"For some, "passing" means opportunity, access, or safety. Others don't willfully pass but are "passed" in specific situations by someone else. We Wear the Mask, edited by authors Brando Skyhorse and Lisa Page, is an illuminating and timely anthology of original essays that examines the complex reality of passing in America."-- Publisher.

Editors' note -- College application essay #2 / Brando Skyhorse -- Secret lives /Achy Obejas -- The inscrutable Alexander Fitten / Marc Fitten -- Letter to the lady who mistook me for the help at the National Book Awards-- or some meditations on style / Patrick Rosal -- Passing / Teresa Wiltz -- Which lie did I tell? / Trey Ellis -- Negroland / Margo Jefferson -- Slipping into darkness / Lisa Page -- Among the heterosexuals / M.G. Lord -- On historical passing and erasure / Dolen Perkins-Valdez -- Stepping on a star / Gabrielle Bellot -- Class acts : ways to be something you're not / Clarence Page -- Jewess in wool clothing / Susan Golomb -- Passing ambition / Sergio Troncoso -- Terror and passing / Rafia Zakaria -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgments.