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Clare Kendry Research Paper

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If Clare Kendry’s original dream of passing as a white woman to climb the social ladder wasn't risky enough, her attempts to revisit the black community and to rekindle old friendships would inevitably place her in mortal peril. Passing as white was risky no matter what the occasion and the conditions in which Clare did it only heightened the risk. Her husband, John Bellew, was a staunch racist who utterly loathed the her secret race. As John tells Irene while at a tea party, “You got me wrong there, Mrs. Redfield. Nothing like that at all. I don’t dislike them, I hate them. And so does Nig, for all she’s trying to turn into one. She wouldn’t have a nigger maid around her for love nor money.” (p. 30) Not only does he John hate black people,

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