# Conscious Permanent Passing

Read the following case study and then carry out the activity that follows.

> Naomi has Black ancestors and has been raised in a family that considers themselves Black. Due to the genetic lottery, her outward appearance is the same as those of European ancestry that are considered to be white. Naomi does not just want to pass as white in some contexts – her goal is ultimate assimilation. She wants to be taken for white. Maintaining contact with Black relatives, childhood friends, and neighbourhood acquaintances will obviously jeopardize this endeavour, so Naomi moves away from them, severs all relationships, and gives her children a highly pruned version of the family tree. Similarly, to avoid betrayal by ‘Black’ cultural traits, Naomi consciously steeps herself in culture associated with white Americans. Suppose that this act of assimilation is successful. Naomi is accepted by her white neighbours as white, there is no public awareness in her social world of her Black ancestry, and she does not experience racism. Though she is naturally nervous for the first few years, she gradually comes to relax and feel confident that her deception will never be discovered.

> (Historically, in fact, tens of thousands of Black people in the US took this step. One such person, exposed after his death, was the prominent New York literary critic Anatole Broyard.)

(adapted from Mills, 1998, pp. 56–7)

## Activity 3

Spend about twenty minutes on this activity

1. After reading the case above, fill out the options below for the four criteria. For ‘Physical Appearance’ and ‘Ancestry’ decide whether according to these criteria the individual is classified as white or Black. For ‘Self Awareness of Ancestry’ and ‘Public Awareness of Ancestry’ decide whether the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – whether the individual is aware of their own ancestry, and whether the public is aware of the individual’s ancestry. Then, put down what your intuition is about what race Naomi is. If you don’t have an intuition, you can put down ‘not sure’.

Physical Appearance: White or Black?

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Ancestry: White or Black?

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Self Awareness of Ancestry: Yes or No?

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Public Awareness of Ancestry: Yes or No?

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Your intuition on what race Naomi is:

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2. Reflect on why you have the intuition that you do. How strong is your intuition? Is it based on any of the four criteria you have been introduced to?

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### Discussion

1. Mills’ response:

##

Physical Appearance | White
Ancestry | Black
Self Awareness of Ancestry | Yes
Public Awareness of Ancestry | No
Naomi is | White

2. If your intuition is that Naomi is white, this could suggest that you think the criterion of physical appearance or public awareness of ancestry is important in determining what race someone is (and is more important than actual ancestry or self-awareness of ancestry). If your intuition is that Naomi is Black, this could suggest that you think ancestry (or self-awareness of ancestry) is more important in determining someone’s race. There might also be other criteria that are shaping your intuition. If you don’t have a strong intuition about Naomi’s race, or are undecided, perhaps this indicates that different criteria are pulling you in different directions.

Mills thinks this example tests the strength of our commitment to ancestry as a definitive criterion for race. He suggests that if our intuitions are somewhat tugged the other way here, this indicates that race could be more a matter of how other people classify us.

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