hypodescent

Hypodescent is the practice of determining the lineage of a child of mixed race ancestry by assigning the child the race of his or her more socially subordinate parent. Because recent history shows Caucasians being socially dominant in the Western world, mixed race children are most commonly assigned to their non-Caucasian parent. However when two non-Caucasian parents have a child, the child is typically not assigned to either race. Although mulattos and Blasians are both half Black, only the former are generally perceived as Black, while Blasians such as Tiger Woods are not forced to self-identify as Black. The opposite of hypodescent is hyperdescent.
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