User:JulietEaly/Passing as White

Passing as White

Main article: Passing (racial identity)

Racial passing occurs when a person is accepted as a member of a racial group other than their own. Historically, the term passing has been used in the United States to describe people of color who, because of their appearance, are able to assimilate into the white majority. Hypodescent is a system which classifies mixed-race people in the same race as their parent with lower status. To escape hypodescent and the lower social status it brings them, mixed-race people with lighter features sometimes choose to pass and enjoy the social benefits of whiteness. Passing as white is a way for people to safely live in a society where perceived "whiteness" gives one the highest spot in the social hierarchy. Though it is most commonly associated with people of color, white people, namely Jews in Nazi Germany, have also had to pass as white for their own safety.