One Drop

Hi all. I am currently reading a non-fiction book called One Drop. The author is Bliss Broyard, and it's essentially the story of her family and her finding out of her dad's racial history...which is Creole (ie, part black). Of course, back in the day, that meant something to some people and her dad chose to "pass" as white. He never told his children about his racial history and they only found out as he was on his death bed.

My question to the Americans on here is:

What is your opinion of "passing"? Do you think there's anything wrong with it? Do you know of anyone who does it? Do you have family members that do it? I would assume that some men on here, who are mixed and light anyway may have children who could pass. How would you feel about that?

What about people who find out they have black ancestry and jump onto the wagon? Are you happy they are finding out about their history? Or do you find it a little offensive that they suddenly want to be black even though they're pretty much white.

Do you think being black is more to do with culture than colour? I, personally, would make a distinction between creole and black, but that's just me.

I don't really have an opinion on the topic. If I was the lady, I would be sad that I had lost the family history and culture from that side. I am finding the book interesting and a little sad...and i thought I'd just ask you all what you thought.

 

Your questions would hold greater relevancy in 1908, not 2008. While black people are still building towards equality, no one has to "pass" anymore. The most accomplished figures in African-American history are those who have readily embraced their blackness.

Also, Creoles are a very small group of people, originally from Louisiana, who will probably be assimilated into larger groups by the middle of the current century.

 

Well,i could understand why people would want to "pass" back then.and but back then i mean pre 60's.Only a minority of people who could "pass" back then actually choose not to.A notable person being the actress Fredi Washington.She was strikingly "white" in her appearance and movie executives tried to get her to "pass" as white so she would get more popular among white audiences, but she choose not to pass and was proud of her heritage.
I dont agree with anybody deviating from their culture onto another culture if they found out they had small amounts of that heritage.If youve grown up in a particular cultue then you should stick with it imo.This kinda reminds me of a documentary i watched the other day about black americans going back to Africa and back tot heir "roots".Just seeing them there,and seeing how they talked to people there was strange.They looked so out of place.

 

Previous time line was by 2050, 75 plus percent of the worlds population will be brown. The estimate has been revised to 8 years earlier 2042.

 

My family has little to no white blood in it, so "passing" for white has really never been an issue amoung us. "To each his (or her) own" is how I feel about how people choose to define themselves, however, I do feel that high profile people of color have a certain responsibility do dispell negative stereotypes and speak out against institutionalized racism and discrimination, and othe social issues.

Being black is culture, not color. And while we may share common threads, there are a wide array of black cultures. They vary by continent, countries, states, and regions. No one culture is better than the other, and all should be respected and appreciated.

Now what I do find offensive is people like tiger woods and clarence thomas. On one hand tiger woods claims he's not black, and then he turns around and makes a nike commercial with lee elders and other black golfing legends talking about how there are courses he cant play because of the color of his skin. Fucking hypocrite!

And then there is clarence thomas. That brain-washed republican lap-dog. Everything that comes out of his mouth is conservative crap. This is a man who did benefit from affimative action...and there is nothing wrong with that. Because without affirmative action he would have never been given the opportunity to prove he was smarter and more talented than his yale classmates. (Otherwise his ass would have been at a public state school.) But did he stand up for the positives of affrimative action? No, he dismissed it as purely negative, even though he directly benefited from it. (He, like so many other black conservatives, have been programed to think affrimative action is a bad word.)

But anyway...yeah...I like creole food.

 

Hmm, interesting points. I agree with pretty much all that's been said. I think if I found out that I was a tiny tiny percentage black, I would be interested to know the history...but I would still be me, still have grown up white, and still be thought of as white.

And, I also agree that it's pretty wrong to deny most of who you are, althouth it was a different time and place, and I'm not in that position...so...

I just thought I'd throw the questions out there for people more in the know than me.

Thanks for your responses.

 

That sort of thing makes studying genealogy a real bugger.

I know it is rumored that we have black ancestry in my family, but I can't prove it yet even though I've studied our ancestry back to the mid 1600's in a few lines. But there are many others I haven't been able to trace yet, and some of those could very well have been part of that group of people who felt they had to "pass" for what ever reasons.

I'll continue searching, I really enjoy the research.

Sounds like an interesting book.