Sandweiss

Matthew Rice
History 202
12/4/2014
Professor Goyens
Sandweiss Essay

Clarence King, described by many as a man of a thousand words did nothing but live up to those expectations. He was born in 1842 in Newport, Rhode Island and was said to be one of the best and brightest men of his generation and has forever changed how we look at the history of our country. In the story he seemed to always be broke and borrowing money, but at every moment she could the author spoke of how caring and kind King was to other people he met. King was a man, who for 13 years passed as black and basically led separate secret lives. For many people, including those who haven’t read, “Passing Strange” would find it basically unimaginable that some white male, secretly lived a life of a black man. His picture and figure represent that of a normal built white American. Most would believe that pigmentation or other signs would give up King and show him to the world as a fake. But in the story, “Passing Strange“, by Martha Sandweiss, the author digs deep to find the real understand to King’s secrets.
Clarence King led a very deep and rooted life. Through his life stories and by reading this story I have learned a lot of how these stories I read about connects with teachings I have learned in class. Most people take one glance at what Clarence looked like and would immediately say he could never pass as black. But they would be wrong as King’s story reaffirms, race was not really all just about skin color in those days. King’s story began in 1888 somewhere in New York. It was here where King met Ada Copeland, a former slave born from Georgia. These two could not have been more contrasted and different. Ada was undocumented, she somehow became literate, moved to New York and found some domestic service job to live off of. Clarence King and Ada Copeland fell in love in 1888, but King hid his identity but claiming himself to be black. Despite his blues eyes and fair complexion, King convinced Copeland that he was an African-American Pullman porter named James Todd, thus hiding his identity as a white man. The two then got married shortly after meeting. One of the reasons why this was legally possible was due to the Common Law Marriage which did not let them legally get married but was an agreement between both parties to be partners. Although this did not give them a civil marriage licenses from the state, they were considered a family. Together they had five children and lived in a Manhattan residence. Due to King’s double lifestyle the family was normally broke. King worked a slum life in New York, and then traveled west for his geological research as his white personality. His studies often fell short, meaning there was no money that he brought home when he even came home. The story portrayed a lot of what ifs, and second hand opinions. Not much was said about the lifestyle and how the family lived, but what was mentioned was how rare it was for King to even return home to Ada. The author states,
”Exhausted and grateful for her husband’s visits, however short or infrequent they might be”. (Sandweiss, 117). This quote illustrates just how much Clarence really leads two lives. Which leads me to my main point of how there were many different racial views during this time period. Since King lived two separate lives as two different races, both lifestyles were very different including how he was viewed as both Clarence and as James Todd. King was not making an obvious political statement or exercising a lark. As a respected geologist and U.S. government official, King appeared to have acted from a feeling of love.

In one life he was a debonair member of a privileged white class, and the provider and protector of a widowed mother and other family. He was the cohort of Henry Adams, a descendant of presidents, and Secretary of State John Hay. In the other, an African-American James Todd, a Pullman porter, the husband of Ada Copeland, a former slave from Georgia, and the father of their five children. In King’s mind he believed the United States should abolish the concept of race. King states, “when the composite elements of American populations are melted down into one race alloy, when there are no more Irish or Germans, Negroes and English, but only Americans, belonging to one defined American race” (Sandweiss, 145)
Unfortunately, society was not ready for such an change and he was unable to live up to his own idea. He may have loved Ada, but not enough to risk his position in the white world and the opinion and views of his family and friends. He didn’t reveal his deception to Ada until he was near death. Clarence promised her he was leaving a trust to support her and the children. Rather than giving her full details, he left the matter in the hands of white friends and she eventually had to go to court, ironically represented by a black man to sort out the details. Unfortunately in the end Ada lost that long court battle and was depicted by the press and representatives of King’s friends as a “black mammy” attempting to take advantage of a rich white man. Even with the horrible circumstances, Ada lived out her life, always remembering King’s love for her. This story was un-clear in certain points. Many details were over looked, lifestyles, and family lives were not explained. So some opinions and views must be seen as underlying views or assumptions. After reading this story I can honestly say my view on how racial profiling was a part of life in that time period has really changed. I thought that people viewed race by the color of the skin, which is true, but there is a lot more to how people viewed race. King was a white man; A very successful and well-known name in the white community. But when King portrayed himself as a black man, his life was literally in a different world. As James Todd, he was poor, lived in the slums, and was looked at as a black man and treated as such. So even though both personas were the same exact person, people viewed race more of where you came from, who you are in the world, and the lifestyle you live more than the color of your skin. As bold as these statements may be, this is how I think racial thinking was viewed during this time. People racially profiled you on more than just your skin color it was about who you were. King proved this by being a huge figure head for white people and doubling as a black guy but received a different view from everyone he met. I believe that there are many topics and ideas we have learned in class that would aid us in reading and understanding this book, but one of the most important is the Gilded Age. The gilded age took place right around the time when this book was set, around the 1870s-1880s. The Gilded Age was believed to be an era of serious social problems with the emergence of gold. However, The Gilded Age was an era of enormous growth, especially in the North and West. This attracted millions of immigrants from Europe and other countries. Sadly The Gilded Age was also an era of enormous poverty. The South remained economically devastated; its economy became linked to cotton and tobacco production, which suffered low costs. African-Americans in the South were stripped of political power and voting rights. The political landscape was notable in that despite some corruption, turnout was very high and elections between the evenly matched parties were close. The dominant issues were cultural (especially regarding prohibition, education and ethnic and racial groups. State & local governments built schools, colleges and hospitals that sometimes received donations from philanthropists and various diverse religious denominations structured the social and cultural lives of many Americans. By understanding The Gilded Age, you understand hand in hand what the life was like for James Todd. When King was portraying his black persona, he would always be poor, not a decent job, and living in the slums. Ada and James met in 1888 which was shortly after the Gilded Age era began. So by understanding this era, you can better understand the suffering and hard times, black African Americans and even southerners had to endure. Another key term that is relative to this book is the relationship between the different races of people. When you read this story you get a feel for how unfair it was to be black during the late 19th century. Barely any money, barely any rights, and almost everything were segregated to blacks. I learned that even though blacks were allowed a ballot in elections, there were often scandals and their votes would often not even count. Despite this black voters continued to cast ballots even with the fraud and intimidation perpetuated by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s and then later by white landowners who controlled the ballot box. In states such as Tennessee and Arkansas the Republican Party remained viable with biracial political groups continuing to challenge the Democrats. But in the remainder of the South after the Populist up rise and the threat of overthrowing southern governments, Democrats found ways to disenfranchise black voters without crossing the rules of the Fifteenth Amendment, which stated such that voting rights will not “be denied or abridged, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (15th Amendment)

Through the readings of this book I have learned a lot about race relationships, and how life was for black African Americans during that time in our history. Through our studies in class I have also been able to relate findings from the story, to real life historical movements and ideas that have been discussed in class. Such as how laws, rules, and segregation really rule the lives of the black man and really did not let them fully be “free people”. Through what I have read about James Todd and Clarence King, I have discovered real life situations of how black people were really treated. Sandweiss has written an important and moving book which inspires the hope one day we might move above the minor differences which separate us, and bring us together as one human race.