Denise,

This is a very good subject to discuss. This subject of "passing for white" has been around for a long time, but in my family it was a taboo. The (taboo) was that because, some of my relatives "passed" and helped the family, it would hurt the family if it was found out. So it was not discussed openly. My grandfather passed for "white" all his life up until right before he died. My grandfather never acknowledged my mother until he was dying in a hospital bed. An incident happen to change this. He wanted to see my mother and her children and to let her know who he was and had a relative to contact her. When my mother went to see my grandfather, he was in a private room in the hospital and the nurse would not let my mother and some of her children in to see him because, she said only family could see him. My grandfather was half white and Indian, but he looked (white) with black hair and blue eyes. When my grandfather told the (white) nurse that my mother was his daughter, she was upset and had him moved to a ward. My grandfather's other sisters and brothers also looked white, so when they came to see him it was no problem. Some of them passed for (white) and others did not. When I checked his death record he was buried as a (black) man.

Glenda