African American Characters In Passing

The African-American characters who pass as white in “Passing”, exhibit the shame they feel about their race when discussing black children. The three African American characters, Gertude, Irene and Clare, were friends from High School who meet for coffee to reunite. Gertrude and Clare both pass as white, although Gertrude’s husband knows her “true” race, while Irene does not pass and lives in Brooklyn. While at lunch, Clare discusses that she cannot have another child due to the fear that it would appear black. Clare concurs that even though her husband does not care for the race of the child, she too is still afraid, “Why, he actually said he didn’t care what colour it turned out, if I would only stop worrying about it. But, of course, nobody …show more content…
After constantly hearing these racist taunts, some African Americans too became disgusted by their skin color. Ironically, the white man ends up less racist than his black wife. Gertrude’s husband states that he does not care for the color of his child, yet Gertrude cannot think of anything worse. Gertrude even goes as far to compare having dark skin as a “disease”. Gertrude and Clare do not hate their culture or heritage, but they consider dark skin a curse. Clare and Gertrude know the advantages of being a white person in this setting; they want their children to also have these advantages as well as retaining the advantages for themselves. Clare and Gertrude know the great disparity between living as a white woman as opposed to a black woman. They know that success would be elusive if they did not pass. The African Americans who could not pass lived in constant fear of lynching and abuse. While in white households the biggest issue with an eleven year old, was teaching them to work hard. In black households, the biggest issue was teaching an eleven year old about lynching and the contempt people have for their