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**smazibummigue** · 05-25-2012, 05:05 AM

For what it's worth, I am AfAm, and here's my take on the one drop rule and it's impact on people today.

Over time, we have been conditioned to think of ourselves as "black" instead of "mixed," (even if we are) just as you mixed people from LatAm, Caribbean, etc., are conditioned to think of yourselves as the composite of separate racial/ethnic identities.

White Americans see Afams as one group. Again, conditioning. Person #1 can be "light-skinned" with a mixed phenotype and they'll say he's no different from his more African-looking buddy.

After years of laws that said you were "just this" or "just that," and then being able to turn "just that" into a position of political strength, we have (somewhat) risen above the original negativity attached to the one drop rule. Despite having had a very good sense of who's mixed based on pheonotype, forever, the Civil Rights movement encouraged us to stand united for socio/political/economic change. We were successful. I think we have made advances that some of our fellow dark hued/African phenotyped cousins in LatAm have not.

In the U.S, there's no tangible advantage for being "mixed" that I can think of. In LatAm, looking like me might mean you can't get a good job. Here, regardless of hue/phenotype, we are both educated/poor; successful/impoverished.

Honestly, outside of forums like this, I never have this conversation. And, when I do, it's generally with people who aren't Afams.

The questions about "what are you" generally come from non-Americans. They are much more observant about the subtle differences of phenotypes among Afams.

I have asked myself the question, where is it better to be a darker hued/African phenotype person?

What do you think?

05-25-2012, 05:05 AM	#40
smazibummigue Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 402 Senior Member	For what it's worth, I am AfAm, and here's my take on the one drop rule and it's impact on people today. Over time, we have been conditioned to think of ourselves as "black" instead of "mixed," (even if we are) just as you mixed people from LatAm, Caribbean, etc., are conditioned to think of yourselves as the composite of separate racial/ethnic identities. White Americans see Afams as one group. Again, conditioning. Person #1 can be "light-skinned" with a mixed phenotype and they'll say he's no different from his more African-looking buddy. After years of laws that said you were "just this" or "just that," and then being able to turn "just that" into a position of political strength, we have (somewhat) risen above the original negativity attached to the one drop rule. Despite having had a very good sense of who's mixed based on pheonotype, forever, the Civil Rights movement encouraged us to stand united for socio/political/economic change. We were successful. I think we have made advances that some of our fellow dark hued/African phenotyped cousins in LatAm have not. In the U.S, there's no tangible advantage for being "mixed" that I can think of. In LatAm, looking like me might mean you can't get a good job. Here, regardless of hue/phenotype, we are both educated/poor; successful/impoverished. Honestly, outside of forums like this, I never have this conversation. And, when I do, it's generally with people who aren't Afams. The questions about "what are you" generally come from non-Americans. They are much more observant about the subtle differences of phenotypes among Afams. I have asked myself the question, where is it better to be a darker hued/African phenotype person? What do you think?
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