In its multifaceted view of blackness, “(1)ne Drop” implies that no racial category is inviolable. |
In its multifaceted view of blackness, “(1)ne Drop” implies that no racial category is inviolable. To identify as white, for example, is no less complicated. Although whiteness typically serves as a racial default that is rarely publicly examined or named, even today it is no more absolute than blackness. The privileges it bestows can be mitigated by many things, from economic class to ethnicity. Like blackness, it connotes a range of cultures and nationalities. Like blackness, it can mean many things, manifest in many ways, and suggest many shades of pink and brown and yellow. Like blackness, it can fracture into discordant or even contentious factions.
Maurice Berger, “One Drop, but Many Views on Race,” The New York Times, December 18, 2013. http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/one-drop-but-many-views-on-race/
Tags: Maurice Berger, New York Times, The New York Times