That Middle World: Race, Performance, and the Politics of Passing
Julia S. Charles
University of North Carolina Press
Charles examines how mixed-race subjects invent cultural spaces for themselves through various performance strategies. Focusing on works by writers from the antebellum period through Reconstruction, Charles examines racial passing by analyzing mixed-race characters' social objectives when crossing into other racialized spaces. Charles connects to contemporary figures -- including Rachel Dolezal and her Black-passing controversy.