Considering its initial publication in 1892, during the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Frances EW Harper employs the passage's sense of racial uplift. During the era of slavery, the phenomenon of racial transmission was a common practice as it gave way to a means to achieve freedom. Often, mixed-race subjectivity allowed passage; if an individual could pass for white, they enjoyed "special" privileges because of black eyes, but typical inherent privileges because of white eyes, such as education and fair treatment. The strategic use and manipulation of the act of passing throughout the novel symbolizes the racial solidarity that was necessary to get through difficult times, while also showing the lengths people were willing to go to achieve economic success through careers. In some ways, passing as white can be seen as a strategy to gain knowledge during a time of oppression against minorities; it is also a pure survival tactic that reflects the power inequalities within slavery. The act of passing in Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted, not only signifies an internal desire for inherited privileges, but also speaks to a sense of identity abandonment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The novel further promotes this understanding of racial transmission through Iola Leroy's upbringing and her parents' decision to raise her as white. Given that she is actually a mixed-race woman who is enslaved when her white father Eugene suddenly dies, the life-saving decision of her mixed-race mother, Marie, and her father, Eugene, to mask her racial identity was a life-saving decision. which was selfish and ultimately detrimental to Iola's identity. When speaking with Eugène, Marie declares: “No, no, it's not that I regret our marriage, nor that I feel the slightest disdain for our children because of the blood that flows in their veins; but I do not wish them to grow up under the contracting influence of this racial prejudice. I do not want them to have the feeling that they were born under a prohibition from which no value can redeem them, nor that any social promotion, any individual development, can erase the prohibition that weighs them down” (72). Maria and Eugene's wise choice to hide Iola's identity highlights the significance of the death during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. Not only does Mary clearly express that she wants the best for her children, but she also expresses that she does not want them to feel worthless and cannot be compensated by their courage for their black heritage that they possess. However, the tradition of passing as white to obtain better social, economic, and political opportunities affirms an inner discontent that manifests through thoughts of "whiteness" equating to a "good" life characterized by privilege and wealth. white upper classes. class and “blackness” offering a locked-in life with no escape route. In some cases, whiteness has provided opportunities that people of African descent did not necessarily have, but the strategic choice to pass as white demonstrates a dissatisfaction with life that nothing can help alleviate and a denial of self-identity. Deliberately neglecting or choosing not to identify as one half of one's ethnic identity shows an internal conflict of denying one's origin. The meaning of mixed race subjectivity designates or relates to people whose parents or ancestors are of mixed origin..