Identity Wrapped in Race

Identity is usually defined as the distinguishing characteristics or personality of an individual. Individuals by and large understand their identity through their family's history. This is where a discussion on the link between the two begins. Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist and author stated an opinion on the subject of identity and family history: "I think history is inextricably linked to identity. If you don't know your history, if you don't know your family, who are you?"  The statement expressly defines how one's gene pool or family tree is the foundation of how that individual ends up seeing themselves. Barack Obama, Susie Guillory Phipps and Kate Chopin's "Desiree's Baby," highlight Pipher's statement. Pipher essentially describes a question that often comes as to how race in society is defined. 

Barack Obama has often been noted as not being actually black. When looking at Barack Obama, one cannot help but perceive him to be African American. Yet, Obama is bi-racial. There has been "debate over whether to call this son of a white Kansan and a black Kenyan biracial, African American, mixed-race, half-and-half, multiracial, or in Obama's own words, a mutt" ("Defining 'mutt' Obama's true colors). With the variety of expressions of what society can call Obama or see him as that raises an interesting question. Should society be allowed to decide one's race or should that be left to the individual? 

Is there a standard name that society should be calling people who are born to interracial couples? This brings up what has been commonly referred to as the one-drop rule as well as the classification of race. The U.S. Census currently requires "five minimum categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. The U.S. Census Bureau permits the reporting of more than one race" ("What is Race?"). The one-drop rule "sprang from the slaveowner habit of dropping by the slave quarters and producing brown babies. One drop of black blood mean that person, and his or her descendants, could never be a full citizen" ("Defining 'mutt' Obama's true colors). African Americans born to a black and white parent if they were light enough in skin tone could pass for white. The one-drop rule and Pipher's statement points to the fact that there are many white Americans who have black people in their family history and are not aware of it.

The concept of passing and the one drop rule is essential to the Susie Guillory Phipps Case, about a New Orleans woman who needed a copy of her birth certificate to apply for passports. When Phipps got to the Louisiana Bureau of Vital Records, she was informed that the birth certificate could not be issued because of her race discrepancy. "Phipps was very insistent to the point of obsession to change her birth certificate thereby receiving official blessing of her color" ("Just Who Is White?") which to Phipps had been white. A court battle began as Phipps could not get over the fact that she was indeed African American and insisted she was white. This again gets back to the question of whether society should judge one’s race or if it should be left up to the individual as Susie’s family tree exposed something completely different than what she was accustomed to. Phipps did not win her case, as the court upheld the law that just because someone may appear a particular race, their family tree is what makes them who they are. 

Kate Chopin's story also touches on Pipher's statement. It is a story about a woman, Desiree, who has had a baby. Desiree discovers that her baby is bi-racial as she had come to understand herself not to be the race she actually is. "My mother, tell me I am not white. For God's sake tell them it is not true," (Chopin) Desiree states discovering the truth after her baby is born. Chopin’s story adds depth to both Pipher’s quote and a quote by George R.R. Martin “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you" (Martin). This line was made famous in the Game of Thrones series. 

Barack Obama, Susie Phipps and Desiree all underscore how identity defines an individual. Each of these individuals has come to form an opinion about who they are and how society should view them. While Obama understands his family tree, Phipps and Desiree do not or if they do; have ignored it. These stories provide further enlightenment on how individuals often decide for themselves what race they are, especially given the one-drop rule and the fact that the U.S. Census allows for more than one demarcation on race; yet society ends up having the final say.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Boston: Longman, 2011. 98-102. 

“Defining 'Mutt' Obama's True Colors: Many People Insist That 'the First Black President' is Actually Not Black.” Associated Press. 14 Dec. 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2013 from URL: htp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28216005/page/2/.

Just Who is White? The Passing Game or a Denial of Ones' Right to Choose: The Susie Guillory Phipps Case.” (n.d.). Frenchcreoles.com. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Welcome to Frenchcreoles.com

Martin, George R. A Game of Thrones. New York, NY: Bantam Spectra, 1996. Print.

"What is Race?" Race. U.S. Census Bureau, 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://www.census.gov/population/race/>.