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Passing

March 2023
1min read


Thanks for the well-written article, “Passing,” by Shirley Taylor Haizlip (February/March). What devastation prejudice can bring to family and society. Reading her article reminded me of the people who speed past me on the road only to have me drive up behind them at the next traffic light. Prejudice has but the slightest variation on this analogy: American prejudices are so pervasive that we are always running from some group only to find that our running was in vain. “Passing” tells us once more that we are the group from which we’re running.

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Born during Jim Crow, Belle da Costa Greene perfected the art of "passing" while working for one of the most powerful men in America.