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RACISM
Why Black People Who Pass For White Hear The Darndest Things
They're given a birds-eye view of anti-black racism
Since race is a social construct rather than a biological reality, it's nearly impossible to categorize people accurately into racial groups based on their appearance. And yet, in a society where whiteness is held as a gold standard, many attempt to do so. Take, for instance, the experience of Cheryl Green Rosario, a Black author who many assumed was a White woman. She shared, "For four decades, white people have openly, even sometimes proudly expressed their racism to me, usually with a wink and a smile, all the while thinking I'm white too." If one were to judge a book by its cover, which in this case many did, they would assume Rosario's fair complexion, light brown hair, and green eyes meant she was White. And it was precisely this assumption that gave her a bird's eye view of anti-black racism.
Despite having African ancestry, people who can pass for White are often uniquely exposed to racist language. Rather than being targeted directly as their more visibly Black counterparts frequently are, their presumed whiteness grants them access to discourse typically reserved for White people. For example, when Rosario took a car service to the Newark airport for business, the driver, a retired…
