“From the first, every English continental colony lumped
mulattoes with Negroes in their slave codes and in statutes
governing the conduct of free Negroes: the law was clear
that mulattoes and Negroes were not to be distinguished for
different treatment (Hickman 1179).”
“You see, unfortunately, I am not black. There are lots of
different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the
United States, the word ‘Negro’ is used to mean anyone who
has any Negro blood at all in his veins (see Hughes).”
Introduction
This research paper is a survey of the historical legal construction of black racial
identity of mixed black-white race individuals in America. In particular, I investigate
how state legislatures in the United States constructed black racial identity through the
enactment of laws and constitutional provisions. By black racial identity, I mean the
degree of a person’s sense of a group or collective identity with people of black African
heritage based on one’s perception that he or she shares a common racial heritage with
other people of black African ancestry (Helms 3). By mixed black-white race
individuals, I mean people who are of black African and white European descent. The
primary emphasis of this paper is to explore the systematic process of state statutory
construction of black racial identity of mixed black-white race individuals. Although this
research is peppered with some discussion about why American law evolved in this
fashion, such commentary is not the main goal of this paper. Rather, this research sets
out to explore state laws regarding mixed black-white race identity to identify the
framework by which institutions of the American political and legal system socially
constructed the idea of blackness for mixed black-white race people.
My central argument in this paper is that state legislatures historically attempted
to coerce individuals of mixed black-white race lineage to identify with blackness
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Convention