travel. Outside of these situations, "tactical passers" still lived as black people, and for this reason, tactical passing is also referred to as "9 to 5 passing." This idea of crossing the color line at different points in one's life is explored in James Weldon Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. People also chose to pass for good during Jim Crow and beyond. Becoming white is much more controversial now: it is often seen as a rejection of blackness, family and culture.

Jews Passing in Europe
For centuries, Jewish people have faced persecution Europe. At the start of the Spanish inquisition, Jews were given the option to convert to Christianity or leave Iberia. Those who converted to Christianity were called "New Christians," or derogatorily, "marranos." While some Jews did take on a New Christian identity, leaving their Jewish culture behind, others chose to practice Judaism in secret, effectively passing as Christians. Post-inquisition, Jews throughout Europe were able to practice their religion freely. However, they were still frequently subjected to various forms of anti-semitism. To avoid harassment in their daily lives, European Jews who could pass as gentile engaged in tactical passing, enabling them to work or travel publicly in spaces where Jews were banned.

Passing as "Aryan"
For Jews in Nazi Germany, passing as "aryan" or Christian was a means of survival. There were three ways to avoid being shipped off to the death camps: run, hide or pass. No option was perfect, and all carried the risk of getting caught. People who could not run away but wanted to maintain a life without hiding attempted to pass as "aryan." People who were "visibly Jewish" could try to alter their appearance to become "aryan," while other Jewish people with more ambiguous features could pass into the "aryan" ideal more easily. In these attempts to pass as "aryan," Jewish people altered their appearance by dying their hair blonde and even attempting to reverse circumcisions.