Dichotomizing Race Perhaps the clearest example of the historic and continu- ing

Question

Dichotomizing Race Perhaps the clearest example of the historic and continu- ing dichotomization of race is provided by the "one-drop rule," which is described by F. James Davis in Reading 2. This "rule" became a law but now operates only as an informal social practice, holding that people with any traceable African heritage should classify themselves as black. President Barack Obama's identifica tion of himself as African American on the 2010 census is consistent with this practice. The rule, which is unique to the United States and South Africa, grew out of the efforts of southern whites to enforce segregation after the Civil War, but over time came to be endorsed by both blacks and whites. Consistent with this practice, only about 4 percent of black Americans identify themselves as having ancestry from more than one race, even though a much larger percentage have Native American and/or white ancestry 67 While the one-drop rule applied to the identification of who was black, the three racial categories identified by the census throughout the 19th century White, Negro, and Indian-were functionally collapsed into a white/nonwhite binary. For example, in 1854, the California Supreme Court in People v. Hall held that blacks, mulattos, Native Americans, and Chinese were "not white" and there- fore could not testify for or against a white man in court. (Hall, a white man, had been convicted of killing a Chinese man on the testimony of one white and three Chinese witnesses; the Supreme Court overturned the conviction.) The same dichotomization can be seen in the Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) described in Reading 37 At the insistence of the Mexican government, Mexican residents of the south- west territories ceded to the United States in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were placed on the "white" side of the ledger, and accorded the political legal status of "free white persons."European immigrants such as the Irish were initially treated as nonwhite, and lobbied for their inclusion in American society on the basis of the white/nonwhite distinction.

Explanation / Answer

There exists a social concept of 'dichotomization of race'. The concept refers to racial categorization of people, following the 'one-drop rule'. From a law, the rule converted into an 'informal social practice'. The rule relates to labelling any person as 'black', if he or she belongs to 'African lineage'. Former American President, Barack Obama, identified himself as an 'African American'. Post the Civil War, the 'southern whites' desired a separation, which gave birth to the unique one-drop rule. The three racial categories present throughout the 19th century namely, the 'White, Negro and Indian' turned into a 'White/Non-White binary'. For example, the California Supreme Court in 1854 disallowed 'Blacks, Mullatos, Native Americans and Chineses' from testifying for or against a white man in court in the 'People vs Hall' case. The European Immigrants, on the basis of white/non-white categorization, campaigned for their addition in the American society.

Americans of Asian lineage are not considered to be whites. Rather, Asian descendants are ceaselessly considered to be 'foreigners' in the American society. It is only Americans, who are considered to be whites. Therefore, the dichotomized racial categories are that of American/Non-American. Non-white people are considered to be the 'recent arrivals', and are asked to go back to the place, from where they came. Latinos and Asian Americans are considered to be similar to whites, but African Americans are still considered to be dissimilar to whites, irrespective of their success.

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