Colonial independence inverted the prestige of birth origins

Evidence

Notice the transformations that independence brought the Americans: first-generation immigrants now became ‘lowest’ rather than ‘highest’, i.e. the ones most contaminated by a fatal place of birth. Similar inversions occur in response to racism. ‘Black blood’ – taint of the tar-brush – came, under imperialism, to be seen as hopelessly contaminating for any ‘white.’ Today, in the United States at least, the ‘mulatto’ has entered the museum. The tiniest trace of ‘black blood’ makes one beautifully Black. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 272

Categorization

• XREF: The inversion structure — place of birth flipping from highest to lowest status — parallels the earlier discussion of creole vs peninsular status and anticipates the logic of racial ‘one-drop’ essentialism.
• SHARE: Perfect for a friend interested in the sociology of racial categories — the Miami ‘one drop makes you black’ inversion of the colonial tar-brush stigma is a compact, counterintuitive point.