(1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race

As part of a wider project to "challenge narrow, yet popular perceptions of what Blackness is and what Blackness looks like," Blay (Africana studies, Drexel Univ.) has produced an exquisitely photographed coffee-table-size book that uses Théard's images and Blay's rendering of personal histories from 60 people to reflect on color and identity. The project's title is taken from the notion, sanctified by the Supreme Court in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson, that blackness is defined by possession of any amount of African ancestry. The introduction outlines many of the historical events that reinforced the one-drop belief system. This section is written casually, moving between historical incidents and examples from Blay's own life. There are holes in the historical record, and, more important, Blay never really defines race or challenges its usefulness as a category. But perhaps that's the point; she wants readers to discuss race and color and see their fluidity through the stories of her subjects.