Passing In Baz Dreisinger's Near Black

The concept of passing stands for “racial passing,” when members of one race pass for another. In Baz Dreisinger’s article, “Near Black,” the author creatively addresses the ongoing struggle of African-Americans passing in society, shedding cultural identity in order to match a social status. Throughout history, many individuals attempted to pass as members of a higher social status or as though they belonged to a different race, or even as those with a higher education. The most common trend of racial passing could be dated far before the epoch of Martin Luther King Jr. While African-Americans pursued passing as white individuals to escape slavery, other individuals wanted to be accepted into society. Particularly in the United States, immigrants

Recently NPR discussed the repercussions of passing in a segment, “All Things Considered,” and revealed the loneliness that people who successfully pass. While covering one’s race may be deemed the most popular form of passing, many African-Americans find themselves isolated from their culture, never fully included in the new one. As a result, they are stuck in between, cut from their roots and failing to find support and a place in their new life. They experience a “loss of self. Loss of family. Loss of community”(Bates). Similarly to African-Americans, immigrants from Russia dive into American culture with abandon, forgetting their roots and foregoing their language. They become impersonators, anxious about their performance and afraid of being discovered. They are not free to lead their lives and enjoy new opportunities. Instead of pursuing freedom, they close themselves into a rigid cage of American expectations. Furthermore, people who pass loose their self and their community(Bates). They become orphaned, removed from their families, from their past and their family narrative. Some have to erase their past with its anecdotes and repeated stories. Just like African-Americans, Russians have to abandon their past, filled with narratives and events. As a result, myself included, we rob ourselves from our

In Diana Burk’s article, "No Country for a Russian-American like Me," she suggests that living with two cultures is taxing since one has to stand up for differences in both cultures. Individuals feel patriotic for their new country, but do not want to forget their past, being forced to constantly defend each country. Their hyphenated status as Russian-Americans makes them vulnerable from attacks from both Americans and Russians, turning their lives into a constant struggle, discussing events from different perspectives, and trying to keep an open mind about political events. With increased animosity between Putin and Trump, Russian-Americans find themselves between a rock and a hard place, unable to stay away from the news, always the target of questions like “Yes, but do you feel more American or more Russian?’”(Burk). Nevertheless, the narrative of the country, of one family, old jokes and anecdotes remind Russian-Americans of the past, of people left behind, tragedies witnessed and push one to voice a politically incorrect opinion among monolingual