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Words: | Submitted: Fri Jan 28 2005
... or someone that one, by definition, is not; and 2) successfully fooling an audience that one really is his/her feigned persona, and not an imposter. I call attention to the phrase "by definition" in the first requisite above because historically the term passing has popularly held a racial significance in the United States. As such, to pass racially depends on discrete definitions of race (e.g., the "one drop rule" to determine blackness) as a foundational frame within which passing may operate. One historical application of passing would be those individuals who were, by definition, black (per the "one drop rule"), but who, because they may have appeared white, successfully passed for white in the public arena. While there are many other forms of passing (e.g., a pre-operation transsexual seeking to pass as the opposite sex), such forms, I believe, are a reapplication of, or "sequel" to, a foundational definition of ...
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