Migration

Migration is a common theme in texts on racial passing. Passing often involved moving away from one’s community, a change in location following a change in one’s identity. In Greene’s own life, her family began to pass shortly after moving from Washington, D.C. to New York City. In the broader culture, the twentieth century saw more than six million African Americans move from the American South to other parts of the United States as part of the Great Migration. This movement was unrelated to racial passing, yet its driving force was to similarly pursue better economic prospects and escape racial violence.