Does White passing occur in other minority groups?

WHITE PASSING

IN OTHER MINORITY GROUPS

White passing occurs when a person classified as a member of one racial group is also accepted as a member of a different racial group. African Americans use white passing to get the privileges of a white person. While passing is frequently associated with African Americans. This is so because many American Americans are white passing, They are trying to get a membership to a society they will never feel completely welcome.

However, are African Americans the only the ones that are White passing in America. The answer is NO African Americans are not alone when it comes to white passing. Other minority groups such as Hispanics and Jewish people during World War II did or are white passing.  However, their white passing differs from African Americans passing. African Americans faced more discrimination and harsh treatments when Hispanics are white passing with little to no trouble at all. So, are they really white passing or are they just consider white?

An example of Hispanic white passing is an author from UWIRE journal and she states " I am a very privileged person. I have never experienced weird looks walking down the streets, I have never been yelled at to speak English, I have never been told to get out of the country and I have never been told that I steal people's jobs. I especially have never experienced hate based on the color of my skin. All my privileges are based around the fact that I am white passing." (UWIRE,2017) The author is clearly aware of her white passing and her privileges she able to achieve because of it. She is not facing harsh treatments or discrimination for passing.  She also writes about her light skin and how it made her blend in more the white society. Many Hispanics have light skin which makes white passing successful. But, she does explain later in her journal that her grandfather told that she must speak English to pass. Her father faced harsh treatments when he was trying to achieve the white privileges because of his lack of the English language. The author writes about her lost identity because she does not speak Spanish. She also writes about how she is not able to connect with other Hispanic people. This relates to African Americans because they lose their identity as well when white passing.  

Africans Americans are the main minority group that is white passing. African Americans had to white pass after the civil war because they were freed slaves but did not have any rights. "Light skin" African Americans were able to white pass to get the privileges they need. The effects of their white passing were that they lost their identities. African Americans were questioning who they were because of their white passing. Shirley Haizlip describes this in her journal  "Passing is the word used to describe an attempt to achieve acceptability by claiming membership in some desired group while denying other racial elements in oneself thought to be undesirable. The concept of passing uses the imagery of camouflage, of concealing true identity or group membership and gaining false access. (Haizlip,1995)" This quote conveys that African Americans were simply camouflaging into white society. I love how she uses the words " group membership" and "false access" because those words are true. African Americans are getting false access into this dominant society. They will never be apart of society even if they think they are white passing.

People do not know that Jews had to white pass. During, World War II Jewish people had to white pass to be kept out of camp. Jews had no other choice to white pass to survive. I was even shocked when I read about their white passing. They had to become other people just to be able to live. Force to acclimate to a majority group was killing off your true identity. “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." (Kerry,2018) Jewish had to make sure they had the right features to pass as Aryan.  This differs from African Americans because even if they are light skin they could not white pass successfully. Jewish literally had to change their whole lifestyles just to pass. Similar to African Americans, Jews were losing their identities as well.

White passing will always be around. Minority groups need white passing just to get the privileges they need. Passing needs to achieve success in this society if you are a minority group. African Americans will always be known for passing because they needed to pass because of the Jim Crow laws set up after the Civil War. This saddens me because these people have to become somebody else to just be accepted into this society. Society cannot be set up this way.