4. QHQ: “WHO‟S PASSING FOR WHO?”
BY LANGSTON HUGHES
• Why did Caleb have white folks as visitors in Harlem anyway? What
was the couple‟s and red-headed man‟s real purpose of visiting
Harlem?
• Why does Caleb often take the side of the white man in social
confrontations?
• Why does Caleb feel the need to apologize to his white guests for
being ignorant about colored people passing?
5. • For what reason did the Iowan couple wish to pass for black?
• Why did the couple share with the rest of the folks that they
were also colored after Stubblefield from Iowa left?
• Are they really passing as white?
• Did the white couple tell Caleb and his friends that they were
“colored” as a way to deceive and make fun of them or to make
everyone feel more comfortable?
• It seems almost cruel what the “light-colored” folk did, but
were they wrong or was there a new perspective due to
passing as white then black then white again?
• Did the couple gain anything from that situation other than
fooling a group of people for evening and having a chance to
taste what it was like to live in their shoes? Did they begin to
treat [the African-American] people with more respect and
decency?
6. • Why did knowing/thinking that the visitors from
Iowa were blacks passing for whites change the
mood of the night from that point on?
• If the couple didn‟t tell them that they were [black]
passing as white, would they still have had a great
time?
• Does being around your own race really change the way
you behave in public?
• Why did everyone start laughing once they realized that
the husband and wife were passing as white people?
• How does race affect the social gathering between the
whites and blacks while drinking with each other at the
bar?
7. • What‟s the real race of that couple from Iowa?
• If the couple was white why would they lie and pretend to be
black?
• If they were black, why would they end the night by saying they
were black?
• Why does the white couple decide to tell the truth to the narrator
and his friends finally?
• Are they truly white people like they said at the end?
• Is the “white” couple really white? Or are they just playing tricks
on everybody by claiming they are really white in the end?
• Would the story change its meaning if the couple were actually
black or white?
8. Why are the white guests predisposed to defend a white
female versus a colored female in any sort of dispute ?
Should we feel a connection to someone in order to give aid to
someone, or should we just do it out of the goodness of our
hearts?
After the woman was being hit by her husband, why did she
get up and defend her husband ?
How would society in that day view the red haired man in two
separate scenarios: He intervenes when a black man beats a white
woman, and he intervenes when a black man beats his black wife.
Is one “just/accepted” and the other not?
Why did the others questioned Mr. Stubblefield‟s
motives, when they themselves took no action to help the
woman?
9. • What did “they had had too much fun at our expense–even if they did
pay for the drinks.” mean?
• Will the narrator and his friends regret what they have done? Will
they change their manner when meeting white friends after this
experience?
• Why [were the “literary ones”] upset at the people passing as [black]
and so matter a fact about [blacks] passing as white?
• Does this quote remain true by the end of the short story: “We literary
ones considered ourselves too broad-minded to be bothered with
questions of color”?
• Who‟s passing as Who? The black or the white?
10. If
DO YOU READ QUEER so, where
do you see
PASSING IN THE STORY? hints of it?
11. BENNETT, JUDA. “MULTIPLE PASSINGS
AND THE DOUBLE DEATH OF
LANGSTON HUGHES.”
HONOLULU: FALL 2000.
VOL. 23, ISS. 4; PG. 670, 25 PGS
12. BENNETT‟S THESIS: WITH A SENSE
OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN
VOYEUR AND OBJECT,
HOMOPHOBE AND
HOMOSEXUAL, INSIDE AND
OUTSIDE, "WHO'S PASSING FOR
WHO?" INTERWEAVES THE
EXPLICIT THEME OF RACIAL
PASSING WITH THE BURIED
THEME OF THE CLOSET.
13. Bennett writes,
[Assertion] The voice of the narrator is the key to
discovering this buried, or closety, theme . Although
critics have been surprisingly silent about the narrator's
various and potential passings, there are several
reasons for reading his character as false or at least
layered. [Evidence] He admits, for example, to at least
one performance when he states that "we dropped our
professionally self-conscious 'Negro' manners... and
kidded freely like colored folks do when there are no
white folks around" (173). [Explanation] Although
Langston Hughes is working within an African American
tradition that has often explored the nature of
performance as it relates to racial difference and
insider/outsider communities, [Analysis] this story
further layers that dynamic with other marks of
difference.
14. [Evidence] Before the action begins, the prolix and witty
narrator introduces his friends and himself as "too broad-
minded to be bothered with questions of color."
[Explanation] This statement sets up the dramatic irony
that positions the narrator for his ultimate blunder: being
fooled by the white Iowans. [Analysis] Although the
narrator's bohemian world is meant to stand in contrast to
the boring white folks from Iowa, Hughes eventually
reverses the roles. The Iowans prove to be the tricksters,
and the narrator must confront his own naiveté. That the
narrator could not see through the Iowans' dissimulation is
funny, ironic, interesting-but in the end, not entirely
believable.
15. What happens, though, if we read the narrator's bohemian
world as a homosocial world? [Assertion] When we divide
the entire cast of characters into single men and
heterosexual couples, we discover that racial passing only
occurs within the heterosexual realm. Not only does the
Iowan couple pass, but so too does the only other woman,
half of the only other heterosexual couple in the story.
[Analysis] We might then see these racial passings as
deflecting attention from the narrator and his friends, who
become boring and unremarkable despite the initial flair
with which they are introduced. [Logical Conclusion] Racial
passing becomes a decoy, distracting our attention from
the performances of the bohemian bachelors.
16. [Assertion] Before Hughes initiates the drama of racial
passing, he comes dangerously close to revealing the "perverse"
nature of the narrator and his bachelor friends:
[Evidence] “You see, Caleb and his white friends, too, were all
bores. Or so we, who lived in Harlem's literary bohemia during
the "Negro Renaissance," thought. We literary ones considered
ourselves too broad-minded to be bothered with questions of
color. We liked people of any race who smoked
incessantly, drank liberally, wore complexion and morality as
loose garments, and made fun of anyone who didn't do likewise.
We snubbed and high-hatted any Negro or white luckless
enough not to understand Gertrude Stein ....” (Hughes 170)
17. [Concession]Although the narrator assumes this affected tone,
his dandified attitude and the passing reference to Gertrude
Stein hardly mark him fully and definitively as a homosexual.
[Assertion] Nevertheless, the title, with its bad grammar calling
attention to itself, encourages speculation. Who is passing for
whom? [Explanation/Analysis] Surely the author would have
planted more and trickier trickster figures than the Iowans to
fully justify his title. Furthermore, the narrative has already
schooled us in the surprising fluidity of identity, and so readers
are encouraged to suspect more revelations and exposures.
18. [Concession] To those who would argue that the subject of passing
lends itself to this kind of wild and speculative reading-after
all, everything is performance, and everybody passes-I heartily agree.
[Final Assertion] I am finally arguing that in his
autobiographies, poetry, fiction, and drama, Hughes returned to the
subject of passing throughout his career because he was fascinated
with identity as something unstable and "queer." With their emphasis
on compensation rather than loss, questions rather than answers, the
unknown rather than the known, and curiosity rather than
punishment, Hughes's writings on sexual identity invite comparison to
his exploration of racial passing.
20. BRAINSTORMING WITH FREECASH
F= Freedom, Fairness, Legality, Human Rights, Social Justice
R = Religion, Morality, Ethics
E = Economics, Monetary Issues, Finances, Expenses
E = Environment (types of environments = natural, rural, urban, workplace, home, school)
C = Convenience, Comfort
A = Appearance, Aesthetics
S = Safety, Security
H = Health, Well Being (types of health = individual, societal, mental, physical, emotional,
spiritual)
21. PRACTICE ORGANIZING AN ESSAY ON THE
ISSUE OF SCHOOL UNIFORMS. USE THE
FREECASH IN THE CHART BELOW .
CATEGORIES PRO/FOR CON/AGAINST
FREEDOM Students should be free Students should be free to wear
from stigma attached to what they want
class.
RELIGION/MORALIT
Y
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENT
CONVENIENCE
APPEARANCE Makes the students look like
clones
SAFETY Keeps students safe from
gang violence due to colors
HEALTH
22. 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.”
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, our discussions, and your own insights.
23. L I S T A L L T H E R E A S O N S T O AG R E E W I T H P I C K E N S O N O N E S I D E A N D A L L
T H E R E A S O N S T O D I S AG R E E O N T H E O T H E R . T H E S I D E W I T H T H E M O S T
O R B E S T R E A S O N S W I L L P R O B A B LY M A K E A B E T T E R A R G U M E N T.
CATEGORIES PRO/FOR CON/AGAINST
FREEDOM
RELIGION/MORALITY
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENT
CONVENIENCE
APPEARANCE
SAFETY
HEALTH
24. SUPPORT
Consider which texts will support your ideas.
Hughes “Passing,” “Passing,” and “Who‟s Passing for
Who?”
Chesnutt “The Passing of Grandison”
Kennedy “Racial Passing”
Pickens “Racial Segregation”
Roth The Human Stain
Morrison “Recitatif”
26. YOUR THESIS
In this case, your working thesis will be your position on William
Pickens’s statement and your reasons for your belief: Do you agree with
him or not? Why or why not? You may refer to Pickens or not in your
thesis.
Racial passing is a personal decision, and people should seize the
opportunity if they can in order to defeat racism and discrimination.
Passing is a selfish act that reinforces hierarchy in society, and it should
be avoided despite the opportunities it offers the individual.
27. You may qualify your thesis, for example, by adding a phrase that acknowledges there
are exceptions to your assertion.
For example, if you disagree with Pickens in general but want to acknowledge that
there are specific circumstances in which passing is acceptable, you might say
something like, “While racial passing for personal safety is a necessary and acceptable
behavior, passing in general violates community norms and reinforces the social
construct of racism.”
If you agree with Pickens but want to acknowledge there are specific circumstances
in which passing is unacceptable, you might say something like, “While full time
passing violates familial and community connections and should be avoided, the wise
person will pass part time to take advantage of the benefits it can reap, including the
opportunities to escape racism and oppression.”
Notice that these theses still assert clear stances. Don’t be vague or ambiguous with
your position.
28. TONI MORRISON
1931-
To n i M o rri s on wa s bo rn i n Lo ra i n
Oh i o . Sh e i s t h e a ut h o r o f s eve n
n ovels, a pl ay, a n d a wo rk o f
l i te rar y c ri t i c i sm. „ „ Re c i t i t af‟ ‟ i s h e r
o n l y publ i s h e d wo rk o f s h o r t
fi c t i o n. Si n c e 1 9 87 s h e h a s fo c us e d
m a i nly o n w ri t i n g but h a s a l s o
t a ug h t c l a s ses a t Ya l e a n d
P ri n c eton Un i ver sit ies .
M o rri so n i s o n e o f t h e m o s t l ove d
a n d re s pe c te d w ri te r s o f t h e l a te
t we n t i et h c e n t ur y. Seve ra l o f h e r
bo o k s h ave be e n be s t s e lle r s, a n d
s h e i s t h e re c i pi e nt o f a n um be r o f
pre s t i gious l i te ra r y awa rds . In 1 9 9 3
M o rri so n wa s awa rde d t h e N o be l
P ri z e fo r Li te ra t ure , be c o m i ng t h e
fi r s t Afri c a n Am e ri c an to w i n t h i s
h o n o r.
29. HOMEWORK
Reading Morrison: “Recitatif.”
Post #10: Write a paragraph defending passing.
Try to come up with at least three reasons. Write
another paragraph condemning passing using
another three reasons. Use evidence from our
readings to support your reasons.
Post #11: QHQ "Recitatif"