Passing: What do you deserve? Society decides.
It is hard to understand what "passing" is. Let me break it down simply. Passing is when a person of color tries to look like, or "pass as", a person of lighter color or even of non-color. Why would someone want to do this you ask? Well it’s simple. Society treats people of light skin with more respect, more opportunities, more class, and quite honestly society is just plain nicer to lighter skinned people. So that is where passing comes into play. Darker skin people feel the need to try and either become lighter or make people believe that they are lighter. They do this because those are the people society accepts. Those are the people who are treated like people! It is natural to want that respect, to want the same opportunities, to want that high class status. But when society frowns upon you by the color of your skin, something you are born with, something that is nearly impossible to change, you try to convince people that you are not what they see on the outside.
Passing was not something taken lightly. To pull a wool over an entire societies eyes was an extreme offense and punishable by law. Being caught or accused of passing could result in prison time or even being lynched. Being hung was a punishment for pretending to be a lighter color! People committing murders and violent acts are getting prison time and people who are trying to be accepted by society are getting lynched. Where is the justice in that? People of color have worse bathrooms, restaurants, parks, schooling, houses, and countless other things. People of color had a life of being treated unfairly and with no respect. So why is it so hard to believe that they would want to leave that life behind and get the respect that other people are getting? But if they were caught passing then they would be imprisoned or lynched. How is that fair? It doesn't have to be. Society makes its own rules and until someone says otherwise, these rules are accepted. So people of color are forced to pass as something they’re not in order to live a life worth living. Some may say that no one is forcing these people to pass, that colored people could just follow the rules. But what choice do colored people have if they are being forced by society and the laws that society abides by, to live in fear and oppression. Colored people don't have a choice. It was either be oppressed or lie to society, yourself, and everyone around you so that you can live a happier life.
To be completely honest, I would have done the same thing. The risk of death is worth the world that you would enter. It may seem like a crazy view but when you've seen the way colored people are treated and the way they have to live and struggle, you would give anything to change it just as quickly as I would. Passing would be my choice.
Would it be yours?