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Nella Larsen's Passing

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“You can’t escape what you are.” Ms. Mary Louise Downing repeated this statement multiple times during our conversation. Ms. Downing battled raising a daughter in the 1950’s. Her struggle came only partially because of her finances. She quoted that she had skin complexion “dark as midnight”, while her daughter’s complexion was “bright enough to out shine the stars.” Similar to any parent raising a colored child in the 1950’s, she fear for her child every second she was not in her eyesight. Despite the repeal of the “separate but equal” laws and the later civil right movement in the 1960’s, American society was slow to accept social change. Ms. Downing’s fear came from her daughter who she remembers appears as white and repeated stated that …show more content…

Yet, had to fight for sane stability, an urge within a race of whiteness and a desire to pour racial individuality into American standardization and to be as little negro, and as much American as possible. Initially after reading Nella Larsen's " Passing " I was very convinced that if I had the chance to present myself to the world as another race I wouldn’t because of the psychological effects. As i compare the characters in the story and Carlina, I make an assumption that, they comitted the act of passing out of greed. “As much things change, they stay the same” For years African American were victims, victims by choice and circumstances. “It’s a sin to be ashamed of what you are” Blacks had given birth to such beautiful things including jazz. It’s a beautiful thing to be proud of. You are a victim by choice, if you choose to allow society to turn you against what beauty that has been created. In "The Negro Artist and the Racial Moutain ",Langston Hughes expresses his disappointment with black artist who would paint images of a white world because they feared criticism. The Negro artist works against an undertow of sharp criticism and misunderstanding from his own group and unintentional bribes from the whites. "Oh, be respectable, write about nice people, show how good we are," say the Negroes. "Be stereotyped, don't go too far, don't shatter our illusions about you, don't amuse us too seriously. We will pay you," say the whites.(Hughes 1926) I initially thought, they felt if they followed the desires of the white world they had better chances of succeeding. The interview gave me a different insight. African Americans have worked hard to pave a better view for younger generations, only for younger generations to only want what is in the past. “There is nothing more worse than having sight and still not being able to

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