Désirée’s Baby: Criticism of the One-Drop Rule

Application of the hypodescent rule, while not yet written into law, had been a tradition in American racial categorization since the start of slavery. In her short story, “Désirée’s Baby,” Kate Chopin addresses the practice as it was applied in the “one-drop rule,” the notion that an individual with white complexion may be deemed black by society given the presence of any African ancestry. Chopin eloquently places Désirée, the story’s protagonist, at the intersection of the two races, highlighting the flaws and inadequacies of the one-drop rule. The plots progression, culminating in Désirée’s removal from white society and possible death, may indicate a text working to criticize racial prejudice; however, such interpretations become increasingly difficult to maintain in light of Chopin’s heavily racist undertones. Placing the dominant theory of racial assignment under a microscope, “Désirée’s Baby” works toward the conclusion that the one-drop rule is not only flawed by the unfortunate repercussions the method leads to, but essentially doomed by the absurdity of the concepts it stands upon. While it may seem contradictory, Chopin’s conclusion is strengthened by the use of an implicitly prejudiced text, a tactic allowing for the further scrutiny of social mores within a system they were designed to uphold.

Chopin sets the context for her argument by Placing Désirée in an environment where she can be made black easily, but with significant consequences. Despite Désirée’s ability to effortlessly assimilate into southern society, taking on the role of the “beautiful, gentle, affectionate and sincere” southern belle, the story never loses sight of her “obscure origin” (#). As a result, Désirée is not given the opportunity to prove h...

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...ore absurd if disproven in an environment characterized by heavy racial tensions. If the short story is read as an indictment of the one-drop rule in spite of racism, it may be Chopin’s attempt to halt a system where anyone can be made black, placing white individuals at risk. However, it is also capable of taking on a more timeless, didactic meaning. The reading, rather than a criticism purely of the one-drop rule, stands to force the reader to question the legitimacy of prevailing social mores, even those that may appear to correspond with the dominant opinions of the time. Whether racism was utilized by Chopin ironically or was merely an unavoidable attribute of her setting is irrelevant; its presence highlights the absurdity of hypodescent categorization, which would expand to support the anti-miscegenation and Jim Crow Laws that defined the postbellum years.