Abstract

Living under oppression, individuals develop variety of survival mechanisms. Racial passing has historically been one of those tactics. Some people in the Iranian American community living under unfavorable conditions have resorted to passing to gain the benefits of being non-Iranian. I find passing both personally and philosophically challenging. I have wondered if living as a passing person implies a lack of integrated self and inauthenticity. Elsewhere, I have argued against this notion. In this chapter, I argue that people who live under the non-ideal conditions gain (at least) psychological safety by presenting themselves differently from how they identify. Passing under oppression is not a sign of moral deficiency. Using non-ideal theory as my framework, it is evident to me that passing can’t even be evaluated under ideal theory because in an ideal world, where ideal theories operate, there is no need for passing. I will (1) define and develop the concepts of identity and passing and (2) provide a brief description of non-ideal theory as used in this chapter, and (3) consider objections to passing and give responses.