"Passing" Homework Prompt

Please read pages 17-18 in the handout you received in class today (this is also part of the pdf file that is available on firstclass). After reading this excerpt from "The Sweeter the Juice", please answer the following italicized prompts in the comment section.

You should have a good idea of what "racial passing" entails at this point in the course. How do myths and misinformation about "race" explain the practice of passing? How does the fact that thousands of "blacks" have successfully passed as "whites" reinforce the idea that "race" is a social invention rather than a scientific description of human differences?

Shirlee Haizlip believes that "passing" was a way for members of her family to deal with the legacy of slavery. To what extent may "passing" also be a mechanism for survival during the years of the Jim Crow laws (laws that isolated and humiliated African Americans)?

Let me know if you have questions.