hypodescent

[hahy-poh-di-sent]

noun

1. the classifying or identifying of a biracial or multiracial individual as a member of the lower or lowest socially ranking racial group from which that person has ancestry.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypodescent¹

First recorded in hypo- ( def. ) + descent ( def. )

Example Sentences

“I think it goes to show you that even though we might in some ways celebrate being of mixed race, we still rely on what we call the rule of hypodescent, a.k.a. the one-drop rule — which is that if you are any partial ancestry that is non-European, you are Black, Latino, Asian, etc.,” she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“In many ways, we can see the continued role of hypodescent in the ways in which people define race in this country.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hypodescent continues to inform our understanding of who is black and who isn’t, and who has the right to the privileges of whiteness.

Read more on New York Times

To grasp the full measure of Stella’s position, we must consider the concept of hypodescent, colloquially known as the “one-drop rule.”

Read more on New York Times

Ten years on, towards the end of my degree, I learned that sociologists call this “hypodescent”; in line with the logic that dictated the one-drop rule during slavery in the US, when you’re a mixed-race ethnic minority, your minority heritage often becomes more socially important.

Read more on The Guardian