Response Week 10

Last week during the "Big Little Lie" presentation, someone mentioned the idea that "mixed" is a type of black, not a type of white. If that's true, then Lacey from the story really would have been passing for white her entire life. However, if we simplify her background (a huge assumption, but just for the sake of argument), to 50% black and 50% white, then she'd have just as much claim to being white as black.

One question I have is at what point is someone passing for white if they happen to look white? I don't think I'm explaining this well, but I guess a comparable idea would be someone who is gay not hiding it if someone asks, but also not actively telling everyone they encounter, "Hey, I'm gay." I don't know if that would be an example of someone passing for straight or if that's a case where it's just not relevant in certain scenarios.

I personally get very annoyed when someone asks me some variation of "what are you?" because I don't think that's anyone's business unless I volunteer the information. So, if someone who is mixed white and x, doesn't tell everyone they are actually also x, not just white, or someone who is just x, but "white looking" are they passing for white? Is there some kind of obligation to explain ethnic or racial background so people don't assume you're white and are all cases where you don't explain passing? I feel like that can't be the case, but I also don't know where the line is.

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