Sinners also offers a contemporary look into this racial dichotomy by subtly addressing the one-drop rule — a 1662 legal doctrine that declared anyone with any Black ancestry, regardless of how small, to be considered African American. Mary’s character is a reflection of how hypodescent dictates personal autonomy, notably the consequences of being subjected to it. No one would ever mistake Mary as a Black woman, but that doesn’t mean she’s white, either. Being a quarter Black means she’s caught “in the middle” of this rigid racial classification and that none of her choices are truly her own — not the way she moves through society, not how she navigates relationships, not even the way she sees herself.
