Class 6

EWRT 1B

AGENDA

Exam 1: Vocab and Terms

Discussion:

Kennedy

QHQ: The Human Stain

QHQ: "The Passing of Grandison‖

Presentation: Introduction to Essay 2:

In-Class Writing: Essay 2 Brainstorming

Terms Exam 1

You have 20

minutes to

complete the

exam.

Death Penalty

Group Discussion: Why do people pass?

―Racial Passing‖ Randall Kennedy

The Human Stain Phillip Roth

"The Passing of Grandison‖

Charles Chesnutt

Why do People Pass?Stories of Randall Kennedy

One extraordinary instance occurred in 1848 when Ellen Craft—the daughter of a master and his slave mistress—escaped from bondage by train, boat, and carriage on a four-day journey from Macon, Georgia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[12] Ellen Craft pretended to be white. Her slave husband was part of her disguise; he pretended to be her servant. And there was one more twist: Ellen Craft traveled not as a white woman but as a white man. To obtain freedom for herself and her husband, she temporarily traversed gender as well as racial lines.[13]

To Escape Bondage

Walter White, working on behalf of the NAACP, gathered facts about lynchings and other atrocities and carefully publicized them in an effort to arouse American public opinion. However, the daring way in which he pursued this task brought him close to danger. In 1919, he traveled to Phillips County, Arkansas, to investigate the deaths of some 250 blacks killed in an effort to discourage collective organization by African American cotton farmers. When whites in Phillips County became aware of White's purpose, he was forced to escape hurriedly. ―You‘re leaving mister, just when the fun is going to start,‖ White recalls being told by the conductor of the train on which he made his getaway. ―A damned yellow nigger is down here passing for white and the boys are going to get him.‖

To Get Information

Goaded by false stories of Negro men raping white women, a white mob terrorized blacks in Georgia‘s capital. Caught in town amidst marauding whites, two African Americans escaped serious injury only because of their light skin. They witnessed, however, terrible crimes: ―We saw a lame Negro bootblack . . . pathetically try to outrun a mob of whites. Less than a hundred yards from us the chase ended. We saw clubs and fists descending to the accompaniment of savage shouting and cursing. Suddenly a voice cried, ―There goes another nigger!‖ Its work done, the mob went after new prey. The body with the withered foot lay dead in a pool of blood in the street.

For Safety

Some passed as white during the workday, while

presenting themselves as African American outside of the

workplace. Chronicling this phenomenon in White By Day .

. . Negro by Night, a 1952 article in Ebony magazine

relates the following story: One girl who passed to get work

as a clerk in a Chicago loop department store thought she

had lost her job when an old-time, well-meaning friend of

her mother came in and said in happy

surprise, ―Well, Baby, it sure is good to see this store is

finally hiring colored girls.‖ Fortunately she was overheard

only by one other clerk who was a liberal and a good friend

of the girl who was passing and the secret did not get out.

To Advance Occupational Ambition

Prevented by state law from freeing his

slaves, Michael Healy sent his children to the North

where they could be educated and also be free of

bondage in the event of their father‘s demise. James

Augustine Healy (1830–1900) was a member of the

first graduating class of the College of the Holy Cross

in Worcester, Massachusetts. He pursued clerical

studies in Canada and France, became a priest in

Boston, and served for twenty-five years as the

Catholic bishop of Portland, Maine.

To Pursue Education

To shop, sleep, or eat meals at racially exclusive establishments

Hospitals were divided into two sections. The white section was clean and renovated; the black section, dirty and dilapidated. The physician took a light-skinned man to the white section of the hospital. Before long, though, a visit by a son-in-law apprized the hospital staff of their ―error.‖ His son wrote that his father ―was snatched from the examination table lest he contaminate the ‗white‘ air, and taken hurriedly across the street in a driving downpour . . . to the ‗Negro‘ ward‖ where he died sixteen days later.

To Get Access to Services

Rachel Kennedy passed as white not visually but aurally.

When pressed to talk on the telephone with some authority on an important matter—a consumer complaint, dealing with police, seeking employment or educational opportunities—she would adopt an accent that most listeners would associate with the speech of a white person. She put on countless stellar performances before an appreciative household audience that viewed these affairs as comical episodes in the American racial tragedy.

To Establish Credibility

St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton report that

some light-skinned Negroes in Chicago they

interviewed in the forties spoke of going to white

establishments ―just to see what they are like and to

get a thrill.‖

Curiosity and Fun

The non-fiction literature by and about passers is full of references to passing as a mode of resistance or subversion.

Ray Stannard Baker noted that passing awakened glee among many Negroes because they viewed it as a way of ―getting even with the dominant white man.‖

Langston Hughes repeatedly defended passing as a joke on racism.

Gregory Howard Williams relates that his father derived great psychic satisfaction by defying the rules of segregation when he lived in Virginia as the husband of a white woman and the President of a (supposedly) lily-white chapter of the American Legion.

Williams also relates that his brother got a thrill from romancing white girls who would surely have spurned him had they perceived him to be a Negro.

More Reasons to Pass

QHQs

The Human Stain

The Human StainColeman and the Charges of

Racism1. Q: Do you think that Coleman Silk had the intention to insult the

students by saying ―Do they exist or are they spooks?‖

2. Q: Would Coleman‘s students perceived him differently if they knew

he was black instead of Jewish White? How would this knowledge

affect his position?

3. Q: Why did none of Coleman‘s coworkers stand up for him when he

was accused of the racist remark?

4. Q: Would Coleman‘s coworkers have said anything if Coleman had

revealed himself as African American right then and there?

5. Q: Why did Coleman quit his job for being accused of being racist

when he could have resolved it?

6. Q: Why did Coleman‘s wife mysteriously die?

1. Q: Coleman was a great young boxer in his early school years, but

why does his dad make him stop?

2. Why didn‘t he continue boxing after his father‘s passing?

3. Q: When and why did Coleman first start letting go of his heritage?

4. Q. Why did Coleman apply as a white instead of a black to the army?

5. Q: Did Coleman make the correct decision in passing as a Jew?

6. Q: Was Coleman a prisoner?

7. Q: After decades of being married, why didn‘t Coleman tell his wife he

was African-American?

8. Q: How was Silk able to live with himself knowing his wife never knew

he was Black?

9. Q: Was Coleman selfish?

10. Q: Would Coleman have died if his wife hadn‘t?

Choices

Coleman and Steena

1. Why did Coleman introduce […] Steena to his mother, knowing

that she might leave him for that?

2. Why was Coleman sure that Steena would stay with him after

learning his lineage?

3. Why did Coleman not tell his girlfriend about his mother being

black before they met in person?

4. After Steena expressed how much she loved Coleman. Why

did she leave him after finding out he was passing as a white

male?

5. Will Steena regret her decision? Will she be better off without

Coleman?

6. Why didn‘t Coleman go after Steena and try to make things

right when she got up and left?

Coleman and Faunia

1. Q: What made Coleman so attracted to Faunia Farley? Did he think he

could save her?

2. Q: Why was Coleman so willing to share his secret with his young love

Faunia?

3. Q: What did Faunia Farley have that Coleman‘s wife didn‘t?

4. Q: Coleman said that he wanted to be free but was a prisoner instead;

does he feel free now that he told faunia? And if he were still alive

would he have told the rest of his friends and family?

5. Q: If Coleman hadn‘t told Faunia the truth would they have been in that

car together when her ex ran him off the road? If he hadn‘t stood up to

her ex initially would he even have been a threat to Coleman?

Larger Issues

1. Does color make that much difference to change your

love for the person just because of your color?

2. Can you really love someone if you don‘t know

everything about them?

3. Assuming we all think it is moral to allow everyone to

have equal opportunity, is it moral to still

make/have/keep racial distinctions ?

4. Is there a difference between intentionally passing and

allowing others to believe you are something or

someone you are not?

―The

Passing of

Grandison‖

Image from The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line:

Electronic Edition.Chesnutt, Charles W. (Charles

Waddell), 1858-1932Illustrated by Clyde O. De Land

"The Passing of Grandison”

1. Q: In what way does Grandison pass? Why?

2. Q: Grandison was a loyal servant to the Owens family what was it

that finally made him decide to run away?

3. Q: Was Grandison truly a loyal slave at first?

4. Q: Why does Grandison return after being free of slavery?

5. Q: What would ever be a good reason for someone to stay

enslaved when they have the opportunity for freedom?

6. Q: Do you think Grandison would have still wanted to escape if

he hadn‘t visited Canada?

7. Q: Was Grandison able to make a difference in the views of

slavery in their society upon his actions?

8. Q: What compelled Dick‘s father to believe his slaves would

actually not relish the prosperity of being free?

1. Since Dick has a wealthy dad and will inherit his fortunes, why does he go so far to impress his girlfriend when he could get any other girl?

2. Q: Were Dick’s actions truly heroic?

3. Q: Does it matter that Dick Owens is trying to help a slave escape just because he wants to impress a woman?

4. Q: What is going to happen now between Charity and Dick? Will the colonel ever find out what his son was trying to do during the trip?

What‘s up with Dick?

Essay #2

The Argument Essay

Introduction to Essay 2:

―If passing for white will get a fellow better accommodations

on the train, better seats in the theatre, immunity from

insults in public places, and may even save his life from a

mob,‖ wrote William Pickens, ―only idiots would fail to seize

the advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not

permanently‖ (―Racial Segregation,‖ Opportunity, December

1927 (3).

Write an essay of four to six pages arguing for or against

William Pickens‘s statement. Use support from the texts

you have read so far, The Human Stain, our

discussions, and your own insights. Remember to format

your essay in MLA style. This essay will require citations

and a works cited page.

The Prompt: If passing for white will get a fellow better accommodations on the train,

better seats in the theatre, immunity from insults in public places, and may

even save his life from a mob,‖ only idiots would fail to seize the

advantages of passing, at least occasionally if not permanently.‖

Do you agree with Pickens's

statement?

If yes, why?

If no, why not?

HOMEWORK

Reading: Hughes: "Who's

Passing for Who?‖

Post #9 : QHQ: ―Who‘s

Passing for Who?‖

Think about Pickens‘s

statement and whether you

agree with it or not.

Consider which texts you

might use to support your

beliefs. How would you use

them?