You're Not White-Passing...You're White.

Let's leave the one drop rule in 1927 please and thanks

COLOREDS ONLY!

You ever lived in an abandoned building with 15 other people?

I sure have.

Yup, For 18 months I was part of a continuously shifting crew of squatters, a group of people who live together in empty properties. Having done this in the UK meant it was legal so long as it was in commercial properties. That’s buildings that intended to hold businesses or government operations that were not built or modified with the intention of housing people long term.

We’re in a recession y’all and I was not about to pay rent. The housing crisis is real. Raise your hand if you’re easily affording the place you’re currently living in…oh okay, that’s what I thought. I wanted to do my little part time job and organizing work in piece. Allow it. Down with landlords!

^Me to myself^

The legitimacy of squatting as an option in the housing crisis aside, there was something very special about my crew, formally known as “The Repo Centre”. In it’s constant evolution there was a single rule that never wavered.

COLOREDS ONLY! There were to be no white people in sight. Hallelujah, thank you Lord! Not to live, not to visit. The only exception was if they were providing a service (helping with water, maintenance, eviction court cases). The real homies would meet us outside the space if they weren’t doing physical repairs. Shouts out Sketchy Mike the electrician <3. This was important to establish because it wasn’t only our home, we used it for events and community space and hoped to keep it safe for non-white people.

The state of squatting in the UK is infuriatingly white. My heart health has definitely taken a toll due to the amount of crusty white punk squatters I’ve been forced to interact with. It wasn’t always this way, the first squatters handbook which served to give practical advice for those who were squatting, was created by queer Jamaican organizer Olive Morris (pls go check her out, she’s such a superstar).

Keeping the space sacred (white free) was necessary, except we were quickly confronted with a problem, people who said they were “white-passing”.

Hold on y’all lemme do my breathing exercises real quick.

When this question came up every one sat back stewed and slowly turned their gaze at me. Complicated questions of race always tended to fall on my shoulders, I’m sure it has nothing to do with being a full breed Black American Negro woman, couldn’t be that.

At the time, my answer was to immediately question them about their proximity to whiteness. If the “white-passing” person hadn’t thought about it or was defensive in any way they were not allowed in the space, but if they could recognize what they’re “proximity to whiteness” (God, this hurts to see myself write) was self-recognized, they could be there.

Slowly but surely, all of the “white-passing” people became a problem. Every. Single. One. I had to learn the hard way: These people are not “white-passing”…they are white!

Let’s explore how I’ve come to this, shall we?

What Is Passing?

Disclaimer: People of all ethnic backgrounds fall victim to thinking they are “white-passing”. However, I will be focusing on those ethnic backgrounds that descend from African heritage, that includes Caribbean, African, Melanesian, Soulaan, and other South American ethnic groups. Go check out my other piece to brush up on the difference between “race”, “ethnicity”, and more.

I'm Using Soulaan Now, And You Should Too.

“Passing”’s definition has changed drastically over the last half a century. Usually I’m an advocate for shifting language. People aren’t stagnant so our language can’t be either. HOWEVER, when those changing definitions are being co-opted by people with certain privileges, we need to say woahhhh there little pony and slow the rodeo down, asking how this happened.

Today, the term “passing” is most often used to mean “many people think I’m white, but I am actually mixed with white and [blank].” Take the people back to the 1940s and you gone see a bunch of confused faces, heads tilted sideways wondering why anyone so close to whiteness would reveal this.

Until recently, passing was an intentional act people took. This was a serious endeavour y’all, often referred to as a “chosen exile”. People with distant African heritage who were legally classified as Black, but did not hold visibly African features *to the white gaze* would choose to live as white people in hopes for more opportunity. In order to pass you did not want to get caught up talking to black people like your equals, hence choosing exile from the community you were raised in.

Y’all, that Black legal classification was no joke.

• “At different times up until the 20th century [seven states] all relied on a one-eighth rule, while [9 others] defined anyone with ‘any blood of the African race in their veins’ as Black…The message was clear: No matter how white you may appear, if there is but one drop of Black blood in your lineage, you will be considered Black and treated accordingly.” - Yaba Blay

Voila, we have the creation of the one drop rule. It’s what kept people enslaved, allowing enslavers to force labor on their own children. There were nuanced legalities surrounding the potential for freedom based on whether a child’s mother was white or Black, but those laws were simply created to protect enslavers’ right to rape Black women and procreate to grow their work force.

Oh Louisiana

I want to give a very special shout out to the cesspool of raical fuckery that was Louisiana. Because Creole people love to feel like an exception to the rule of which they are indeed, a prime example <3. I blame the French. Oui oui, always blame the French.

Lousiana had a specific caste system created by French settlers. There were Blacks, whites, and Creoles. Creole people were people mixed with Black, white and possibly indigenous ancestry, but the last was much less common. There was an established hierarchy within the Creole race of people based on how much white ancestry one held. This shit was an elaborate mind-fuck, they had names for people who were three-eighths Black. Like omg you nigga’s was bored.

It is sooooo important to understand how this mixedness was being used to keep fully African, dark skinned Black people unconditionally subservient. It’s not only white people telling calling you scum of the earth, it’s a nigga with a single white great-grandmother, a single foundation shade lighter than you saying you’re worth less than them. Simultaneously, you have white people making sure those people sure as shit know they are not pure cocaine. Even if cut in the slightest, you are Creole, not white and you will be treated as such.

The lightest of Creole people, they faced the reality of very close approximation to a white slave owning class, some even chose to partake in exploiting the labor of Black folk.

These distantly African Creole people had an interesting relationship with passing. You see there were people considered “passé á blanc” which meant they were white enough to pass as white based on others’ perception of them. Then there were people that were “blanc forcé”, these were people who were intent on being white by force.

I’m talking to you Robyn Dixon.

Blanc forcé was the traditional form of passing that existed outside of Louisiana while passé á blanc is more similar to white-passing’s use today. The critical difference between its use in the past versus today is the legal classifications holding people back from claiming whiteness in the past. The fear of being found out and killed is what kept people attached to their African ancestry.

There have continued to be extensive tensions between Black and Creole people because of white people intentionally creating bad blood between the two groups through white supremacist laws.

Creole people have continued to separate themselves from Black people while wishing to maintain the parts of their culture that make them different from whites which, of course, are the pieces of culture that descend from their African heritage. Y’all eat what Black people eat, talk like Black people talk, but make sure we see the hue of your skin to differentiate yourselves and in that you’re 100% correct. Now that there are no official legal classifications we can all say it together. CONGRATS! You’re white. This doesn’t mean you don’t have African ancestry and aren’t Soulaan ethnically, but babes…racially…you’re white. Let the Creole imaginary go. End of an era. Thank you God. Amen.

That Boi Jim Crow

You might’ve heard about him. The minstrel character became the face of segregation post emancipation and reconstruction era. But you know what, there’s someone else I find even more interesting: Homer Plessy.

If you recognize the name that’s because he was the plantiff in the land mark United States Supreme Court decision Plessy vs. Ferguson. This case enshrined segregation and let Jim Crow officially begin.

Plessy sued the government after he bought a first class train ticket and was denied a seat because he was Black.

Here’s the gag y’all, he had to tell the conductor he was Black cause they couldn’t tell…The whole incident was a planned civil disobedience using Homer Plessy. He had one African great-grandparent, I cannot make this up. That’s when we get the whole separate but equal blah blah blah bullshit.

What I find really encouraging about this lawsuit, is how it shows people have been questioning not only segregation, but the basis of race as a whole. To claim that race is determined by a drop of African blood when y’all cannot tell if someone even has that, completely unravels the concept and they knew that.

While America chose to take the opportunity to double down on oppression so white people could tighten their grip on Black necks post emancipation, the oppressed people said “now wait a damn minute.” THIS is when we get an influx of people actively choosing to pass as white. There’s very little documentation tying these white people to their African heritage, they aren’t tied down to a plantation where their grandfather owns them, and they want to make a name for themselves.

So they follow in the footsteps of Plessy, not the part where he uses his privilege to help those more marginalized than him. No, they say “AHA! See y’all on the flip imma just be white and not tell them about my momma’s momma’s momma.”

There was nothing there to stop them outside of being found out by other white people, but Black people rarely snitched, because in many cases they understood the desire to not be held back and still saw those passing as family. *Long hard sigh* My people are far too forgiving.

Race Today

As seen through the land mark case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, people’s relationship with race is shaped by power which changes with time and events.

The Civil Rights Movement came and passing became much less prominent. People are less focused on individually getting by and instead hone in on collectively working to make their conditions better. Simultaneously, technology is allowing for more rapid globalization, making the “American race problem” more understood, and becoming a blue print of sorts for Black stuggle in other parts of The West. On top of all that, African and Caribbean colonies are gaining independence while being undercut by their previous colonizers. They were looking to gain resources by leaving their homelands and going to the home of their former colonizers. More Black people are in Europe fighting for Black liberation in the colonial center.

The peace of the Civil Rights Movement simmers down and a more militant Black Power Movement emerges. FISTS UP Y’ALL! People are less and less inclined to detach themselves from their Blackness. Being Black is not just acceptable, it is desirable. Black pride flourishes through praise of the Afro, dark skin, and African features. Pan-African thought is introduced, globally people see themselves as fighting separate fronts of a single battle against the capitalist system that has hurt them all.

All is grand right? Gotcha neck! Lol, you thought.

As technology expands so does America’s ability to reach out and force its hand as an imperial power. America said y’all gone sit down and do what I say whether you like it or not.

The main way this happened was through military action. Think of the countless wars America has encouraged and incited outside of America since the 50s. Nonetheless it wasn’t the only way America sought to gain power.

You thought slavery was over right? Well, they continued to sell Black people world wide. American corporations sold our music, they sold our style, they sold our language, the sold our bodies through sport, and they sold it as their own. And that is the most important part to understand.

If America as a whole looked, smelled, and tasted as good as the concoctions Black people made from the scraps they were given, I’d think America was the place to be too! But that’s not the case in the states, it’s not the case in Europe, it’s not the case in South America.

These countries continue to exploit the creations of its Black population to sell as their own in hopes of gaining soft power. Soft power being the use of persuasion to achieve foreign policy through culture and political values. It’s the opposite of hard power, which is physical violence through military action. Let’s give a big fat YUCK! any form of gaining state power.

We’ve gotten to the point today where people see the sauce Black people hold. Being Black holds social capital. You’re cool, current, and entertaining. You’re also only allowed to have rights if you choose to be as ruthless as the white people who put you down in the first place, but boy are you fun to observe and attempt to soullessly imitate!

What does this mean? It means we’ve done a 180 switcharoony and white people cling to their African heritage through the one drop rule like Lil Wayne’s locs clingin’ to his head. Let it go baby, it’s time to cut them spaghetti noodles off.

But isn’t my identity mine to decide?

No! Not this one. Some others are but not your race.

As we see from the history of passing, race as a result of blood quantum is shakey ground to stand on. These blood quantum classifications were created as a means to subjugate and separate people into either power wielding or subservient groups.

It is VERY important to note that since the omission of blood quantum laws and official Jim Crow segregation, the legacy of racism is one that must exist on the DL. You can make decisions based off race, but you gots to have a coded excuse ready to justify your actions in case someone asks. You can’t just ask people if they have any black in them, you go off what you see. This is the real essence of racial identity today and its not far from what it’s been since emancipation.

When the police pull you over they are not bout to ask if you have 2 pawpaws and 2 mawmaws instead of a madea. They look at you and decide whether you’re threatening or relatable. When you go to the doctor and say you’re in pain, they don’t need to to know that your great grandpa fought for black liberation, they’ve already decided if they believe you or think you’re exaggerating your pain to get more medication.

Race works from the top down. Many of these distantly mixed people have the experience of Black people knowing they have Black ancestry while white people don’t notice. When it’s whiteness that holds the largest share of power to determine your future, their understanding of your race is what affects you the most materially.

If White people think you’re white you get treated like a white person. If you’re treated like a white person for long enough, you’ll act like a white person. This breeds entitlement, taking up space, speaking over others, a massive ego when it comes to knowledge/understanding the world, and so so so much more. It might not be on purpose but it’s how the cookie crumbles. If you’re seen as white you’ll be allowed to act like a white person and as you’re afforded more social privileges, you may get comfortable.

Collective Black disappointment

Don’t get me wrong, ethnic signifiers exist and you can still get discriminated against because of them. Your name, speech patterns, cultural understandings may be notifiers to others that you’re not ethnically European or white American and then you’re social position changes.

Nonetheless these are all controllable in some capacity. You can use a different name, learn to speak differently, actively work to assimilate to the white world. Those who are clearly not white can’t convincingly change their skin and features. I don’t care how pale Michael Jackson was or how skinny his nose got, everybody knew something was off.

In a world where life’s pace quickens with each moment that progresses, people’s assessments of you happen in a flash. No time to look at your family tree I must rely on what’s in front of me. People see Blackness as a threat and that becomes more dangerous the less ambiguous you become.

A recognition that 1. you don’t choose your race 2. there are power dynamics that come with race and 3. it’s not your fault but you gotta deal with it, will help us get over this shit and move onto the real enemy. Race is one tool used by those piggy money hoarders.

So, the next time you hear someone say they’re “white-passing” ask them what they’re tryna pass for because they’re most definitely white.

Source

• Yaba Blay, How the “One Drop Rule” Became a Tool of White Supremacy

Thank y’all so much for reading Spit It Out! If you liked this check out some of my other articles and be on the look out for moreeeee. I got a lot to say!