White panic and white passing: slavery and reconstruction -- Dy(e)ing to be black: "Mars Jeems's nightmare," Black like me, and Watermelon man -- Black like she: Grace Halsell and the sexuality of passing -- Contagious beats: passing, autobiography, and discourses of American music -- Is passing passà in a "post-race" world? -- Epilogue: hits and misses of a racial free-for-all.