Passing and the Costs and Benefits of Appropriating Blackness
Published
Journal Article
© The Author(s) 2018. The socioeconomic position of Blacks in America cannot be fully contextualized without considering the marginalization of their racialized social identities as minorities who have historically combated subjugation and oppression with respect to income, employment, homeownership, education, and political representation. It is not difficult to understand why the historical reference to “passing” primarily has been associated with Blacks who were able to—and many who did—claim to be White to secure the social, educational, political, and economic benefits that were reserved for Whites. Therefore, the majority of passing narratives have focused on Black to White passing. This article departs from the tradition in the literature by considering appropriation of various aspects of Black culture and White to Black passing. We evaluate the socioeconomic costs and benefits of being Black and inequalities in citizenship status between Blacks and Whites. Furthermore, we examine the socioeconomic and political capital of Blackness versus Whiteness in an attempt to explore the rationality of passing for Black.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Broady, KE; Todd, CL; Darity, WA
Published Date
- June 1, 2018
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 45 / 2
Start / End Page
- 104 - 122
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0034-6446
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1177/0034644618789182
Citation Source
- Scopus