Image via WikipediaHalle Berry opened the lid on one of the thorniest issues that still plagues race relations when she went to war with her former significant other, Gabriel Autry, over custody of their daughter, Nahla. The issue revolves around who is or isn't African-American. Berry took a firm stand and flatly said that she and her daughter are black and reportedly cites the "one drop rule" as the reason.
The "one drop rule" that Berry refers to has nothing to do with science, biology, or genealogy. By that I mean the pseudo-scientific designation that no matter how faint or distant in a person's family's genealogy -- if there's a person of biological African descent that makes that person black. The one-drop rule was often the law of the land in the early-to-mid twentieth century, most notably in Virginia under the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. This followed the passage of similar laws in numerous other states. However, during slavery, free African-Americans could have up to one-eighth to one-quarter African ancestry (this varied from state to state) and be considered legally white.
Before Berry took her stand, the issue of black versus multiracial came up repeatedly with President Obama. The debate was ongoing during the 2008 election (and in some circles continues to this day) over whether he was black, biracial, multiracial, or even American. Obama mercifully put that debate to rest for most Americans when he made it official and checked the box "African-American" on his Census 2010 form. CONTINUE....
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