Prometheus 6   

People who put great store in the idea of race often become apoplectic when told race is largely a social construct. They point out the obvious differences in appearance between Asians and Africans or Indians and whites. However, they ignore the greater similarities between members of different so-called races and the much broader array of differences among members of the same so-called race. Nella Larsen's novel Passing is a no holds barred debunking of the myth of race.

The short novel revolves around two women. Irene Redfield and Clare Bellew grew up together as part of Chicago's light-skinned 'black' elite at the beginning of the twentieth century. Though Clare is from a poor single parent family with an alcoholic, ne'er-do-well father, her fair skin makes her acceptable to the petty bourgeoisie and professionals who inhabit the schizoid circle.

As young adults, the two go their separate ways. Irene marries an identifiably African-American physician, has two sons and relocates to New York. She fills her time with charity work for "the race." Clare marries a virulently racist white man to escape her abusive relatives and has spent the last 12 years passing for white. She has a daughter.

… I find a secondary theme of the 182-page book as interesting as passing. Irene is in continuous negotiation with American society of the 1920s over her place in it. She is willing to accept second-class status as long as there are persons worse off than herself, i.e., the majority of Negroes, and she can enjoy the creature comforts that come with affluence, such as servants and fine clothes. An additional sop is her ability to pass for white when family members or friends who are darker are not with her.

However, it is impossible to make such an accommodation in a time when de jure segregation in much of the country and even lynching are the norm. The harsh reality of racial discrimination has impacted Irene's husband, Brian, and is driving a wedge between them. The more realistic Brian wants to decamp to a less discriminatory society, Brazil, or at least face up to the fact of the horrid treatment accorded even 'nice' Negroes. His wife resists doing so.