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The Brian Lehrer Show

Passing Secrets

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Bliss Broyard, author of One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life--A Story of Race and Family Secrets (Little, Brown and Company, 2007) learned her father, New York Times Book Review editor Anatole Broyard, was black--just before his death in 1990.

One Drop is available for purchase at Amazon.com


Comments

  • [1] miss or ms October 30, 2007 - 11:12AM

    The one drop rule makes no sense at all, its a relic of white supremacist values.

    Almost every Black - American has more than one drop of European and/or Native America ancestry, does this ancestry covert Black Americans into "mixed"?

    If someone can "pass" for white, its reasonable to assume this individual has as much European ancestry as African.

    People have the right, regardless of their ancestry or appearance to define themselves.
  • [2] miss or ms October 30, 2007 - 11:13AM

    ps. "mexican" is not a race.

    Mexican is a nationality.
  • [3] Dee from Rego Park October 30, 2007 - 11:15AM

    Not to take away from the author's book, but their is an excellent book from the Harlem Renaissance called "Quicksand and Passing" which are two short stories that deal with light skinned blacks or mix race Americans passing for white. This is not exactly a new subject.
  • [4] antonio from park slope October 30, 2007 - 11:15AM

    I have a sister who refuses to identify with the apparent fact that she is plainly partly multi-cultural..

    She says she can't because she is an actress???!!!

    Does Ms. Broyard have any insight of how to get her to embrace reality???
  • [5] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey October 30, 2007 - 11:15AM

    miss, I agree. I think that saying "oh, we discovered that we were really black" because they have a tiny bit of black ancestry is ridiculous. The one drop rule was racist, and this is just a more benign version of that.
  • [6] Michael from Park Slope October 30, 2007 - 11:16AM

    I have a related history. My maternal grandmother and her relatives self-identified as black, but many of them had blonde hair, blue eyes, and so on.

    My mother told me that many relatives of her father (who was dark-skinned) were cool or even hostile to my grandmother after they married in 1926.


  • [7] Fatima from Harlem October 30, 2007 - 11:23AM

    This one drop rule is racist. Bliss is not black because she has "one drop". Many "white" people have some black in their lineage and choose to identify as white, which is their right. Bliss would be black only based on her decision to self-identify and her socio-cultural experience.
  • [8] mayoress from NYC October 30, 2007 - 11:24AM

    antonio - reality is relative. as a former actor who has to deal with the "what are you?" question to get work, in the only industry where that question isn't an illegal hiring practice, i hold that it doesn't matter all that much. one doesn't have to be scottish to play macbeth, and one doesn't have to wear her race on her sleeve to be in touch with "reality."
  • [9] antonio from park slope October 30, 2007 - 11:34AM

    Mayoress - Thanks for the insight, though I didn't mean in terms of getting roles; basically she fears that owning up to her background WOULD cause her not to get roles..basically I tell her what you just mentioned.


  • [10] michele tyner from Washington DC October 30, 2007 - 11:39AM

    This is an excellent topic. Anthony Hopkins started in a film:

    The Human Stain Star 9 Clips 14 Photos

    irector Robert Benton brings Philip Roth's 2000 novel THE HUMAN STAIN to the screen in this lavish production, with expert cinematography from Jean-Yves Escoffier. Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) is a light-skinned African-American college professor who has kept his true racial identity secret for the majority of his life. His career comes to a sudden halt when he makes a comment that is misinterpreted as a racial slur. Soon after he is fired, Silk hooks up with young Faunia Farely (Nicole Kidman), a local janitor. The affair with Farely, who is almost half Silk's age, becomes small-town gossip, and attracts the attention of Farely's psychotic ex-husband, Lester (Ed Harris). As Lester seeks vengeance, still angry at his ex-wife, Silk must make some tough decisions about his affair with Farely, leading to the film's nail-biting conclusion.

    Benton draws incredibly convincing performances from his two lead actors. Hopkins ably transcends his Caucasian ethnicity to play an African American. And Kidman fully embraces her character as a downtrodden janitor who is determined to rise beyond her humble beginnings. The two actors conquer the difficult subject matter, offering fascinating commentary on racial mores and relationship issues.

    Check it out

    mt
  • [11] SM October 30, 2007 - 11:46AM

    Dears,

    "Loving vs Virginia"..remember..we are only 50 years away from the Supreme court ruling that anti-miscegenation laws of over 34 states was inconstitutional. As long as the "one drop " rule exists, I can guarantee that U.S. citizens will be reminded of the racism and sheer stupidity that existed and still exists.

    Think this was a long time ago, well in 2000, Alabama finally removed its law against mixed-race marriage from its books.

    If the "one drop" rule exists, we will never forget..


  • [12] perri October 30, 2007 - 12:19PM

    My favorite book on this subject is "Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black" by Gregory H. Williams.

    Fatima, yes the one drop rule is racist; but, if it were so diligently applied today imagine how many people, though white in appearance, would be considered black? Entertainers such as Carol Channing, Wentworth Miller, Carly Simon, to name a few.

This thread is closed.


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