Mixed Black and White Race and Public Policy |
Mixed Black and White Race and Public Policy
Hypatia
Volume 10, Issue 1 (February 1995)
Pages 120 – 132
Special Issue: Feminist Ethics and Social Policy, Part 1
DOI: 10.1111/j.1527-2001.1995.tb01356.x
Naomi Zack, Professor of Philosophy
University of Oregon
The American folk concept of race assumes the factual existence of races. However, biological science does not furnish empirical support for this assumption. Public policy derived from nineteenth century slave-owning patriarchy is the only foundation of the “one-drop rule” for black and white racial inheritance. In principle, Americans who are both black and white have aright to identify themselves racially. In fact, recent demographic changes and multiracial academic scholarship support this right.
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