Dr. Yaba Blay Explores ‘One-Drop’ Rule [VIDEO] |
Dr. Yaba Blay Explores ‘One-Drop’ Rule [VIDEO]
NewsOne: For Black America
2012-12-14
Remember when President Barack Obama won in 2008 and pundits started asking if the United States was post-racial because we had a Black man in the White House?
Well, people like Dr. Yaba Blay (pictured) knew better.
Blay, an assistant teaching professor of Africana Studies at Drexel University, explores Black racial identity and the politics of skin color with her creative and thought-provoking (1)ne Drop project.
The one-drop rule refers to the centuries-old rule that deemed anyone with any sort of African heritage to be Black, even if you are of mixed heritage. It’s the idea that one drop of Black blood makes you Black. The rule is still alive and well today, which has been discussed by people of mixed heritage like Obama and Halle Berry.
And it’s an issue we play out with one another. Four hundred years after Blacks were first brought to this country as slaves, it wasn’t uncommon for African Americans to discriminate against one another based on the color of their complexions. Just look at the complexions of women considered to be attractive in the media productions of African Americans. How many of our politicians are dark-skinned?
“Many of us would like to believe that we have a Black President and it’s how many years since enslavement and that we’ve come a long way and these things don’t matter,” said Blay…
Read the entire article here.
Tags: Jeff Mays, NewsOne, NewsOne: For Black America, Yaba A. Blay, Yaba Amgborale Blay, Yaba Blay