Clearly Invisible: Racial Passing and the Color of Cultural Identity by Marcia Dawkins

A pioneering work in the study of race and culture, Marcia Dawkins reveals that everyone passes – not just racial minorities – and that passing has been occurring for millennia. Clearly Invisible retells contemporary expressions and historically significant occurrences of individuals called passers. Along the way, Dawkins traces passing’s legal, political, and literary manifestations, questioning whether passing can be a form of empowerment (even while implying secrecy) and suggesting that passing could be one of the first expressions of multiracial identity in the U.S. as it seeks its own social standing.

Baylor University Press, $29.95, August 1, 2012, ISBN #: 9781602583122