COLORISM BEFORE AND AFTER THE ONE DROP RULE

ABSTRACT

The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson changed the United States from a color-focused society to a race-focused society and stripped the privileged formal status from mulattos. Black identity was flattened to what we know today: a collective identity with rampant color stratification. While research on colorism has expanded, we need to understand how contemporary colorism evolved from the systems of the past. I use Census microdata from 1870 and 1920 and regression analysis to examine colorism before and after the one-drop-rule. I reveal that colorism worsened after the one-drop-rule, and mulattos tried even harder to preserve their distinct identity.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).