Challenges narrow perceptions of Blackness as both an identity and
lived reality to understand the diversity of what it means to be
Black in the US and around the world
What exactly is
Blackness and what does it mean to be Black?
Is Blackness a
matter of biology or consciousness?
Who determines who
is Black and who is not?
Who’s Black, who’s
not, and who cares?
In the United
States, a Black person has come to be defined as any person with any
known Black ancestry. Statutorily referred to as “the rule of
hypodescent,” this definition of Blackness is more popularly known
as the “one-drop rule,” meaning that a person with any trace of
Black ancestry, however small or (in)visible, cannot be considered
White. A method of social order that began almost immediately after
the arrival of enslaved Africans in America, by 1910 it was the law
in almost all southern states. At a time when the one-drop rule
functioned to protect and preserve White racial purity, Blackness was
both a matter of biology and the law. One was either Black or White.
Period. Has the social and political landscape changed one hundred
years later?
One Drop
explores the extent to which historical definitions of race continue
to shape contemporary racial identities and lived experiences of
racial difference. Featuring the perspectives of 60 contributors
representing 25 countries and combining candid narratives with
striking portraiture, this book provides living testimony to the
diversity of Blackness. Although contributors use varying terms to
self-identify, they all see themselves as part of the larger racial,
cultural, and social group generally referred to as Black. They have
all had their identity called into question simply because they do
not fit neatly into the stereotypical “Black box”—dark skin,
“kinky” hair, broad nose, full lips, etc. Most have been asked
“What are you?” or the more politically correct “Where are you
from?” throughout their lives. It is through contributors’ lived
experiences with and lived imaginings of Black identity that we can
visualize multiple possibilities for Blackness.