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* Jacqueline from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American (Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheating husband
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* Jacqueline from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American (Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheating husbandhusband.
* ''Series/Watchmen2019'': As [[spoiler: Hooded Justice]] Will pretended to be white by putting makeup on what little skin showed beneath his mask, due to the rampant racism of the time.
* ''Series/Watchmen2019'': As [[spoiler: Hooded Justice]] Will pretended to be white by putting makeup on what little skin showed beneath his mask, due to the rampant racism of the time.
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* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides the fact that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
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* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides the fact that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, adviser, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
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[[folder:Film]]
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* Rosa in the ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' book ''Rosa's Lie'' moved to America from Mexico when she was four. She tries to blend in at her school by hiding that she's Mexican, going as far as to call herself "Rose".
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* In ''Fanfic/NowThatICanSeeYourFaceICanStandUpToAnything'', Fred is half-Native American but dyes his hair blond to blend in more at his school. He was born with blond hair but it's become brownish since then.
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* Jacqueline from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American (Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheating husband.
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* Laura Montez from ''Series/{{Veep}}'''s maiden name is the very British "Cunningham" and she was born in the very white state of Connecticut before moving to another very white state, Ohio as a child. After college, she married a man who was born in Mexico, took his surname, and moved to the majority Latino state of New Mexico. In order to be the TokenMinority, she lets people assume she's a white-passing Latina. She often says her first name "Low-rah" like you would in Spanish rather than "Lore-a" like you would in English.
* Jacqueline from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American (Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheatinghusband.husband
* Jacqueline from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American (Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheating
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery. Furthermore, some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves requires bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery. Furthermore, some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* Horace in ''Film/CSATheConfederateStatesOfAmerica'' accuses John Ambrose Fauntroy of having black ancestry, which would ruin his chances at the Confederate presidency. Most damning was the phrase "he got the jungle blood, and he know it too!", hinting that Fauntroy knew he was part black and hid it. [[spoiler:It's not made clear if Horace was telling the truth or not, but considering that Fauntroy killed himself after losing the election...]]
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* Horace in ''Film/CSATheConfederateStatesOfAmerica'' accuses John Ambrose Fauntroy of having black ancestry, which would ruin his chances at the Confederate presidency. Most damning was the phrase "he got the jungle blood, and he know it too!", hinting that Fauntroy knew he was part black and hid it. [[spoiler:It's not made clear if Horace was telling the truth or not, but considering that Fauntroy killed himself after losing the election...election.]]
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* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' combines this with HideYourOtherness, as the movie takes place in a fictionalised UsefulNotes/LosAngeles where {{Toon}}s are a persecuted minority. The villain turns out to be a Toon in a HumanDisguise aiming to commit GenocideFromTheInside for his own profit.
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and cemetery. Furthermore, some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'', ''Literature/HarryPotter'' covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in Voldemort]] from ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covers up his half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only Death Eater to acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers".
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* Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covered up that his father was a {{Muggle|s}} so he could use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers. His only follower who seems to know is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers."
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* Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covered covers up that his father was a {{Muggle|s}} half-{{Muggle|s}} ancestry so he could can use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacism]] to rally his followers. His followers, called Death Eaters. At least some of them may know his parentage, since the ritual that resurrects him involves bone from his father's grave in a Muggle cemetery, and some older Death Eaters who went to WizardingSchool with Voldemort may remember that his original surname didn't come from any [[BlueBlood pureblood families]]. But the only follower who seems Death Eater to know acknowledge this is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers."fathers".
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* Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covered up that his father was a {{Muggle|s}} so he could use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacy]] to rally his followers. His only follower who seems to know is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers."
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* Lord Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', covered up that his father was a {{Muggle|s}} so he could use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacy]] supremacism]] to rally his followers. His only follower who seems to know is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Junior]], who sympathises with Voldemort because they "both had disappointing fathers."
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', who tried to cover up the fact his father was a muggle because pureblood supremacy was one of the causes he could use to rally his servants around him. The only one of his servants who seems to be aware of it is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Jr]], who admits to feeling sympathy for Voldemort because "we both had disappointing fathers."
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* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] Voldemort, the BigBad in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', who tried to cover covered up the fact that his father was a muggle because pureblood supremacy was one of the causes {{Muggle|s}} so he could use [[FantasticCasteSystem pureblood supremacy]] to rally his servants around him. The followers. His only one of his servants follower who seems to be aware of it know is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Jr]], Junior]], who admits to feeling sympathy for sympathises with Voldemort because "we both they "both had disappointing fathers."
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** Portgas D. Ace's mother tried to hide the fact that he is the son of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, by postponing his birth until long after Roger's death, because the Marines were hunting pregnant women and young mothers for the possible chance that Roger may have a child. Only Ace himself, Garp (his adopted grandpa), Luffy and Sabo (his adopted brothers) know about this fact.
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** Portgas D. Ace's mother tried to hide the fact that he is the son of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, by postponing his birth until long after Roger's death, because the Marines were hunting pregnant women and young mothers for the possible chance that Roger may have a child. Only Ace himself, Garp (his adopted grandpa), Dadan and her bandit family (his adopted family), Luffy and Sabo (his adopted brothers) know knew about this fact.it for his childhood. When he went out to sea, however, the World Government found out about it through unknown means and broadcast the information at his execution.
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A character hides their ethnic background for whatever reason, though fears of persecution or hiding their family are the usual causes. This involves trying to "pass" as another race (usually white) and might include creating a NaturalizedName. If the person doesn't pass well-enough this is a PassFail.
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A character hides their ethnic background for whatever reason, though either fears of persecution or hiding their family are the usual causes. This involves trying to "pass" as another race (usually white) and might include creating a NaturalizedName. If the person doesn't pass well-enough this is a PassFail.
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* In the ''Avatar the Last Airbender'' oneshot ''Fanfic/OnlyTrulyDead'', June, Ty Lee, the sand-benders, and the Yu-Yan Archers are all descended from Air Nomad who survived the Fire Nation genocide. They all either hide their heritage or don't know of it, leaving Aang to believe he is the LastOfHisKind.
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* Jefferson from the 1920 film ''Film/TheSymbolOfTheUnconquered'' is half-black and half-white. He tries to pass as white and it usually works. His one PassFail occured because his (black) mother showed up at the wrong time.
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[[folder: Real Life]]
* A woman named Gail Lukasik grew up believing herself to be white, but noted her mother's odd behavior growing up. Her mother mother avoided exposing her skin to the sun, wore heavy makeup even when going to sleep, and never let her children meet any of her family. Decades later, Lukasik was digging through old family records and found out her mother and her family were listed as black, with her mother's birth certificate confirming it. She confronted her mother, who reluctantly admitted to being mostly African-American, but passed herself off as a white woman from young adulthood on, even to her husband. She made her daughter promise never to tell anyone her secret while she was still alive, and after her death Lukasik published a book called "White Like Her", in which she details her discovery and family history. View this news video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNiEBnOzgVw here]] for more information.
[[/folder]]
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* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
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* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' ''Series/CasoCerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
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* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' had a variant: George's biological sister (who's Hispanic) was [[ObliviousAdoption adopted by an Italian family]] and thus grew up unintentionally passing until she discovered her biological family.
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* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' had a variant: George's biological sister (who's Hispanic) hispanic) was [[ObliviousAdoption adopted by an Italian family]] and thus grew up unintentionally passing until she discovered her biological family.
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->''"My birth certificate doesn’t say that I’m Xhosa, which technically I am. And it doesn’t say that I’m Swiss, which the government wouldn’t allow. It just says that I’m from another country. My father isn’t on my birth certificate. Technically, he’s never been my father."''
-->-- '''Creator/TrevorNoah''', ''Literature/BornACrime''
-->-- '''Creator/TrevorNoah''', ''Literature/BornACrime''
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* Horace in ''Film/CSATheConfederateStatesOfAmerica'' accuses John Ambrose Fauntroy of having black ancestry, which would ruin his chances at the Confederate presidency. Most damning was the phrase "he got the jungle blood, and he know it too!", hinting that Fauntroy knew he was part black and hid it. [[spoiler:It's not made clear if Horace was telling the truth or not, but considering that Fauntroy killed himself after losing the election...]]
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* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura, she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Miss Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy. She lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. Not soon afterwards Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be as rich and high class as Miss Laura.
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* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' ''Literature/{{Sarny}}'' meets Miss Laura, she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Miss Laura takes in Sanry Sarny and her friend Lucy. She lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. Not soon afterwards Sanry Sarny finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry Sarny is amazed that a black woman could be as rich and high class as Miss Laura.
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* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku is a Kryptonian who is constantly trying to pass for a Japanese human boy with an amazing Quirk to steer clear of his world's anti-alien hysteria. Luckily, the House of El originated on Twenx in this story, which gives him typical Asian features as well as dark hair and eyes, [[HiddenInPlainSight allowing him to blend right in.]]
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[[folder: Fan Works]]
* In the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' fanfic ''Fanfic/SonOfTheDesert'', Edward and Alphonse are half-Ishvalan through their mother. They don't look Ishvalan, so people don't know this unless [[YouKnowImBlackRight they mention it]].
[[/folder]]
* In the ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' fanfic ''Fanfic/SonOfTheDesert'', Edward and Alphonse are half-Ishvalan through their mother. They don't look Ishvalan, so people don't know this unless [[YouKnowImBlackRight they mention it]].
[[/folder]]
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-->'''Babs:''' Yes. When she moved to America, her family changed their name. It was originally "Hebrewbergmoneygrabber".
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-->'''Babs:''' Yes. When she moved to America, her family changed their name. It was originally "Hebrewbergmoneygrabber"."Hebrewbergmoneygrabber".
[[/folder]]
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[[/folder]]
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* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura, she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Miss Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. Not soon later, Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so rich and high class like Miss Laura.
to:
* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura, she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Miss Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and Lucy. She lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. Not soon later, afterwards Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so as rich and high class like as Miss Laura.
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* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Ms. Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. Not soon later, Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so rich and high class like Miss Laura.
to:
* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura Laura, she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Ms. Miss Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. Not soon later, Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so rich and high class like Miss Laura.
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* ''Literature/StarSmashersOfTheGalaxyRangers'' has a war between two races of giant scorpion-like aliens, a black (good) and a white (evil) one. An albino of the black race works undercover on the enemy planet.
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* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', Jacqueline dyes her hair blonde and wears contact lenses to hide her Native American heritage.
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* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' had a variant: George's biological sister (who's Hispanic) was [[ObliviousAdoption adopted by an Italian family]] and thus grew up unintentionally passing until she discovered her biological family.
* Jacquelinedyes her hair blonde and wears contact lenses to hide her from ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' is Native American heritage.
(Lakota specifically), but uses hair dye and make-up to look white. She treated her heritage as a point of shame, but comes to embrace it more after divorcing her cheating husband.
* Jacqueline
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* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involved a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white. The earlier episode "Hero" also has a demonblooded youth sneer to Doyle that Doyle's life must have been a cakewalk compared to his own, as Doyle, while also part-demon, is "passing" (i.e., looks human, unlike the boy).
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* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involved a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white. The earlier episode ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** "Hero"also has a demonblooded youth sneer to Doyle that Doyle's life must have been a cakewalk compared to his own, as Doyle, while also part-demon, is "passing" (i.e., looks human, unlike the boy).boy).
** "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involves a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white.
** "Hero"
** "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involves a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white.
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* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides that face that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
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* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides that face the fact that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
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Example accidentally listed twice.
* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
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* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
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Created from YKTTW
Added DiffLines:
A character hides their ethnic background for whatever reason, though fears of persecution or hiding their family are the usual causes. This involves trying to "pass" as another race (usually white) and might include creating a NaturalizedName. If the person doesn't pass well-enough this is a PassFail.
Compare to HideYourOtherness for fantasy variants, HidingTheHandicap for when a character wants to hide a disability rather than their ancestry, {{Fauxreigner}} for when a native-born character claims to be a foreigner, and ReallyRoyaltyReveal when a character is revealed to have royal heritage. If biracial, the character is likely trying to avoid HalfBreedDiscrimination. SuperTrope to PassFail.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC: {{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
* Kallen Kozuki from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is half-Japanese and half-Britannian. She passes as Britannian amongst Britannians (and goes by "Kallen Stadtfeld"), but prefers to be seen as Japanese.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Portgas D. Ace's mother tried to hide the fact that he is the son of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, by postponing his birth until long after Roger's death, because the Marines were hunting pregnant women and young mothers for the possible chance that Roger may have a child. Only Ace himself, Garp (his adopted grandpa), Luffy and Sabo (his adopted brothers) know about this fact.
** It's revealed in later chapters that [[spoiler:Sanji]] was actually a prince of Germa Kingdom, son of the infamous conqueror Vinsmoke Judge. [[spoiler:Sanji]] was told by Judge in the past to not reveal his heritage to anyone before [[spoiler:Sanji exiled himself]].
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'': Due to the persecution that the Ishvalans face, Scar, on a journey of vengeance to kill as many state alchemists in the country of Amestris following their committing of the Ishval Massacre, hides his heritage by way of wearing sunglasses to avoid revealing the distinctive red irises that Ishvalans have.
*''Manga/SoulEater'': Averted in one set of episodes. Black Star and Tsubaki on assignment go to a village to track down and detain a weapon. However, the duo encounter hostility due to the former's relation to the murderous, avaricious, and soul stealing Star Clan (of which Black Star was the only one spared by Lord Death due to being only an infant and thus not having taken part in those afflictions committed by his family). Rather than keeping a low profile and keeping any part of his heritage a secret, Black Star, given his arrogant nature, proudly proclaimed who he was and made their mission all the bit more difficult.
[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* The graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Incognegro}}'' is a period-piece about a light-skinned reporter who passes for white in order to write about racial hate crimes in the South.
* In ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'', Anya hides the fact she is Russian by saying that her last name is "Brown" instead of "Borzakovskaya". She eventually decides to own up to it.
* Miss Martian is actually not a Green Martian. She is a White Martian who simply passes as a Green Martian. ComicBook/MartianManhunter was the last Green Martian at the time (though the New 52 changed that). M'gann is a WhiteSheep amongst her AlwaysChaoticEvil race.
[[AC: {{Film}} -- Live Action]]
* ''Imitation of Life'' follows Peola (in the [[Film/ImitationOfLife1934 1934 version]]) and Sarah Jane (in the [[Film/ImitationOfLife1959 1959 version]]), a light skinned black girl who can quite easily pass for white, trying her best to deny her mother and her previous life altogether. It doesn't end well. In the 1934 version Peola is humiliated when her dark-skinned mother comes to meet her at school as a child, and later she has to quit her job when her mother tracks her down at work. In the 1959 version it's worse for Sarah Jane-- her white boyfriend [[DomesticAbuse beats her senseless]] when he finds out, and she gets fired from her job as a cabaret dancer when her mother comes looking for her.
* In ''Slow Burn'', a white DA has been braiding her hair and passing for mixed in order to foster support in her African-American constituency.
* ''Veiled Aristocrats'' is a 1932 remake of the lost 1927 film ''The House Behind The Cedars''. Both films were directed by Oscar Micheaux. It's about a light-skinned black man named John who has been passing as white for 20 years. He comes home and persuades his younger sister Rena to come live with him and also pass as white. Rena however doesn't enjoy lying about her background and the film ends with her declining to marry a white man to elope with her black ex-boyfriend. The original 1927 film was originally banned due to its bluntness about race. It was only allowed to be released after several scenes were cut.
[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Ms. Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. Not soon later, Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so rich and high class like Miss Laura.
* The ''Literature/BenjaminJanuary'' series, set in New Orleans in the 1830s, contains several characters with black ancestry passing as white; it's made clear that exposure will have awful consequences, even several generations down the line.
* ''Black Like Me'' is an example of short term passing, and a rare example of a white man passing as a black man. The author John Howard Griffin actually artificially darkened his skin under the care of a doctor and journeyed through the American South to get a first-person perspective on what it was like to be black.
* One of the main themes of ''Literature/{{Caucasia}}''. Birdie and Cole Lee are both [[MixedAncestry half-black-half-white]] and at different times must attempt to pass for one or the other to fit in or blend into the surroundings. Cole has darker skin and kinky hair, so she has difficulty passing as anything but black, but Cole uses speech, mannerisms and even modifications to the way she looks to try to pass as either.
* In ''Literature/FriedGreenTomatoesAtTheWhistleStopCafe'', George Peavey has twin sons, Jasper, the light-skinned one, and Artis, the the dark one. Jasper later joins a club in Birmingham whose members are so light their pictures have made it into the paper as those of a white organization. There's a chapter where his daughter goes shopping in a department store, pretending she's white, when her uncle Artis runs into her. She reacts in such a way, though she knows who he is, that the store staff believes he's harassing her.
* A subplot in ''The Help'', by Kathryn Stockett, concerns a mixed-race girl who was given up for adoption by her mother because she looked white, and in 1950's Mississippi the social pressure on the mother was too much. The girl later returns to her birth mother in Jackson, where she deliberately passes for white at a Daughters of the American Revolution meeting, then lets everyone there know that she is, in fact, black (and indeed, a member of the Black Panthers). It does not end well.
* ''The Lions of Little Rock'' is a young adult novel set in Alabama in the 1950s, just as schools are being integrated. The main character learns that Liz, the new girl at her school, wasn't just tan from the summer but African-American. Liz is then ostracized by peers of both races. She was able to pass until being seen at a black church, though.
* Nella Larsen's 1929 novel ''Passing'' is entirely about examining this phenomenon- it contains three "black" women, one who has basically switched to a white identity by continuously passing, one that can pass, but doesn't,and one who passes occasionally out of convenience. [[spoiler:It does not work out well for the first two in the end.]]
* In ''The Freedom Maze'' by Delia Sherman, a girl who counts as white in 1960 goes back in time to 1860, where because of her suntan, curly hair, and resemblance to her plantation-owning ancestors she is classified as black and assumed to be the offspring of a wayward son of the family and one of his slaves, making her a slave herself. After she returns to her own time, she is assumed to have run away and an advertisement is issued. In the description of her it says, "Could pass for white." Researching her family history, she learns that [[spoiler:after the Civil War, the aforementioned wayward son inherited the plantation and passed off his former-slave wife as a white woman from France so as their descendant, the protagonist really does have a few black genes]].
* The entire point of James Weldon Johnson's ''Literature/TheAutobiographyOfAnExColoredMan''. The nameless protagonist is a very light-skinned "octaroon" (or less) in the late 19th-early 20th century, who is nonetheless raised as black (albei a very sheltered kind of black, only mingling with the black upper crust and with an unusually large number of white people in his social circle (easier to believe in New England). A gifted pianist, he spends his young adulthood in that field, eventually learning ragtime music and touring Europe with a rich white man. However, he [[spoiler:eventually quits ragtime after seeing a lynching, decides to pass as white, and becomes a businessman and marries a white woman, who does not realize his heritage]]. The book is based in part on Johnson's life (he could pass if he grew his facial hair right), but also on the lives of others Johnson knew.
* This is part of the backstory of the Fannie Flagg novel ''Welcome To the World, Baby Girl!'' The [[spoiler:(blonde, blue-eyed) protagonist's]] mother turned out to be of mixed race, the daughter of a German woman and a very light-skinned African American man who had moved to Europe to escape from the racial discrimination of the United States, but had been forced to move back with the rise of Hitler. She could, physically, pass for white without trying, but had spent her adult life in terror of being "outed" by someone who knew about her backgroundwhich was the reason for [[spoiler:her secretive and evasive behavior during the protagonist's childhood]].
* Gustave de Beaumont's novel "''Marie; ou, L'Esclavage auxtats-Unis''" ("Marie, or Slavery in the United States"), published in 1835, is the first known novel featuring Black-White racial passing.
-->'''Narrator:''' Public opinion, ordinarily so indulgent to fortune-seekers who conceal their names and previous lives, is pitiless in its search for proofs of African descent.... There is but one crime, of which the guilty bear everywhere the penalty and the infamy; it is that of belonging to a family reputed to be of color. Though the color may be effaced, the stigma remains.
* Creator/MarkTwain's ''Puddn Head Wilson'' has the son of a wealthy family and a slave getting SwitchedAtBirth. This is possible because the slave boy has only the barest fraction of African ancestry, so he looks exactly the same as any other white person. The book highlights the stupidity of slavery and racism.
* The title character of ''Queenie'' is a beautiful half-caste girl born in Mumbai during UsefulNotes/TheRaj. Fair enough to pass for white, she conceals her Indian parentage and makes her way to London, where her looks and talent get her noticed by a [[TheSvengali film producer]] who helps propel her to stardom in the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood still-overtly racist Hollywood of the 1930s.]] The novel is considered a RomanAClef -- author Michael Korda based the story on the life of his aunt, legendary actress Merle Oberon (see entry under RealLife).
* The titular character of ''Literature/TheSheik'' is a European pretending to be an Arab. He mostly gets away with it, too; the only way the female protagonist finds out he's not is because his best friend, a Frenchman, gives him away.
* In ''The Human Stain'' by Creator/PhilipRoth, the elderly professor Coleman Silk is a pale-skinned black man who spent his entire adult life posing as Jewish in order to avoid institutional racism in the 1950s. He goes so far as to cut his family out of his life entirely, claiming that they had died. Ironically, he's forced into retirement after being accused of racism by two black students, but maintains the pretense even then.
* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', who tried to cover up the fact his father was a muggle because pureblood supremacy was one of the causes he could use to rally his servants around him. The only one of his servants who seems to be aware of it is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Jr]], who admits to feeling sympathy for Voldemort because "we both had disappointing fathers."
* ''Jacob's Rescue'': In this account set in Poland during the Holocaust, Jacob stays with a family named the Roslans in order to avoid capture by the Nazis. In addition, he is joined by his brothers Sholom and David and also has the aid of his uncle in hiding him from the Nazis. Jacob's uncle and David are able to more easily pass as non-Jewish (in David's case because he has straight, blond hair), of which brings Jacob some envy towards David as the latter can go about more freely with less concern of being captured and taken away.
* In ''The Roman Hat Mystery'' by Creator/ElleryQueen, a blackmailer has been going after several of the novel's characters. One of them was being threatened with this trope; the character in question had a black ancestor (but appeared Caucasian).
[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involved a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white. The earlier episode "Hero" also has a demonblooded youth sneer to Doyle that Doyle's life must have been a cakewalk compared to his own, as Doyle, while also part-demon, is "passing" (i.e., looks human, unlike the boy).
* ''Series/ColdCase'':
** One episode dealt with the murder of a pale-skinned Negro who had been passing as a white in the 1950s.
** Another episode had an aversion with a black female victim from the early 1930's or so, whose secret white lover tried in vain to get her to pass for white so they could run away together. The actress was clearly black but camera effects lightened her complexion.
** "Colors" featured an African American baseball player (the victim) and his passing-as-white girlfriend.
* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' has a black guy who spent his whole adult life passing for white. He's only found out after his second wife was killed when they considered taking back their darker-skinned baby they had given up for adoption. [[spoiler:His first wife killed the second in order to maintain the illusion of an all-white family for ''her son'', who was attending a very upper-class-white school with subtle social discrimination against non-whites. Or, so she said, until it was revealed that she'd never wanted to take custody of their son in the divorce, had to be bribed to do it, and she was really just a big ol' racist.]]
* One ''Series/BlueBloods'' episode has Erin trying to get an apparently light-skinned black rapper to testify against an associate in a murder. His white parents turn up during TheTeaser; his skin color is implied to be from cosmetics, e.g. spray-on tan. He says he identifies more with working-class inner-city blacks despite being a middle-class white guy from suburbia.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Drumhead" Simon Tarses is one-quarter Romulan, but claimed to be one-quarter Vulcan to avoid prejudice.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', Jacqueline dyes her hair blonde and wears contact lenses to hide her Native American heritage.
[[AC: MythologyAndReligion]]
* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides that face that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
[[AC: {{Theatre}}]]
* In ''Theatre/ShowBoat''. Steve is white, and his wife Julie is mixed-race, passing for white (their marriage was a crime in the South at the time). When someone tips the local sheriff off and he comes to arrest them, Steve quickly cuts Julie's hand and swallows her blood; when the sheriff arrives, he asks, "You wouldn't call a man a white man that's got Negro blood in him, would you?" He swears to having that blood in him (and thus, he pretends to be passing for white); the two are able to leave the boat, and the South, in peace.
[[AC: VideoGames]]
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Rikku hides her true identity as an Al Bhed from Wakka because he's prejudiced against Al Bhed.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', Achilles worries that his protege, Ratonhnhake;ton, won't be accepted amongst the American colonists if they know that he's half-English, half-Native American, so he gives him a new name, Connor, and tells him to pass himself off as a Spaniard if anyone questions his heritage.
* Inverted in ''Videogame/{{Arcanum}}'' by Gar, a human who, by a freak accident of birth, has the appearance of a full-blooded orc. He keeps his human heritage secret because his own existence brings shame in his family (orcs being frequent victims of FantasticRacism) and because the freakshow act he performs in needs the customers to believe he's an orc in order to be a success.
[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Miss Martian is a White Martian in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', just like in the comics, however her reason for hiding it is different. It's instead written like a more traditional example of this trope. In this verse, White Martians and Green Martians co-exist, however White Martians suffer FantasticRacism back on Mars. M'gann is half-White and half-Green, though physically she looks like a White Martian.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "Family Goy", Lois discovers that her mother hid the fact that she was Jewish so Carter could get into country clubs. She found out when Dr. Hartman went through her family's medical history and mentioned that her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
-->'''Lois:''' Oh my God, so Grandma Hebrewberg was actually Jewish?
-->'''Babs:''' Yes. When she moved to America, her family changed their name. It was originally "Hebrewbergmoneygrabber".
Compare to HideYourOtherness for fantasy variants, HidingTheHandicap for when a character wants to hide a disability rather than their ancestry, {{Fauxreigner}} for when a native-born character claims to be a foreigner, and ReallyRoyaltyReveal when a character is revealed to have royal heritage. If biracial, the character is likely trying to avoid HalfBreedDiscrimination. SuperTrope to PassFail.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC: {{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
* Kallen Kozuki from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is half-Japanese and half-Britannian. She passes as Britannian amongst Britannians (and goes by "Kallen Stadtfeld"), but prefers to be seen as Japanese.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Portgas D. Ace's mother tried to hide the fact that he is the son of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, by postponing his birth until long after Roger's death, because the Marines were hunting pregnant women and young mothers for the possible chance that Roger may have a child. Only Ace himself, Garp (his adopted grandpa), Luffy and Sabo (his adopted brothers) know about this fact.
** It's revealed in later chapters that [[spoiler:Sanji]] was actually a prince of Germa Kingdom, son of the infamous conqueror Vinsmoke Judge. [[spoiler:Sanji]] was told by Judge in the past to not reveal his heritage to anyone before [[spoiler:Sanji exiled himself]].
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'': Due to the persecution that the Ishvalans face, Scar, on a journey of vengeance to kill as many state alchemists in the country of Amestris following their committing of the Ishval Massacre, hides his heritage by way of wearing sunglasses to avoid revealing the distinctive red irises that Ishvalans have.
*''Manga/SoulEater'': Averted in one set of episodes. Black Star and Tsubaki on assignment go to a village to track down and detain a weapon. However, the duo encounter hostility due to the former's relation to the murderous, avaricious, and soul stealing Star Clan (of which Black Star was the only one spared by Lord Death due to being only an infant and thus not having taken part in those afflictions committed by his family). Rather than keeping a low profile and keeping any part of his heritage a secret, Black Star, given his arrogant nature, proudly proclaimed who he was and made their mission all the bit more difficult.
[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* The graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Incognegro}}'' is a period-piece about a light-skinned reporter who passes for white in order to write about racial hate crimes in the South.
* In ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'', Anya hides the fact she is Russian by saying that her last name is "Brown" instead of "Borzakovskaya". She eventually decides to own up to it.
* Miss Martian is actually not a Green Martian. She is a White Martian who simply passes as a Green Martian. ComicBook/MartianManhunter was the last Green Martian at the time (though the New 52 changed that). M'gann is a WhiteSheep amongst her AlwaysChaoticEvil race.
[[AC: {{Film}} -- Live Action]]
* ''Imitation of Life'' follows Peola (in the [[Film/ImitationOfLife1934 1934 version]]) and Sarah Jane (in the [[Film/ImitationOfLife1959 1959 version]]), a light skinned black girl who can quite easily pass for white, trying her best to deny her mother and her previous life altogether. It doesn't end well. In the 1934 version Peola is humiliated when her dark-skinned mother comes to meet her at school as a child, and later she has to quit her job when her mother tracks her down at work. In the 1959 version it's worse for Sarah Jane-- her white boyfriend [[DomesticAbuse beats her senseless]] when he finds out, and she gets fired from her job as a cabaret dancer when her mother comes looking for her.
* In ''Slow Burn'', a white DA has been braiding her hair and passing for mixed in order to foster support in her African-American constituency.
* ''Veiled Aristocrats'' is a 1932 remake of the lost 1927 film ''The House Behind The Cedars''. Both films were directed by Oscar Micheaux. It's about a light-skinned black man named John who has been passing as white for 20 years. He comes home and persuades his younger sister Rena to come live with him and also pass as white. Rena however doesn't enjoy lying about her background and the film ends with her declining to marry a white man to elope with her black ex-boyfriend. The original 1927 film was originally banned due to its bluntness about race. It was only allowed to be released after several scenes were cut.
[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* When the titular character of ''Sanry'' meets Miss Laura she describes her as the "prettiest white woman I ever saw". Ms. Laura takes in Sanry and her friend Lucy and lets them work for her during the final portion of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, right after slavery had been abolished. Not soon later, Sanry finds out that Miss Laura is what used to be called an "octoroon" (people who are 1/8 black), and that she hides her curly hair underneath a head scarf. Sanry is amazed that a black woman could be so rich and high class like Miss Laura.
* The ''Literature/BenjaminJanuary'' series, set in New Orleans in the 1830s, contains several characters with black ancestry passing as white; it's made clear that exposure will have awful consequences, even several generations down the line.
* ''Black Like Me'' is an example of short term passing, and a rare example of a white man passing as a black man. The author John Howard Griffin actually artificially darkened his skin under the care of a doctor and journeyed through the American South to get a first-person perspective on what it was like to be black.
* One of the main themes of ''Literature/{{Caucasia}}''. Birdie and Cole Lee are both [[MixedAncestry half-black-half-white]] and at different times must attempt to pass for one or the other to fit in or blend into the surroundings. Cole has darker skin and kinky hair, so she has difficulty passing as anything but black, but Cole uses speech, mannerisms and even modifications to the way she looks to try to pass as either.
* In ''Literature/FriedGreenTomatoesAtTheWhistleStopCafe'', George Peavey has twin sons, Jasper, the light-skinned one, and Artis, the the dark one. Jasper later joins a club in Birmingham whose members are so light their pictures have made it into the paper as those of a white organization. There's a chapter where his daughter goes shopping in a department store, pretending she's white, when her uncle Artis runs into her. She reacts in such a way, though she knows who he is, that the store staff believes he's harassing her.
* A subplot in ''The Help'', by Kathryn Stockett, concerns a mixed-race girl who was given up for adoption by her mother because she looked white, and in 1950's Mississippi the social pressure on the mother was too much. The girl later returns to her birth mother in Jackson, where she deliberately passes for white at a Daughters of the American Revolution meeting, then lets everyone there know that she is, in fact, black (and indeed, a member of the Black Panthers). It does not end well.
* ''The Lions of Little Rock'' is a young adult novel set in Alabama in the 1950s, just as schools are being integrated. The main character learns that Liz, the new girl at her school, wasn't just tan from the summer but African-American. Liz is then ostracized by peers of both races. She was able to pass until being seen at a black church, though.
* Nella Larsen's 1929 novel ''Passing'' is entirely about examining this phenomenon- it contains three "black" women, one who has basically switched to a white identity by continuously passing, one that can pass, but doesn't,and one who passes occasionally out of convenience. [[spoiler:It does not work out well for the first two in the end.]]
* In ''The Freedom Maze'' by Delia Sherman, a girl who counts as white in 1960 goes back in time to 1860, where because of her suntan, curly hair, and resemblance to her plantation-owning ancestors she is classified as black and assumed to be the offspring of a wayward son of the family and one of his slaves, making her a slave herself. After she returns to her own time, she is assumed to have run away and an advertisement is issued. In the description of her it says, "Could pass for white." Researching her family history, she learns that [[spoiler:after the Civil War, the aforementioned wayward son inherited the plantation and passed off his former-slave wife as a white woman from France so as their descendant, the protagonist really does have a few black genes]].
* The entire point of James Weldon Johnson's ''Literature/TheAutobiographyOfAnExColoredMan''. The nameless protagonist is a very light-skinned "octaroon" (or less) in the late 19th-early 20th century, who is nonetheless raised as black (albei a very sheltered kind of black, only mingling with the black upper crust and with an unusually large number of white people in his social circle (easier to believe in New England). A gifted pianist, he spends his young adulthood in that field, eventually learning ragtime music and touring Europe with a rich white man. However, he [[spoiler:eventually quits ragtime after seeing a lynching, decides to pass as white, and becomes a businessman and marries a white woman, who does not realize his heritage]]. The book is based in part on Johnson's life (he could pass if he grew his facial hair right), but also on the lives of others Johnson knew.
* This is part of the backstory of the Fannie Flagg novel ''Welcome To the World, Baby Girl!'' The [[spoiler:(blonde, blue-eyed) protagonist's]] mother turned out to be of mixed race, the daughter of a German woman and a very light-skinned African American man who had moved to Europe to escape from the racial discrimination of the United States, but had been forced to move back with the rise of Hitler. She could, physically, pass for white without trying, but had spent her adult life in terror of being "outed" by someone who knew about her backgroundwhich was the reason for [[spoiler:her secretive and evasive behavior during the protagonist's childhood]].
* Gustave de Beaumont's novel "''Marie; ou, L'Esclavage auxtats-Unis''" ("Marie, or Slavery in the United States"), published in 1835, is the first known novel featuring Black-White racial passing.
-->'''Narrator:''' Public opinion, ordinarily so indulgent to fortune-seekers who conceal their names and previous lives, is pitiless in its search for proofs of African descent.... There is but one crime, of which the guilty bear everywhere the penalty and the infamy; it is that of belonging to a family reputed to be of color. Though the color may be effaced, the stigma remains.
* Creator/MarkTwain's ''Puddn Head Wilson'' has the son of a wealthy family and a slave getting SwitchedAtBirth. This is possible because the slave boy has only the barest fraction of African ancestry, so he looks exactly the same as any other white person. The book highlights the stupidity of slavery and racism.
* The title character of ''Queenie'' is a beautiful half-caste girl born in Mumbai during UsefulNotes/TheRaj. Fair enough to pass for white, she conceals her Indian parentage and makes her way to London, where her looks and talent get her noticed by a [[TheSvengali film producer]] who helps propel her to stardom in the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood still-overtly racist Hollywood of the 1930s.]] The novel is considered a RomanAClef -- author Michael Korda based the story on the life of his aunt, legendary actress Merle Oberon (see entry under RealLife).
* The titular character of ''Literature/TheSheik'' is a European pretending to be an Arab. He mostly gets away with it, too; the only way the female protagonist finds out he's not is because his best friend, a Frenchman, gives him away.
* In ''The Human Stain'' by Creator/PhilipRoth, the elderly professor Coleman Silk is a pale-skinned black man who spent his entire adult life posing as Jewish in order to avoid institutional racism in the 1950s. He goes so far as to cut his family out of his life entirely, claiming that they had died. Ironically, he's forced into retirement after being accused of racism by two black students, but maintains the pretense even then.
* [[BigBad Lord Voldemort]] in ''Literature/HarryPotter'', who tried to cover up the fact his father was a muggle because pureblood supremacy was one of the causes he could use to rally his servants around him. The only one of his servants who seems to be aware of it is [[spoiler:Barty Crouch Jr]], who admits to feeling sympathy for Voldemort because "we both had disappointing fathers."
* ''Jacob's Rescue'': In this account set in Poland during the Holocaust, Jacob stays with a family named the Roslans in order to avoid capture by the Nazis. In addition, he is joined by his brothers Sholom and David and also has the aid of his uncle in hiding him from the Nazis. Jacob's uncle and David are able to more easily pass as non-Jewish (in David's case because he has straight, blond hair), of which brings Jacob some envy towards David as the latter can go about more freely with less concern of being captured and taken away.
* In ''The Roman Hat Mystery'' by Creator/ElleryQueen, a blackmailer has been going after several of the novel's characters. One of them was being threatened with this trope; the character in question had a black ancestor (but appeared Caucasian).
[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been" involved a half-black woman who was fired from her job at a bank in the 50s when it was learned she had been passing as white. The earlier episode "Hero" also has a demonblooded youth sneer to Doyle that Doyle's life must have been a cakewalk compared to his own, as Doyle, while also part-demon, is "passing" (i.e., looks human, unlike the boy).
* ''Series/ColdCase'':
** One episode dealt with the murder of a pale-skinned Negro who had been passing as a white in the 1950s.
** Another episode had an aversion with a black female victim from the early 1930's or so, whose secret white lover tried in vain to get her to pass for white so they could run away together. The actress was clearly black but camera effects lightened her complexion.
** "Colors" featured an African American baseball player (the victim) and his passing-as-white girlfriend.
* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' has a black guy who spent his whole adult life passing for white. He's only found out after his second wife was killed when they considered taking back their darker-skinned baby they had given up for adoption. [[spoiler:His first wife killed the second in order to maintain the illusion of an all-white family for ''her son'', who was attending a very upper-class-white school with subtle social discrimination against non-whites. Or, so she said, until it was revealed that she'd never wanted to take custody of their son in the divorce, had to be bribed to do it, and she was really just a big ol' racist.]]
* One ''Series/BlueBloods'' episode has Erin trying to get an apparently light-skinned black rapper to testify against an associate in a murder. His white parents turn up during TheTeaser; his skin color is implied to be from cosmetics, e.g. spray-on tan. He says he identifies more with working-class inner-city blacks despite being a middle-class white guy from suburbia.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Drumhead" Simon Tarses is one-quarter Romulan, but claimed to be one-quarter Vulcan to avoid prejudice.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
* One case of ''Caso Cerrado'' involved a woman pressing charges against her husband because he refused to have biological children with her. She was black and he was mixed-race, albeit white passing. His grandmother was black but began to pass as white and married a white man. She was dying and wouldn't allow her grandchildren any inheritance if they had children with black or brown women.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E02CryWilderness Cry Wilderness]]'', Jim is a Native American who avoids most of the stereotypes associated with those characters. Jonah and the bots joke that he's actually German: other people just assumed Jim is Native American, and he never bothered to correct them.
* In ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'', Jacqueline dyes her hair blonde and wears contact lenses to hide her Native American heritage.
[[AC: MythologyAndReligion]]
* ''Literature/TheBible'': In the Literature/BookOfEsther, the titular heroine hides that face that she is Jewish from the Persian court, for fear of persecution. She keeps this secret until a climactic dinner with the king and his chief advisor, to reveal that she and her people have been targeted for genocide by the royal orders and to beg him to stop it.
[[AC: {{Theatre}}]]
* In ''Theatre/ShowBoat''. Steve is white, and his wife Julie is mixed-race, passing for white (their marriage was a crime in the South at the time). When someone tips the local sheriff off and he comes to arrest them, Steve quickly cuts Julie's hand and swallows her blood; when the sheriff arrives, he asks, "You wouldn't call a man a white man that's got Negro blood in him, would you?" He swears to having that blood in him (and thus, he pretends to be passing for white); the two are able to leave the boat, and the South, in peace.
[[AC: VideoGames]]
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Rikku hides her true identity as an Al Bhed from Wakka because he's prejudiced against Al Bhed.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', Achilles worries that his protege, Ratonhnhake;ton, won't be accepted amongst the American colonists if they know that he's half-English, half-Native American, so he gives him a new name, Connor, and tells him to pass himself off as a Spaniard if anyone questions his heritage.
* Inverted in ''Videogame/{{Arcanum}}'' by Gar, a human who, by a freak accident of birth, has the appearance of a full-blooded orc. He keeps his human heritage secret because his own existence brings shame in his family (orcs being frequent victims of FantasticRacism) and because the freakshow act he performs in needs the customers to believe he's an orc in order to be a success.
[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Miss Martian is a White Martian in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', just like in the comics, however her reason for hiding it is different. It's instead written like a more traditional example of this trope. In this verse, White Martians and Green Martians co-exist, however White Martians suffer FantasticRacism back on Mars. M'gann is half-White and half-Green, though physically she looks like a White Martian.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "Family Goy", Lois discovers that her mother hid the fact that she was Jewish so Carter could get into country clubs. She found out when Dr. Hartman went through her family's medical history and mentioned that her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.
-->'''Lois:''' Oh my God, so Grandma Hebrewberg was actually Jewish?
-->'''Babs:''' Yes. When she moved to America, her family changed their name. It was originally "Hebrewbergmoneygrabber".
