The "One Drop" rule
I would say I’m relatively familiar with the “one drop rule”. “Theory”. Whatever you want to call it. However, I never paid a whole lot of attention to such a moronic “theory”.
It came up on a forum at Obambi.com yesterday, so I thought I’d make a post about it.
I was provided with two links to check out by another poster there.
From wiki:
…”Other examples of application
In the United States, hypodescent is used to define the race of children of mixed-race couples where one of the parents was classified as “black” or either was considered to have any trace of African descent. That practice seems to be diminishing; on the other hand, some members of the African-American community now insist that all mixed-race individuals should be identified as black if they have any African-American ancestry. In the US, people less consistently apply hypodescent in intermarriage between whites and Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc)…”
Well – SINCE the practice is diminishing here in the good ol’ US of A, it would only seem to me that majority of the people agree with my thoughts on the subject and find that it is an absolutely idiotic argument.
The poster at that site quoted a comment I made..
(I’m DangerB, by the way. Nice to meet you!)
DangerB wrote “Obama is NOT black. He’s bi-racial. I wish you duds would get that through your heads. HE’S BI-RACIAL. Half white, my friend.”
The other person then followed my comment with this statement:
“Wrong. Because this is Black History Month, perhaps some folks could use some clarification. Under the “one drop” rule, Obama is BLACK:
Then followed up with this: (which was taken from link 1.)
‘The one-drop theory (or one-drop rule) is the colloquial term for the standard, found throughout the USA, that holds that a person with even one drop of non-white ancestry should be classified as black. This standard has also been applied to people with Native American ancestry.
One-drop theory is still influential in the USA – by de facto American color standards, a multiracial person with black heritage is considered black unless they declare themselves otherwise, identifying instead as white, mixed-race or Native American, for example (different color standards can be seen in countries such as Brazil).
The theory was codified in law in some states, although the expression colored was often used, at least acknowledging the presence of non-black ancestry. For example, as cited in the Loving v. Virginia decision[1], Virginia law ( Racial Integrity Law of 1924) held that “Every person in whom there is ascertainable any Negro blood shall be deemed and taken to be a colored person, and every person not a colored person having one fourth or more of American Indian blood shall be deemed an American Indian; except that members of Indian tribes existing in this Commonwealth having one fourth or more of Indian blood and less than one sixteenth of Negro blood shall be deemed tribal Indians.”
It’s the most idiotic thing I have ever heard when it comes to the “race issue”. Now, I’m no expert, but to me this looks like another LAME attempt at separating us. Divide and conquer. Another chance to jam a wedge between us. It’s also a biased “theory”. The person that posted the response to my comment thought it was necessary to clarify “Because this is Black History Month” …”some folks could use some clarification.”
Right. Since it’s black history month – everyone in the world automatically loses their ability to clarify the bogus, stupid, and diminishing “theory” of the “One Drop Rule”. Yeah. Black history month automatically makes us all a little dumber. Is that what I am to expect?
ANYwho, I went on to say something about the one drop rule applying to his Muslim heritage. Well – in a lot of cases religion plays a HUGE role in one’s heritage, JUST like race. So, from what “theories” and “factoids” I was given – I was led to the conclusion that Barack Hussein Obama is just as Muslim as he is black. I was then informed that the “One Drop Rule” DOESN’T work on religious aspects of one’s heritage. Just the racial aspects. It also only applies to “minority” races and doesn’t apply to “majority” races.
So, as far as I’m concerned the “one drop rule” is nothing more than the “politically correct” term for Bi-racial. Sounds like another attempt at making up for the fact that Barack Hussein Obama is half white. Is being half white a handicap? If the “one drop” rule applies for African Americans – shouldn’t it also apply to Caucasian Americans?
So – Barack Hussein Obama was birthed from his WHITE mother’s womb – with the help of his BLACK father’s sperm – yet I’m “WRONG” when I call him Bi-racial. Oh, so suddenly being half one race and half the other race is no longer legitimately Bi-racial. He’s black and that’s the end of it.
One person went on to talk about sickle cell – which is a “black disease”… *shrugs* & used that to validate the “one drop rule”. The “debate” escalated into a huge argument between myself, some who agreed with the way I thought, and some who disagreed. They didn’t understand the fact that I was talking about race as a SOCIAL issue – not a scientific/medical issue.
I ultimately ended up backing my personal thoughts with this statement:
“…Sure, some races are prone to certain things, but the whole “one drop” thing sounds like another reason to justify dividing us all into categories. I agree with [insert users name here] (because he’s always right! heh) & [insert users name here] when they said: ‘“Race” is as meaningful as say a lion with a fluffy tail versus one with a shiny tail.’
For instance, there are different BREEDS of say.. dogs. Schnauzers, Boxers, chihuahuas. Mixed breed dogs (mutts) and certain dogs are prone to certain conditions (dry skin, allergies, cherry eye, etc) But, a dog is a dog is a dog.
I wouldn’t accept it if someone approached me with a dog that was a mixed breed – say a German Shepherd and a Poodle – and agree with them if they said the one drop rule applied to dogs and the animal was considered a German Shepherd….
Haha. Lord – interweb drama is fun.
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