“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.
HI Migleysi, I enjoyed your blog post and think it tackles a very complicated but necessary conversation. The issue of colorism is especially infuriating when you learn more about it and where it comes from. I truly think that colorism is a tool of white supremacy that unfortunately many BIPOC people have bought into and or perpetuate unknowingly. Colorism shows us that not every Black person shares the same lived experiences and we can see this in Passing throughout the whole book. How someone is perceived based on their skin tone affects so much of how they live their lives and how they get to show up in the world.
First of all, thank you for your post! It’s very thought-provoking.
In the spot of colorism, I wanted to share a story my friend, who works in the fashion industry, told me. She is responsible for scouting models for major brands, and she mentioned that immediately following the surge of Black Lives Matter protests, the most sought-after models were not just Black, but specifically those with “the darkest skin tones possible”. She was tasked with finding individuals who fit this description. What she witnessed was lighter-skinned individuals being turned down for opportunities simply because they didn’t meet the desired level of darkness.
On one hand, it is important to acknowledge the increased attention given to darker-skinned individuals, as it challenges the prevailing preference for lighter-skinned individuals in the media, as discussed in the video you attached. However, it is just as disheartening that lighter-skinned individuals were marginalized and excluded.. for not being dark enough! As all that perpetuates the issue of colorism.
Another cringy part of it all is to witness people’s struggles being exploited by brands solely for their own profit and to enhance their public image. Using social movements as a marketing strategy to appear socially conscious is both insincere and manipulative. Such actions undermine genuine efforts towards inclusivity and equality..
Colorism is a big problem in today’s society. It is completely true that people with lighter skin are treated better. When it comes to mix-raced children it reminds me of a video I watched a while ago where a white woman said that she wanted to marry a Black man in order to have “cute” and “pretty” mix-raced children. Women that do this are objectifying Black men in order to get what they want. Having mix-raced children should not be seen as a “trophy.” Of course, everyone should be free to love and marry who they want but it becomes a problem when a relationship is built on fetishism. A similar situation happens in Latin American culture when people are told to “improve the race.” this basically means marrying someone who is light skin or whiter than you in order to have better-looking children. There is a lot of racism and colorism in Latin America and even today people who have afro-textured hair like me are told to straighten their hair to “look better.”
I completely agree with you that colorism is a problem in America and there is a favorability of people with fairer skin. I noticed this issue in other countries too. In the south Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh people with fair skin get better treatment. People with dark skin tone get made fun of. I remember on TV I always used to see so many different “fair & lovely” ads which is a skin brightening cream. https://youtube.com/watch?v=FGsYdi3PdXw&feature=share
In this advertisement the girl wants to be a star but because she is dark skinned no one took her seriously. When she used Fair & Lovely she became fair. In the end she became a Big Star and she was loved by everyone. This shows that people with fair skin have more advantages than darker people because of colorism.
I would have to agree that colorism is deeply pervasive issue in our society, that can send individuals, particularly dark-skinned ones into a spiral of self-hatred, because they can never achieve the proximity to whiteness that colorism hangs over their heads. It’s a moving goal post, and you’re never quite there yet.
Really interesting and well thought out post. I do like your way in describing how colorism is present in todays society because it most definitely is. I feel as if it gives the wrong look to some people, sometimes maybe dark skinned people and making it seem that they are the ones that are hated on or disliked.
I have to agree that colorism is very abundant in society today, and the examples in the video you linked were quite interesting to think about. I was aware of many of them, although one that shocked me was the idea of A and D girls being sought after for the film Straight Outta Compton, and how they worded their search criteria for D girls. Especially for a film that deals with real-world scenarios of systemic racism, to have that kind of language that puts down and shames individuals based on their appearance was shocking.
The passage you used is from “Passing,” a book by Nella Larsen is confusing and appalling because, on the one hand, Clare denies her own racial identity in order to marry a white man and benefit from being perceived as white. On the other hand, Clare seems to love the gain from social privileges and on the other loves the interaction from the black community. base on passage money would never allow her to leave her life,
Given that lighter-skinned Black women are breaking down boundaries and make up the bulk of Black representation in the media, the film you presented offers additional insights and examples of how colorism appears in society. It draws attention to the fact that, despite advancements in black representation, biases and prejudices based on skin color still persist and have the potential to affect how society views opportunities.
Colorism is a scary and complicated thing that is birthed out of a really simple thing, just people of different colors having a child and it being a mix between their two colors. But if there is hate and hostility between the people possessing different colors then the in-betweens end up caught in between, and must escape to one side that, more often than not, is decided by what side they most closely resemble. Clare and Irene find themselves close enough to be similar but far enough apart that Clare chooses to nestle herself into in white society and Irene does the opposite.