After learning of the events in the film Pinky and the novella Passing, it's becoming more clear to me about the binding connotations of passing. While we've focused on the concept of passing, where an individual who is able to diffuses across traditional ethno-racial barriers to be a part of a different group and to access that group's treatment by society. We have learned about light-skinned African-Americans who do this so that life for them is easier since they would have the privileges of white people in American society. We also learned that by having individuals that pass, many members of the black community felt betrayed by those individuals, since they were lucky not to be able to face the trauma of being black in America. But it was through the literature today that I really had a feel for that concern and dispair.
In Pinky, not only do we hear over and over again how Aunt Dicey works hard to pay for Pinky's schooling, we see it as well. We can imagine, for the years of such back-breaking labor, how exhausted Aunt Dicey is. In fact, when Pinky leaves after she is chased down by two white men, we can see the energy Dicey displayed at the beginning of the film fall into a sense of exhaustion that goes along with a loss of hope. In Passing, Irene, who married a black man, felt outnumbered because the Gertrude and Clare both married white men. Irene is infuriated that the other two women worry about their children being born dark, because Irene knows that her own children are grounded in disadvantage of being black. Furthermore, when we meet Clare's husband, John, he emphatically asserts his hatred towards blacks, using racial slurs to refer to them. This also contributes to Irene's disgust towards Clare, as the latter and her husband ironically are ashamed if they had any black blood in them.
These two stories highlight the sense of betrayal felt by the black community from those who pass, because they want nothing to do with their black side. At the same time, betrayal also highlights how oppressive American society is towards African-Americans, because many who can pass do so because they want to access the privileges white people can have in America and not to to injustice directed to black people.
In Pinky, not only do we hear over and over again how Aunt Dicey works hard to pay for Pinky's schooling, we see it as well. We can imagine, for the years of such back-breaking labor, how exhausted Aunt Dicey is. In fact, when Pinky leaves after she is chased down by two white men, we can see the energy Dicey displayed at the beginning of the film fall into a sense of exhaustion that goes along with a loss of hope. In Passing, Irene, who married a black man, felt outnumbered because the Gertrude and Clare both married white men. Irene is infuriated that the other two women worry about their children being born dark, because Irene knows that her own children are grounded in disadvantage of being black. Furthermore, when we meet Clare's husband, John, he emphatically asserts his hatred towards blacks, using racial slurs to refer to them. This also contributes to Irene's disgust towards Clare, as the latter and her husband ironically are ashamed if they had any black blood in them.
These two stories highlight the sense of betrayal felt by the black community from those who pass, because they want nothing to do with their black side. At the same time, betrayal also highlights how oppressive American society is towards African-Americans, because many who can pass do so because they want to access the privileges white people can have in America and not to to injustice directed to black people.