Angela Onwuachi-Willig - According to Our Hearts. Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the Law of the Multiracial Family

ACCORDING TO OUR HEARTS

ANGELA ONWUACHI-WILLIG

RHINELANDER V. RHINELANDER AND THE LAW OF THE MULTIRACIAL FAMILY

Yale UNIVERSITY PRESS

NEW HAVEN & LONDON

Copyright 2013 by Angela Onwuachi-Willig.
All rights reserved.
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Set in Scala type by Integrated Publishing Solutions.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Onwuachi-Willig, Angela.
According to our hearts : Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the law of the multiracial family / Angela Onwuachi-Willig.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-16682-8 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Rhinelander, Leonard KipTrials, litigation, etc. 2. Jones, Alice BeatriceTrials, litigation, etc. 3. Trials (Divorce)United States. 4. Race discriminationLaw and legislationUnited States. I. Title.
KF228.R47O59 2013
346.7470166dc23
2012044511

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated with much love and gratitude to my husband, Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, and our children, Elijah, Bethany, and Solomon. This book also is dedicated to the memory of my sister, Cordillia (Onwuachi) Guerrero, whose own family experiences have served as added inspiration for this book.

I AM GRATEFUL TO SO MANY PEOPLE for their help with this project. I am most grateful to my wonderful family, my husband Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, and our three children, Elijah, Bethany, and Solomon. They inspire me every day and have taught me so much about life, including much of what is in this book. I also give thanks to Jacob for many related conversations and discussions and for his comments on my work.

I also am thankful for the love and support of my mother, Veronica; my sister, Bridget; my brothers, Emmanuel and James; my in-laws, David and Susan Willig; my grandparents-in-law, Ethel and Richard Stuckman, and Robert Onkka; my brother-in-law, Ernest Guerrero; my niece, Rosie; my nephew, Sidney; my brother-in-law, Isaac Willig; and my sisters-in-law, Chantana Struckman and Petrina Willig.

I give great thanks to Michael OMalley, the former editor at Yale University Press who inquired about this project and made this book possible. I am especially grateful for his belief in and great enthusiasm for the project. I also am very grateful to my editors, Andrew Frisardi, William Frucht, and Dan Heaton, and to editorial assistant Jaya Chatterjee, who assisted with this project in so many ways. Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this project.

Research for this book could not have been completed without the support of Charles and Marion Kierscht. Dean Gail Agrawal, Dean Carolyn Jones, the Provosts Office at the University of Iowa, and the Office of Research at the University of Iowa also provided invaluable support for this project. I am deeply indebted to these individuals and offices, especially to Charles and Marion Kierscht, two wonderful people who have so graciously allowed their name to be connected to my work in title.

University of Iowa Law Librarians Ted Potter and John Bergstrom also provided invaluable research assistance. I also give great thanks to former Dean and Associate Dean Rex Perschbacher and Kevin Johnson, Law Librarians Peg Durkin, Susan Llano, and Erin Murphy at the University of California, Davis School of Law for their research support and funding. This project would not have even started without the help of Peg Durkin, who worked to provide funding and helped me secure a copy of the Rhinelander transcript.

I also thank my colleagues at the University of Iowa College of Law and my former colleagues at the University of California, Davis School of Law for their general support. Of course, I miss my dear colleague from Iowa, David Baldus, who, simply through his spirit and warmth, always added much to my work on all projects.

This book also could not have been completed without my survey and interview participants, whom I cannot name, but who are each dear to me. I am appreciative of the time that they took out of their busy schedules to assist me with this project. In so many ways, their experiences have made this book come alive.

My former research assistants, Jonathan Brayman, Christie Canales, Tai Duncan, Amber Fricke, and Berneta Haynes also contributed greatly to this project. I am eternally grateful to them for their hard work and enthusiasm, and I am particularly grateful to Amber Fricke and Berneta Haynes, who provided tremendous help during and near the end of this project. My former assistants Mary Sleichter and Kati Jumper and temporary assistant Jeremiah Stai also provided help on this book.

I also give thanks to my writing group at my second academic home as a faculty member, Grinnell College: Shanna Benjamin, Karla Erickson, Lakesia Johnson, and Michelle Nasser. These women really saw me through the end of this project, and I could not have finished the book without them. Their encouragement (and pomming) kept me going in the final months. I also am thankful to Dean Paula Smith of Grinnell College and Grinnell College Librarian Richard Fyffe for providing me with a space on campus to work on this book and for all other assistance with this project. Many others provided assistance for which I am thankful. I especially thank Marna Montgomery, Sheryl Bissen, and Retta Kelly for their help.

Of course, I am incredibly grateful for the help and advice of my fabulous mentor, Dean Kevin Johnson of the University of California, Davis School of Law, who made my career possible in so many ways, and who has always supported my creative work. I also give great thanks to Nancy Levit, University of Iowa President Emeritus Sandy Boyd and Dean Emeritus Bill Hines for their advice and mentorship. I owe special thanks to some dear friends, who have suffered through hearing me talk about this book (far too much) for far too long, who read and commented on parts of my drafts, and who provided much-needed emotional and intellectual support along the way: Mario Barnes, Jacquelyn Bridgeman, David Cook Martin, David Coster, Michele Goodwin, Aya Gruber, Jennifer Holladay, Trina Jones, Kevin Kopelson, Robin Lenhardt, Melissa Murray, Camille Gear Rich, Kesho Scott, Jessica Silbey, Catherine Smith, and Peggie Smith.

So many others have contributed tremendously to this project by reading and commenting on chapter drafts, talking through ideas with me, writing great articles and books for me to cite and use in this book, providing wonderful ideas, and/or encouraging me along the way. To all of you, I am very thankful: Kerry Abrams, Ifeoma Ajunwa, Laila Amine, Annette Appell, Rick Banks, George Barlow, Elizabeth Bartholet, Rabia Belt, Randy Bezanson, Arthur Bonfield, Christopher Bracey, Tonya Brito, Alfred Brophy, Paul Butler, Mary Campbell, Jennifer Chacn, Anupam Chander, Guy Charles, Miriam Cherry, Frank Rudy Cooper, Marcella David, Cullen Davis, Richard Delgado, Ann Estin, Dresden Farrand, Barbara Flagg, Mary Louise Frampton, Liz Glazer, Timothy Glynn, Lawrence Goldstone, Laura Gomez, Ariela Gross, Lani Guinier, Meredith Harbach, Jill Hasday, Emily Houh, Herb Hovenkamp, Kristin Johnson, Nick Johnson, Bernie Jones, Randall Kennedy, Linda Kerber, Susan Kuo, Al Lacson, Marina Lao, Holning Lau, Cynthia Lee, Adriane Lentz-Smith, Evelyn Lewis, Benjamin Means, Solangel Maldonado, Judge Karen Nelson Moore, Rachel Moran, Adele Morrison, Odeana Neal, Osagie Obasogie, Chief Judge Solomon Oliver, Rigel Oliveri, Hari Osofsky, Imani Perry, Twila Perry, Todd Pettys, Marc Poirer, Judge Robert Pratt, Mae Quinn, Song Richardson, Alice Ristroph, Darren Rosenblum, Laura Rosenbury, Bertrall Ross, Paul Secunda, Sacha Somek, Madhavi Sunder, Rose Cuison Villazor, Gerry Wetlaufer, Diana Williamson, Francille Wilson, Adrien Wing, Marcia Yablon-Zug, and Rebecca Zietlow. I give my sincerest apologies to anyone whom I may have inadvertently left off of this list. I am grateful for your assistance, too.