Does Anybody Really "Pass" Anymore?

In the New Millennium are any African-Americans still "Passing" for White Americans?

Just finished reading Passin by Karen E. Quinones Miller.
WOW. What a ride. I mean: What a Great Book.
I loved the character Shanika, and even though I didn't agree with her choices,
I felt for her strongly.
Sympathized even.
Her situation was believable and very very real, but:
Do people really Pass anymore???

Those of you who've checked out my blog Light Skinned Party??? (www.myspace.com/bklyndarkchild) or seen my web posts know that Obie, one of the main characters in my book This Ain't No Hearts and Flowers Love Story (www.lulu.com/content/1099166) struggles with the same skin color issues as Shanika. EXCEPT:
Obie refuses to Pass.
What most of you probably don't know is:
I have a son who is Passing.
Yes. It's true. He lives an All White life in an All White neighborhood with his All White girl and his All White friends and teaches History at an All White school.
And you thought Passing was an Old School phenomenon.

It's not his fault really; people can be so cruel. When he was a kid the Spanish people in our neighborhood told him his White behind couldn't possibly have come out of my Negro butt so he Must Be Adopted. He asked his brothers and sisters and they said: Yes, we found you in a garbage can.
I think he's been waiting for his White Parents to come and take him away ever since.

I actually have two blonde haired hazel eyed children white enough to Pass.
Like Obie, my seventeen year old daughter Madonna Starr cherishes her Black Identity and wouldn't give it up for the world.
"Besides," she tells me, "Something about my face always makes White people ask: What are you?!"
It's not your face, dear; believe me. It's the Ghetto Superstar hair styles that scream: "I'm Straight From The 'Hood." How do I know??!!! When she was young I used to "pass" (sorry--I couldn't resist) around her school/team pictures and play Find The Black Girl In This Picture. 
Madonna told me something else, too.
She told me when she's with her brother...
She Passes too.  
WHY??!!!!
"People just assume we're White and I go along with it."
Going Along With It means, when they step into a restaurant the servers make a bee line in their direction in order to seat them, often ignoring other patrons who clearly have been waiting a while.

So:
Does Passing still exist?
Are people Out There Passing yet denying it to their friends/families? 
Are they Passing outright even?
Or are my kids simply Retro Throwbacks from a Bye Gone Era?

Let a Sista Know.

 

Reviews

[Loribeth215]

Your kids just cannot be the only ones.
I figure plenty of people do it.... it's just that you'll never know unless they are related to you.