The theme of passing is the idea that a person suppressed (hide's) something about
themselves such as identity, race, class and ethnicity, in order to be able to fit into dominant
race. After the Civil War in 1865 an era of Segregation had emerged (Gallagher 10). A time
when African Americans were kept separate from white Anglo-Saxon Americans because
"White people view black people as inferior. A large percentage of them have a very low
opinion of our (African American) race," stated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (qtd. In
Freedman). To attempt to pass racially or socially and be accepted by the white community,
Peola has to diminish any contact or relationship with her mother and, on the other hand,
Du Bois wants the white race to accept him as the person he is, being that he is an African
The film Imitation of Life, directed by John M. Stahl, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes,
Mammies, and Bucks, written by Donald Bogle, The Soul of Black Folk written by W.E.B.
Du Bois (all occur during the time of Segregation), a book review titled "Still Separate, Still
Unequal" by Samuel G. Freedman and an encyclopedia source, "Civil War, American", by Gary
Gallagher portray that the characters, Peola and W.E.B. Du Bois, face racial and class profiling.
Peola choose's to pass as a white American and to do so decides to extinguish all relations and
connections with her race that would hold her back from "becoming" a white American while
Du Bois does the exact opposite and does not change anything about himself to be considered
into the white community but instead wants to be himself and have the whit community accept
The movie, Imitation of Life, was directed by John M. Stahl in 1934. During this era
America was in the Great Depression (a time after the war when the economy faced a downfall
due to war expenses) and during Segregation (the separat...