Letter Addressed to Patricia from Tom

My Dearest Patricia,

I hope that you are getting along well in the south with your grandmother. I heard that you renovated Ms. Em’s house and turned it into a school and nursery for colored children. As for myself, I am working as a physician at my friend’s clinic in Denver and things are coming along well. I really enjoy the west and I think that I may never return to Boston.

Patricia, I have to admit that I am writing to you because I would like for you to reconsider my offer to marry and move to Denver. I know that you feel that you are doing right by your race by staying in the south, but I still do not understand your reasoning behind choosing to remain in an environment that is hostile to colored people. Maybe you have not realized it yet, but you have a special gift that other colored people lack. Just think about it, your ability to pass helped you get an excellent education and even brought us together. You can continue to live a life of freedom here with me in Denver. No one will know. It will be our little secret.

The fact that you are colored does not matter to me and I love you enough to look beyond it. The problem is that the rest of the country will not approve of our union. By living as a white woman with me, you will have access to all the rights that colored people do not. Even our children will have better lives and we do not even have to tell them about your past.

Patricia, I really hope that you will consider my proposal because it can change your life forever.

Love,

Tom

Questions:

1) This week’s readings focus on examples of the role that “performing race” has played in constructing racial difference. Although Philip Deloria and Michael Rogin talk explicitly about how white identity has been greatly contingent upon one’s ability to “act like” racial others, the film Pinky also offers insight into this phenomenon. The film’s directors could have cast a fair skinned African American woman to play the part of Pinky but they hired a white actress (Jeanne Crain) instead. Most interestingly, they did not even dramatically alter her appearance in anyway to make her “look black” through make-up, hair, mannerisms, speech, and wardrobe. How does the presence of a white actress alter our reading of a film that is supposed to emphasize the plight of black Americans? More specifically, is Pinky more about white identity than black identity?

2) In addition, as Philip Deloria describes, “unresolved dualities” (185) have been central to shaping American racial identities. The film Pinky draws on various dualities (white/black, north/south, southern whites/northern whites, young/old, and beyond) to develop the films storyline. What function do these dualities serve in the film and how are they embodied by the actors and actresses?