Reconstructing Racial Identities

Author(s): K. Anthony Appiah

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Autumn, 1996), pp. 68-72
Published by: Indiana University Press
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 FORUM

Racial
Reconstructing
Identities

K. Anthony
Appiah

The maintheoretical gap in In My Father'sHouse-in

theopinion,at least,of its author-is thelack of a proposedalternative to the
accountof identity in theblackdiasporathatthebook criticizes.'The pseudo-
biologicalessentialist
accountofblackidentity is,inmyjudgment, nowgenerally
understood to be untenable; whatis lackingis an alternative
positiveaccountof
blackidentity.In thebookI criticized thebiologicalaccountas a proposedbasis
foridentitiesin thecontinent as well: butI offered,in thechapteron "African
some suggestions
Identities," fora positivebasis fora rangeof continentally
basedmobilizations ofAfricaas whatI called"a vitalandenablingbadge."But
whatI had to say aboutdiasporicidentities was, to putit kindly,perfunctory.
Katya Azoulay's critiqueof my work("OutsideOur Parents'House: Race,
andIdentity"
Culture, in RAL27.1 [1996]: 129-42)identifies thistheoretical
gap
andrightly drawsattentionto it.Let me offerat leasta sketchofan approach.2

In earlyAmericanhistory, thelabel "African"was appliedto manyofthose

whowouldlaterbe thought ofas "Negroes,"bypeoplewhomayhavebeenunder
theimpression thatAfricans hadmorein commonculturally, socially,intellectu-
thantheyactuallydid.Neither
ally,religiously, ofthesekindsoferrors, however,
stoppedthelabelingfromhavingitseffects. As slaveryinNorthAmericabecame
racializedin thecolonialperiod,beingidentified as an African,or,later,as a
Negro,carrying whatDu Bois calledthe"badgeofcolor,"hadthosepredictable
negativeconsequences,whichhe so memorably capturedin the phrase:the
"socialheritageof slavery;thediscrimination andinsult"(117).
If we followthebadge of color,from"African"to "Negro"to "Colored
Race" to "Black"to "Afro-American" to "African-American" (and thisignores
suchfascinatingdetoursas theroutebywayof "Afro-Saxon"), we arethustrac-
ingthehistory notonlyof a signifier,a label,butalso a historyof itseffects.
At
anytimein thishistory therewas,withintheAmericancoloniesandtheUnited
Statesthatsucceededthem,a massiveconsensus, bothamongthoselabeledblack
and amongthoselabeledwhite,as to who,in theirowncommunities, fellunder
whichlabels. (As immigration fromChina and otherpartsof the "Far East"
occurred, an Orientallabel came to have equal stability.)
Therewas, no doubt,
some"passing";buttheveryconceptofpassingimpliesthat,iftherelevant fact
abouttheancestry of theseindividuals had becomeknown,mostpeoplewould
havetakenthemto be traveling underthewrongbadge.

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 K. AnthonyAppiah 69

The resultis thatthereare at leastthreesociocultural objectsin America-

Blacks,Whites,andOrientals-whosemembership atanytimeis relatively-and
increasingly-determinate. Theseobjectsare historical in thissense:to identify
all themembersof theseAmericanraces overtime,you cannotseek a single
criterion thatappliesequallyalways;youcanfindthestarting pointfortherace-
thesubcontinental sourceof thepopulation of individualsthatdefinesitsinitial
membership-and thenapplyat each historical moment thecriteria of intertem-
poralcontinuity thatapplyatthatmoment todecidewhichindividuals inthenext
generation countas belonging tothegroup.Thereis fromtheverybeginning until
thepresent, at theheartofthesystem, a simplerulethatveryfewwoulddispute
eventoday:Wherebothparentsareofa singlerace,thechildis ofthesamerace
as theparents.3
The criteria applicableat anytimemayleave vagueboundaries. Theycer-
tainlychange,as thevarying decisionsaboutwhatproportion ofAfrican ancestry
madeonblackorthecurrent uncertaintyas tohowtoassignthechildren ofWhite-
Yellow "miscegenation" demonstrates. But theyalwaysdefinitely assignsome
people to thegroupand definitely ruleout others;and formostof America's
history, theclass of peopleaboutwhomtherewas uncertainty (are theFlorida
SeminolesblackorIndian?)was relatively small(see Mulroy).
Once theraciallabelis appliedtopeople,ideasaboutwhatitrefers to,ideas
thatmaybe muchless consensualthantheapplication ofthelabel,cometohave
theirsocialeffects. Buttheyhavenotonlysocialeffects butpsychological effects
as well:andtheyshapethewayspeopleconceiveofthemselves andtheirprojects.
In particular, thelabels can operateto shapewhatI call "identification": the
processthrough whichan individual intentionallyshapesherprojects-including
herplansforherownlifeandherconception ofthegood-by reference to avail-
able labels,availableidentities.
Identification is centralto whatIan Hackingonce called "MakingUp
People." Drawingon a numberof examples,he defendedwhathe called a
"dynamic nominalism," whichargues"thatnumerous kindsofhumanbeingsand
humanactscomeintobeinghandin handwithourinvention ofthecategories of
labelingthem"(87). I havejustarticulated a dynamic nominalism abouta kindof
personthatis currently usuallycalled"African-American."
Becausetheascription ofracialidentities-the processof applying thelabel
to people,including ourselves-is basedon morethanintentional identification
thattherecan be a gap betweenwhata personascriptively is andtheracialiden-
titytheyperform: itis thisgap thatmakespassingpossible.
Race is,in thisway,likeall themajorformsofidentification thatarecentral
to contemporary identity politics:femaleand male; gay,lesbian,and straight;
black, white,yellow,red, and brown;Jewish-,Italian-,Japanese-,Korean-
American;eventhatmostneglected ofAmerican class.Thereis, in all
identities,
of them,a setof theoretically committed criteriaforascription,notall of which
areheldbyeverybody, andwhichmaynotbe consistent witheachotherevenin
theascriptions of a singleperson;andthereis thena processof identification in
whichthelabelshapestheintentional actsof(someof) thosewhofallunderit.
It does not followfromthe factthatidentification shapesaction,shapes
life-plans,thattheidentification itselfmustbe thought of as voluntary. I don't
recalleverchoosingtoidentify as a male4;butbeing-male has shapedmanyofmy

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70 Research in AfricanLiteratures

plansandactions.In fact,wheremyascriptive identityis oneofwhichalmostall

of my fellowcitizensagree,I am likelyto have littlesense of choice about
whether theidentity is mine-thoughI can choosehowcentralmyidentification
withit will be; choose,thatis, how muchI will organizedmylifearoundthat
identity.Thus,if I am amongthose(like theunhappily labeled"straight-acting
gaymen,"ormostAmerican Jews)whoareable,iftheychoose,toescapeascrip-
tion,I maychoosenotto takeup a gay or a Jewishidentity, thoughthiswill
requireconcealingfactsaboutmyselformyancestry fromothers.
If,on theotherhand,I fallintotheclassofthoseforwhomtheconsensuson
ascription is notclear-as amongcontemporary so-called"biracials,"or bisexu-
als, orthosemanywhiteAmericans ofmultiple identifiable ethnicheritages (see
Waters)-I mayhavea senseofidentity options:butonewayI mayexercisethem
is bymarking myselfethnically (as whensomeonechoosesto wearan Irishpin)
so thatotherswillthenbe morelikelyto ascribethatidentity to me.
Collectiveidentities of course,in lotsof ways;thebodyis centralto
differ,
race,gender, andsexuality, butnotso central toclassandethnicity. And,torepeat
an important point,racialidentificationis simplyhardertoresistthanethniciden-
tification.The reasonis twofold.First,racialascription is moresociallysalient:
unlessyouaremorphologically for
atypical your racialgroup,strangers, friends,
officialsare alwaysawareof it in publicand privatecontexts, alwaysnoticeit,
almostneverlet it slip fromview.Second-and againbothin intimate settings
and in publicspace-race is takenby so manymorepeopleto be thebasis for
treating peopledifferentially.
This muchaboutidentification said,we can see thatDu Bois's analytical
problem was that he believedthat for raciallabelingofthissorttohavetheobvi-
ous real effects thatit did have-among them,crucially, his own identification
withotherblackpeopleand withAfrica-theremustbe somerealessencethat
heldtheracetogether. Ouraccountofthehistory ofthelabelrevealsthatthisis a
mistake:oncewe focus,as Du Bois almostsaw,on theracialbadge-the signifier
rather thanthesignified, thewordrather thantheconcept-we see boththatthe
effects ofthelabelingarepowerful andrealandthatfalseideas,muddleandmis-
takeand mischief, playeda centralrolein determining bothhow thelabel was
appliedandto whatpurposes.
This, I believe,is whyDu Bois so oftenfoundhimselfreduced,in his
attempts to definerace,to occultforces:if you look fora sharedessenceyou
won'tgetanything, so you'llcometobelieveyou'vemissedit,becauseitis super-
subtle,difficulttoexperience oridentify; in short,mysterious. Butif,as I say,you
understand thesociohistorical processofconstruction oftherace,you'llsee that
thelabelworksdespitetheabsenceofan essence.
Perhaps, then,we canallowthatwhatDu Bois was after wastheideaofracial
identity,which I shallroughly defineas:
a label,R,
associatedwithascriptions by mostpeople(whereascription involves
descriptive criteriaforapplyingthelabel); and identifications by those
whofallunderit(whereidentification impliesa shapingroleforthelabel
in theintentional actsof thepossessors,so thattheysometimes act as
an R);

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 K. AnthonyAppiah 71

wherethereis a history of associatingpossessorsof thelabel withan

inherited racial essence (even if some who use the label no longer
believein racialessences).
In fact,we mightarguethatracialidentities couldpersistevenifnobodybelieved
in racialessences,providedbothascription andidentification continue.
Therewillbe somewhowillobjecttomyaccountthatis doesnotgiveracism
a centralplacein defining racialidentity: itis obvious,I think,fromthehistory I
haveexplored, thatracismhas beencentraltothedevelopment ofrace-theory. In
thatsenseracismhas been partof thestoryall along.But you mightgive an
accountofracialidentity in whichyoucountednothing as a racialessenceunless
itimplieda hierarchy amongtheraces5;orunlessthelabelplayeda roleinracist
practices. I havesomesympathy withtheformer itwouldfiteasilyinto
strategy;
mybasicpicture. To thelatterstrategy, however, I makethephilosopher's objec-
tionthatitconfuseslogicalandcausalpriority: I haveno doubtthatracialtheo-
riesgrewup,inpart,as rationalizations formistreating blacks,Jews,Chinese,and
variousothers. ButI think itis usefultoreservetheconceptofracism,as opposed
to ethnocentric or simplyinhumanity, forpracticesin whicha race concept
playsa centralrole.AndI doubtyoucan explainracismwithout firstexplaining
theraceconcept.
I am in sympathy, however, withan animating impulsebehindsuchpropos-
als: whichis tomakesurethathereinAmericawe do nothavediscussions ofrace
in whichracismdisappearsfromview.As I pointedout,racialidentification is
hardto resistin partbecauseracialascription by othersis so insistent; and its
effects-especially theracistones-are so hardto escape.It is obvious,I think,
thatthepersistence ofracismmeansthatracialascriptions havenegativeconse-
quences for some and positiveconsequencesforothers-creating, in particular,
thewhiteskinprivilege thatitis so easyforpeoplewhohaveittoforget; anditis
clear,too,thatforthosewhosuffer fromthenegativeconsequences, racialiden-
tificationis a predictable response, especiallywheretheprojectitsuggestsis that
thevictimsofracismshouldjoin together toresistit.

NOTES

1. Thisis theburdenofLuciusOutlaw'songoingcritiqueofmywork-andI shouldlike

toacknowledgeheremygratitude
forhispersistence whatmustseemtohim
against
myinvincible
ignorance.
2. Thisaccount
istobefound inmoredetailinthesecondpartofmyessayinAppiah and
Gutmann.
3. Thisdifferentiates
raceintheUnited
Statesfrom itsoperations
inBrazil,where
color
(whichcan be sharedby parentswithoutbeinginherited
by theirchildren)is more
determinative.
4. ThatI don'trecallitdoesn't
provethatI didn't,
ofcourse.
5. Thisis theproposal ofa paperon"Metaphysical Racism"byBerelLangattheNew
SchoolforSocial Researchseminaron "Race andPhilosophy"
in October1994,from
whichI learnedmuch.

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72 Research in AfricanLiteratures

WORKS CITED

Appiah,KwameAnthony. In MyFather'sHouse. New York:OxfordUP, 1992.

andAmyGutmann. Color Conscious:ThePoliticalMoralityofRace. Princeton,
NJ:Princeton UP, 1996.
Du Bois,W. E. B. DuskofDawn: AnEssaytowardan Autobiography ofa Race Concept.
New York:Harcourt,1940. Rept.withintro.by Herbert Aptheker. Milwood,NY:
Kraus-Thomson, 1975.
Hacking,Ian. "MakingUp People."FormsofDesire: SexualOrientation and theSocial
ConstructionistControversy.Ed. EdwardStein.New York:Routledge,1992.69-88.
Rept.fromReconstructing Individualism:
Autonomy, and theSelfin
Individuality
Western Thought. Ed. ThomasHeller,MortonSousa,andDavid Wellbury. Stanford,
CA: Stanford UP, 1986.
Mulroy,Kevin.Freedomon theBorder:The SeminoleMaroonsin Florida,theIndian
Territory,Coahuila,and Texas.Lubbock,TX: TexasTechUP, 1993.
Water,MaryC. EthnicOptions:ChoosingIdentities inAmerica.Berkeley:U ofCalifornia
P, 1990.

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