When Harry S. Murphy arrived at the University of Mississippi in the fall of 1945 , he was nervous . He landed at Ole Miss by way of the Navy 's V-12 program , a wartime measure that allowed young men to take college classes , receive naval training and preparation to become officers . Murphy was black , but university officials did not know that . He had a white complexion and wavy brown hair . A military official checked the `` W '' box for white when Murphy enlisted in the Navy . This official unwittingly set Murphy on an entirely new path . Murphy explained that he had no intention to `` pass , '' and once at Ole Miss in Oxford , no one inquired about his race . `` I guess they just assumed I was white , '' Murphy said . If no one asked , why tell ? Passing -- the choice to leave behind a black racial identity and present oneself as white -- allowed many African-Americans to navigate a racist society . In today 's multiracial America , the decision to pass may seem unnecessary and unwarranted . But historically , erasing one 's black identity was one of a limited number of avenues available to light-skinned African-Americans to secure a better life in the era of legalized segregation . Those who passed often reaped financial rewards , gained social privileges and enjoyed the fun of `` getting over '' by playing a practical joke on unsuspecting whites and winning a clandestine war against Jim Crow America . Murphy settled into campus life with ease . He was accepted as `` just another student . '' He wore the college 's colors as a member of the track team , made close friends with white students , danced with and dated white women and ate at local restaurants without incident . He was active on campus . Described by one classmate as `` arrogant '' and `` a loud talker , '' he even participated in a protest against Sen. Theodore Bilbo , the fanatical segregationist , when he spoke at Ole Miss while Murphy was on campus . When the military ended the V-12 program , Murphy transferred to Morehouse College in his hometown of Atlanta . University officials at Ole Miss never questioned why one of their ostensibly white students had made plans to attend a historically black college . Murphy 's white skin functioned as a cloak and allowed him to pass as white at the University of Mississippi . But when James Meredith , another black student , attempted to integrate Ole Miss in 1962 , it ignited widespread riots across the campus . Ole Miss prided itself on 114 years as a lily-white institution . Murphy observed the violent resistance to integration and declared , `` they 're fighting a battle they do n't know they lost years ago . '' Once at Morehouse , Murphy returned to life as a black man . He later entered the printing business and moved to New York . Harry S. Murphy told his story to the press and gave readers a rare and intimate look at the lived experience of passing . But he was not the only African-American enlisted man whose military records identified him as `` white '' or `` Caucasian . '' This type of temporary passing flourished during the Jim Crow era . Murphy 's story appears to be one of levity and laughter , of exposing the absurdity of racial categories , and poking fun at erroneous beliefs in racial purity and white supremacy . But his story ends in tragedy . Murphy committed suicide at 63 in New York in 1991 . We will never know why he took his own life . There is no evidence to link Murphy 's death to any conflict that he may have had about his racial identity . But still , his suicide leads us to wonder about the personal and psychological losses , in addition to the gains , associated with passing . The history of passing offers a richer understanding of lives lived along the color line . But this history is never complete . It remains shadowy and blurred . Was there ever a time people assumed you were something that you were not ? Share your experiences in the comments , on Twitter @ CNNLiving or on CNN Living 's Facebook page .
Harry S. Murphy attended the University of Mississippi in 1945-46 . Murphy `` passed '' -- he was black , but people thought he was white . He graduated from college and went to work for a bank as an assistant manager. The history of passing remains shadowy , but offers lessons , Allyson Hobbs writes .