A review by msshel330
A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in America by Allyson Hobbs

5.0

An interesting examination on the issue of African Americans passing for white. The book starts in the antebellum period and goes up to the 1940's, when the burgeoning Civil Rights movement made blacks in the U.S feel more optimistic about the future and less likely to pass.

While there are some personal stories of passing, the secretive nature of the act means that much of the book is about the general risks and rewards (but more risks) of crossing the color line.

It is a thoughtful and well researched book.