How does the one drop rule play a role in defining race?

<h1>How does the one drop rule play a role in defining race?</h1>

<p align=right>by Jeff Stats</p>

<div align=justify>"We are unique in this country in the way we describe and define race and ascribe to it characteristics that other cultures view very differently”, those are the words of Thomas C. Sawyer who is a chairman of House Sub-committee on Census, Statistics, and Postal Personnel. Although the question of race and ethical belongingness could seem to be of a minor importance in other countries, it is a very debatable and controversial issue in the States. America is probably the only country in the world which holds so many nationalities and races on one piece of land. And although America is considered to be a very democratic entity, it has a rather autocratic approach to the race identification of its citizens. The whole concept of one-drop rule has its roots in the colonial America, when there were only few races inhabiting the States. There were whites, blacks, and Native Americans (Indians). The antebellum South promoted the rule as a way of enlarging the slave population with the children of slave holders. By the nineteen-twenties, in Jim Crow America the one-drop rule was well established as the law of the land. As one can see, the notion of one-drop rule was made out of the convenience of slave masters, who wished for the slave population to grow. It was for the purpose of having more working force, although a lot of times slaves had skin as fair as their masters’. That is where all the confusion with determining one’s racial belongingness started. Nowadays, although two centuries have elapsed, America is facing a problem of defining one’s race. The mixture of peoples living in the States is incredible, it is very hard for a person to identify to what extent he or she is black or white, Asian or Hispanic. Although this racial issue should concern all mixed “bloods” somehow one-drop rule considers black and white mixtures solely. This approach galvanizes a number of racist issues, which are mostly diminished in other inter-racial mixtures such as Asian and white or Indian and white. It is believed that person with just a little of black blood is not considered white even if his or her great-great-great-great grandfather was black and the rest were whites. On the other hand such person will be totally accepted by black population and partially or totally rejected as white by whites. The issue of black vs. white in case of blended blood is not only racial, but it is truly political now and consequently economical. There are great numbers of economic issues that are associated with distinguishing of the races. Such as affirmative-action programs for black population as for the minority group is an important aspect for most of its representatives. They receive certain privileges in a lot of aspects of life, such as education, work place, living arrangements, etc. Consequently one can view the one-drop rule as two sided, as it can have positive and negative effect. Politically it is not a constructive decision to let go off of all the privileges such minorities as black people receive, lobbying their interests in the government. I believe however, that the question is not in any political or economic benefits or damages that such groups can undergo. It is not a question of number of boxes in which one marks national integration, but a question of how one feels when he or she is unfairly prearranged to be something. An adult person should decide to which race and color he/she belongs and how one feels about it, and no one should indicate it. Even if there are two drops of black blood in a white or Asian person, the holder of those two drops has to decide to which race he/she belongs, especially because it’s an only a matter of social debates and not biological assessment. Canada has found an answer to this problem 50 years ago when it decided to drop the race question from its census and hasn’t return to it ever since. Now Canadians are only Canadians, with all the bloods they have in them being only their own and not a subject to governmental discussion. In conclusion to all being said above, I have to acknowledge that the elimination of ethical differences in legal papers will probably never happen in America, I do hope that any number of drops of different blood type will not result in racism or racial inequality. </div>

<p align=center>Article source: <a href="http://www.ArticlePros.com/History/American/article-58544.html">ArticlePros.com</a></p>
 
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		<p align=center><b>About the author</b></p>
		<p align=justify>Jeff Stats is a staff writer at  <a href="http://mindrelief.net/"> college essay writing service</a > Mindrelief.net that provides highest quality <a href="http://mindrelief.net/"> custom term papers</a>, and <a href="http://mindrelief.net/research_paper.html"> research papers. </a> </p>
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