“Money’s awfully nice to have. In fact, all things considered, I think ‘Rene, that it’s even worth the price. Irene could only shrug her shoulders. Her reason partly agreed, her instinct wholly rebelled” (p 44).

Clare responds to Irene’s question of why she has chosen to live her life as a white woman. She tells Irene that erasing her true identity was worth the price of getting money/ receiving the benefits of being perceived as only white.

In this quote, we see both sides of the coin of colorism in Larson’s passing. Clare is a black woman so fake that she is able to pass as a white woman and does so completely him order for gain. By gain, I mean monetarily and even in status, since she wouldn’t be subjugated to the racist experience of being a black woman in America. However, since her entire life is built in this one lie, at the discovery of her passing her entire life can crumble away; the risk. Irene finds it confusing and appalling as to why Clare has seemingly denied her race in order to marry a white man yet also participates in the rewarding system colorism has. For example in the beginning she passes as white in order to get into a hotel to cool down because she has the option to do that. Irene butts heads with Brian about overprotecting their two boys about racism. Irene doesn’t want them to know much and keep them oblivious because she hasn’t been subjugated to the same racist experience that her husband Brian has; keep in mind that Brian does not have the option of passing. 

The same rewards for passing off as white in Larson’s passing are seen right now in the modern world. However, now there’s a name for it: Colorism. Colorism often focuses on the prejudice towards people with darker skin but on the flip side, this means there’s a favorability of people with fairer skin. In the black community, there has been an influx of mixed-race children that oftentimes look racially ambiguous or passing. They often speak about how they notice a change in treatment once others know of their blackness. Or even how they’re praised for their skin tone. Down to even hair and how kinky curls are viewed completely differently than loose curls. One is seen as sometimes unprofessional or “exotic” while the other is perceived as pretty. This is not to say that black representation hasn’t been on the rise. But we cannot deny the reality of the bias of lighter skin. 

Here is a 6-minute video explaining how lighter-skinned black women are often the first to break barriers and are the majority of black representation in media.