“Wait, is she Black?”: Unsuccessful White Pass in Tiffany D. Jackson’s The Weight of Blood




Myllymäki, Monica; Ghasemi, Mehdi

PublisherSAGE Publications

2025

Journal of Black Studies

00219347251376391

1

18

0021-9347

1552-4566

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1177/00219347251376391

https://doi.org/10.1177/00219347251376391

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/500326323



In this article, we study Tiffany D. Jackson’s novel The Weight of Blood (2022) as a neo-passing narrative that interrogates the colour-blind ideology and the idea of a post-racial society. By focussing on the biracial character of Maddy Washington, we explore the necessity of white passing in contemporary American society and examine her challenges after her unsuccessful attempt at passing. We aim to show that, despite the false claims of post-racialism, racial predicaments are still intact in American society in the 21st century. To offer a better analysis of the novel, we draw upon W.E.B. Du Bois’s notions of the “colour-line” and “double consciousness.” Du Bois’s theories enable us to further explore the black-white racial hierarchies and dichotomies, as well as the persistence of colour-blindness within today’s American society.


The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.


Last updated on 2025-16-10 at 09:00