Comments on: Passing as Pragmatism: The Life of Belle da Costa Greene http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2009/02/25/passing-as-pragmatism-the-life-of-belle-da-costa-greene/ A civil rights blog promoting informed discourse on issues of race, justice, equality and democracy. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:11:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Monica http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2009/02/25/passing-as-pragmatism-the-life-of-belle-da-costa-greene/comment-page-1/#comment-8834 Monica Fri, 08 Oct 2010 00:12:20 +0000 http://thedefendersonline.org/?p=3984#comment-8834 I am currently reading the book by Ardizzone on Belle DeCosta Greene and I have to say that the pictures in the book do not look like someone who could have passed for white to me. She clearly looks African American and I am puzzled as to how people accepted it. In the book others commented about her being black but I guess no one confronted her, but the pictures clearly show her as being black. No one today would mistake her for being white. Perhaps they did know, hence the reason she never married or had children. Sad. I am currently reading the book by Ardizzone on Belle DeCosta Greene and I have to say that the pictures in the book do not look like someone who could have passed for white to me. She clearly looks African American and I am puzzled as to how people accepted it. In the book others commented about her being black but I guess no one confronted her, but the pictures clearly show her as being black. No one today would mistake her for being white.

Perhaps they did know, hence the reason she never married or had children. Sad.

]]> By: A.D. Powell http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2009/02/25/passing-as-pragmatism-the-life-of-belle-da-costa-greene/comment-page-1/#comment-5871 A.D. Powell Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:51:16 +0000 http://thedefendersonline.org/?p=3984#comment-5871 Belle da Costa Greene was a European American of mixed-race ancestry - nothing unusual about that. Belle, her mother and siblings knew that they were NOT members of the "Negro race," and did not follow the mulatto elite doctrine that they were not worthy of the honor of their white ancestry and only good enough to be "superior" types of "Negroes." Belle da Costa Greene, Anatole Broyard and other multiracial whites should be honored for rejecting the racist doctrine of hypodescent. People who are physically white and publicly identify as "black" or its current equivalent are motivated by fears and myths indoctrinated in them from childhood. They are never comfortable identifying with a "race" and "culture" that is obviously not theirs. Belle da Costa Greene was a European American of mixed-race ancestry – nothing unusual about that. Belle, her mother and siblings knew that they were NOT members of the “Negro race,” and did not follow the mulatto elite doctrine that they were not worthy of the honor of their white ancestry and only good enough to be “superior” types of “Negroes.” Belle da Costa Greene, Anatole Broyard and other multiracial whites should be honored for rejecting the racist doctrine of hypodescent. People who are physically white and publicly identify as “black” or its current equivalent are motivated by fears and myths indoctrinated in them from childhood. They are never comfortable identifying with a “race” and “culture” that is obviously not theirs.

]]> By: James Thorthon http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2009/02/25/passing-as-pragmatism-the-life-of-belle-da-costa-greene/comment-page-1/#comment-107 James Thorthon Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:00:25 +0000 http://thedefendersonline.org/?p=3984#comment-107 Superbly written! Superbly written!

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