The "One Drop" Rule

With the fierce custody battle between Halle Berry and her ex, model Gabriel Aubry in full force, the race war has officially begun. There have been accusations that Gabriel uses racial slurs, and gets very mad when people refer to Nahla as "black,"  and now Halle Berry has officially spoken in response.

Halle Berry recently spoke to Ebony magazine and revealed that she indeed considers her daughter Black, and that she believes in the "one drop" rule. Those of you who are unfamiliar with the "one drop" rule, it's a historical social and racial classification that classified individuals as "black" if they had one drop of African blood in their DNA. Sounds kind of silly, but for hundreds of years people were considered and labeled as black when maybe their great great grandmother was black.

The question is, does the one drop rule still apply? And why are black people so eager to claim celebrities who may be mixed race or bi-racial?

Race is a sensitive subject, and celebrities who are mixed race is an even more sensitive subject. Many bi-racial celebs have been apprehensive to identify or claim their African ancestry due to concerns of prejudice in Hollywood. "Flashdance" actress Jennifer Beals didn't reveal that she was bi-racial until much later in her acting career in fear of being discriminated against. Many people, particularly black people, didn't agree with her decision to hide her racial identity, but eventually she was accepted and was proud to say she was bi-racial.

Should the "one drop" rule still apply? Probably not, but that's much to be debated. Should bi-racial and mixed-race celebs speak out and be proud of their heritage? Definitely, yes! There are plenty of bi-racial children who often search for role models that look like them, and the constant denials or omissions of one's true identity does nothing but hinder Africa-America culturally.

Be proud of who you are as a person, and don't be afraid to say "I'm half-black," or, "My mother is Korean."

At the end of the day, who really knows if the "one drop" rule still applies, but here are some celebs who certainly would qualify as being black if America were still going by the "one

Rashida Jones would definitely qualify under the "one drop" rule because her legendary father Quincy Jones is Black. 

Actor Vin Diesel is of black and Italian ancestry and considers himself a "person of color."

 
Many people don't know this but Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash is half-black. His mother is African-American

Singer Mariah Carey always struggled to identify herself as a child and even as an adult. She is the daughter of a white mother and Afro-Venezuelan father. 

 

NBA super star Jason Kidd is the son of a black father and Irish mother.

Apprehensive that if she identified herself as bi-racial, "Flashdance" actress Jennifer Beals hid the fact that she was half-black until recently so she wouldn't become shunned in Hollywood. 

 

Actor Wentworth Miller's father is black, German, and many other races and his mother is English. 

 

Dallas Cowboys star and ex-boyfriend of Kim Kardashian, Miles Austin is bi-racial.