This article outlines and questions American historiography regarding racial passing, the process by which an individual who initially belongs to a given racial category clandestinely changes affiliation and “passes” for a member of another racial group. The comparative analysis of three recent works (A Chosen Exile by Allyson Hobbs, The Strange Career of William Ellis by Karl Jacoby and Passing Strange by Martha Sandweis) raises three principal axes of our reflection. The first part examines the links between passing and social mobility; the second analyzes the means and effects of passing on the private life of the “passer”; finally, the third section highlights the methodological challenges posed by the revelation of a social phenomenon that is, by definition, hidden.