Do you agree with the one-drop rule?

Question

Because my father is Hispanic, but my mom is telling me that I am just Black because of the "one-drop" rule. I think that it is racist, and stupid. What do you think?

The "one-drop" rule means, if you have a drop of Black blood in you, you are automatically called Black. Regardless of your other ethnicities.

I do not look Black. People either think that I am Hawaiian, or Black and Filipino.

Why are Black people always so ******* pissy when some other Black person is something else? How the hell am I trying to denounce my "blackness" when my mother is trying to denounce my ******* "Hispanic-ness". N!gger, please.

Answer 1

I agree with you. It is stupid. If the "one drop" rule were applied to American Indians, I would be seen as American Indian, because there are some Cherokees among my distant maternal ancestors. Nonetheless, I am regarded by everyone I encounter as a "white" person, because the majority of my ancestors are European, and I look very white. I am also culturally white, in that I am basically aligned with white American culture. (How silly would it be, when seated with others speaking of what it's like to be white in the U.S. today, for me to say, "Oh, I wouldn't know. I'm Cherokee," when I merely have a drop of Cherokee blood?)

It is arguable that race is a social construct, anyway. Facial features and skin tones are not uniform across Europe, across Africa, and certainly not across Asia. To the extent that race does have meaning, it only makes sense to acknowledge all parts of one's heritage. If your mom is Black and your Dad is Hispanic, you can say you are "half black and half hispanic" or "black and hispanic." It would also be acceptable to reject the concept of race, and say "human." You definitely do not have to ignore your Dad's heritage and cling only to your Mom's.

Answer 2

You may not like it, but in this country, if you are even slightly black, you are considered black. That is just the way it is. If you try to deny your blackness, you will just appear to be self-hating.

Where does this come from? Post-civil war legislation. According to wikipedia.com:

The 1910-19 decade was the zenith of the Jim Crow era by most measures, and also the decade when the one-drop rule was first adopted as written law. Tennessee led the parade by adopting a one-drop statute in 1910. It was followed by Louisiana in the same year, Texas and Arkansas in 1911, Mississippi in 1917, North Carolina in 1923, Virginia in 1924, Alabama and Georgia in 1927, and Oklahoma in 1931. During this same period, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Utah retained their old blood fraction statutes de jure but amended these fractions (1/16, 1/32) to be equivalent to one-drop de facto [6]. By 1925, almost every state had a one-drop law on the books, or something equivalent.

If you want, you can refer to yourself as a Black Latina. That way, you can claim both of your heritages. I don't know if black Hispanics are common where you live, but places like Cuba, Panama and the Dominican Republic are full of blacks.

Anyway, back to the point. I think if you are 1/2 black, you are black, 1/4 black, you are black and beyond that, if you want to claim your other race, fine. The reason I say that is that if people find out you have a black parent or grandparent while you are running around calling yourself something else, they will assume you are ashamed of being black. Hell, if they even THINK you are pretending to be something else, they will bash you. (SEE: Mariah Carey). Besides, if people can tell you are even slightly black in this country, they will CALL you black. It seems a little futile to argue with them.

If you are 1/8 black, and you choose not to self-identify as black, that is your choice, especially if you look another dominant race, but you should know that in this country, you have historically been considered black.

You are definitely a "black" American based on your description. You may come from a mixed ethnic background, but your RACE in the U.S. is as "black" as somebody with two parents straight from Africa.

Race is, after all, just a social construct. There is no genetic or scientific basis for "race". This is a commonly accepted fact.

Answer 3

I think you should be allowed to call yourself both if you like. You can't be just black if your other parent has an entirely different race.Legally, you are both. It does seem racist this "one drop" thing. In the old days they use to say it took 13 generations for someone to be fully white after mixing with a black person. Seems like the same thing. Anyway, I think you should embrace any identity you like, race is a statistic, nothing more. It does not define you as a person, only you do that.

Answer 4

I've never heard of it, but I disagree with it, as you describe it. It is racist. Human beings are not defined by their genetics.
A famous lady from the Civil Rights days of the fifties, Amelia Boynton Robinson, says when she has to fill out a form that asks for "Race" (like a drivers license), she says she always writes "HUMAN".
I think that's a good answer, too.

Answer 5

I don't really care about it , define yourself how you would like ... but honestly it seems that you might have something against having black blood... I don't get why people are so quick to try and denounce their black blood but if that is what you want so be it

Answer 6

I have heard of the one drop rule and it tends to just be based on genetics. Genetically you are black, but you are whatever you want, and basically like almost everyone in the USA a perfect mixture of everything.

Answer 7

Racist people invented the one-drop rule.

Do you need any more argument to see that the one-drop rule is ridiculous, typical from a puritan country.

Answer 8

Nope, but I agree with the one-drop cow rule; (you know because the government announced that they are making half human half cow hybrids so those definetely cannot be called humans)

But really, call yourself whatever you want but don't make a big deal about it

Answer 9

never heard of the one drop rule but from what you say sounds like it could be racist

Answer 10

It is racist. There are different levels of races in many of us nowadays. They don't make you one thing over another, it just makes you a special mix of everything, and everything should be recognized equally.