hey folks,
I know I used to start this newsletter with ‘hey guys’ but after starting Survivor season 41 and they pointed out how the word ‘guys’ is not inclusive. So I’ve decided to go with ‘folks’ because that makes it seem like we just met up at the local saloon to chew the fat or maybe start a duel, and that’s the vibe I’m going for.
This week’s newsletter is inspired by the film Passing which is currently streaming on Netflix. You can read my full review of the film on Channel24 here.
Adapted from the celebrated 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, PASSING tells the story of two Black women, Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Ruth Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose to live on opposite sides of the colour line during the height of the Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York.
Now Passing struck a chord with me on many levels - it’s a beautiful film, it has breathtaking performances by Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, and for a directorial debut I think Rebecca Hall did an amazing job. But it also made me think a lot about my own proximity to whiteness and how I navigate it as a light-skinned coloured woman.
I am usually reticent to discuss race with regards to myself because I recognise my privilege and that I have it a lot better off than others. Also through reflection, I realised that a lot of incidents which I thought was race-motivated against me, probably was classism. But Tessa Thompson’s character of Irene caused me to do some deep introspection into my own experiences.
When we first meet Irene, she is busy shopping for a gift for her children at a whites-only store. With her hat strategically placed on her head to hide most of her features, she goes to a whites-only hotel tea room in order to get a cold drink to cool down in the sweltering heat. This is where she reconnects with Claire, an old school friend who is passing for white, so much so that even her own husband does not know that she’s secretly black.
As I’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, I’ve been spending a lot of time researching my family history. And the further back I’ve gone, the more I’ve been realising how intricate they were in grouping people into race groups in order to keep people separated. But growing up you hear the hushed stories about family members who classified themselves as white during apartheid and lived separated lives. Or you hear about other family members who are mistook as white but corrected those in authority and chose to stand with their non-white family.
I’ve always seen the former as cowardice, and like Irene, I saw as it being a traitor to your race and the movement. It angers me when people choose their own comfort over everything else. I’ve always chosen to believe that I would never have allowed people to think that I was white if I was in that position. But would I have?
It’s easy to look at it from the outside and claim that you would have behaved in a certain way, but it is very different when you are actually in that situation. Irene in Passing is very proud of her status as a black woman. She lives in Harlem, she volunteers for the Negro League, and she is comfortable around her friends and family. However, the appearance of Claire in her life shows the cracks in the perfect facade that Irene has depicted for herself. We learn that Irene isn’t comfortable with her husband talking to her sons about the racial violence against black people, and we also see how poorly she treats her darker-skinned maid, Zu. Irene is so quick to judge Claire’s treatment of her own race, without reflecting on her own.
In many ways, I related to Irene. I have always tried to stay true to my coloured heritage, I have corrected people who have mistook me for white, and I have always seen myself as pro-black. But I have had to come to terms with a lot of my own blindspots and where I need to improve. But further than that, that first scene where Irene allows herself to pass for white in order to cool down in the hotel gave me some nasty flashbacks.
Mainly it reminded me of all the times I allowed people to think I was white so that I could get better service or feel more comfortable in a space or get what I want. I might not have outrightly claimed to be white like my ancestors, but I also knew exactly what I was doing. I was playing a part. I knew that if I walked a certain way, talked a certain way (and especially if I’m wearing a mask) I might be able to get away with being treated better if only for a little bit. And this is a privilege that I indulge in, that I make use of, while still claiming to be someone who stands up for others. I feed into the system, make use of it, while still judging others who do it more overtly.
Passing is an excellent film, and what I like good media is that it gets you thinking, and this film definitely did it for me. It made me reckon and understand my privilege in a new way, and hopefully is a trigger for further self discovery and self improvement.
You can read my full review of Passing on Channel24.