Reverse Passing

73 Pages Posted: 22 Feb 2016 Last revised: 14 Mar 2017

See all articles by Khaled A. Beydoun

Khaled A. Beydoun

Arizona State Univeristy (ASU) College of Law

Erika K. Wilson

University of North Carolina School of Law

Date Written: February 21, 2016

Abstract

Throughout American history untold numbers of people have concealed their true racial identities and assumed a white racial identity in order to reap the economic, political and social benefits associated with whiteness. This phenomenon is known as passing. While legal scholars have thoroughly investigated passing in its conventional form; the corollary process of reverse passing – the process in which whites conceal their true racial identity and present themselves as non-white – has not been closely investigated within legal scholarship. Rachel Dolezal provides a timely study of the process of reverse passing. Dolezal – an Africana Studies Instructor and head of the Spokane, Washington NAACP – was outed as being white after years of phenotypically and culturally presenting herself as a Black woman. Dolezal’s “outing” generated much popular debate and scholarly discourse, most of which tended to frame her actions as a one-off occurrence by a deviant actor. This Article takes a contrary position. Though reverse passing is often framed as deviant or irrational, this Article demonstrates how the Court’s affirmative action jurisprudence creates tangible and intangible incentives for white actors to identify as non-white. It suggests that the Court’s entrenchment of the diversity rationale as the primary compelling state interest that can be used to justify race-conscious affirmative action programs, generated situational value in non-whiteness. That situational value in non-whiteness now creates incentives that previously did not exist for whites to reverse-pass in order to obtain access to opportunities in education, employment and beyond. This Article is the first to coin, analyze and propose a theory of reverse passing. It also deepens the rich and rising scholarship examining performance theory and the pliability of racial identity. Finally, given the reconsideration of the diversity rationale by the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, this Article also provides an opportunity to critically examine the merits and shortcomings of the diversity rationale. 

Suggested Citation

Beydoun, Khaled and Wilson, Erika K., Reverse Passing (February 21, 2016). UCLA Law Review, Vol. 64 (2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2735958

Khaled Beydoun (Contact Author)

Arizona State Univeristy (ASU) College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States

Erika K. Wilson

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States

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