"One Drop Rule" On Its Final Leg?

There is (or was) an excellent piece in the news section to the right on this blog. In case it is gone, here is a link to it. You really should read it. It delves into what I have been saying in my last few blogs, that Obama's prominence is going to mean a lot for moving Mixed people to the forefront of our consciousness. What the article also delves into though is how complicated the whole "one drop rule" is, while it asks, whether we have finally gotten past it.

One of the most interesting things about the idea that a person like Obama, or Tiger Woods, or Halle Berry, or any number of other Mixed individuals, is the fact that the people who most accept the inherent racism of the idea are Blacks. I have always felt that this is borne more out of a sense from many Blacks that anyone who dared call themselves Mixed or "bi-racial" was really ashamed of being Black, or was turning their back on the Black community. Part of it also of course is simply wanting to claim as theirs a person who has made it to the top of their field.

Whatever the reason, it is certainly understandable, even if inaccurate. Which of course is different from some Whites who subscribe to the "one drop rule" out of racial superiority or the notion that Whites are more pure. But whatever the reasoning, I will certainly do my part to help us all get past this outdated and limiting notion of what "racial" identity is. And thanks to Obama, I will have many opportunities to bring this matter to light along with the many others in the Mixed and inter-ethnic relationship communities.

Interestingly, it will no doubt get quite complicated on this issue before it gets altogether better. I suspect there will be a backlash of sorts from some segments when and if Obama brings up his Mixed heritage. We'll see how it plays out. But however it does, it is a discussion we have to have.