Joe Rogan claims a black person is “someone who is, like, 100% African from the darkest place where they are not wearing any clothes all day.” (That didn’t go by without causing ripples; see story here).
Rogan (bio here) hosts a popular podcast with a large following. But he’s a college dropout with a martial arts background who has no expertise on the issues he opines about. He’s best considered an entertainer, not a serious information source.
For that matter, some of his opinions are very dubious; for example, he’s been sharply criticized by the medical community for spreading dangerous misinformation about Covid-19 (and climate change, too, see story here). Now, further tarnishing his minimalist intellectualism, he’s come up with a definition of “black” that’s prima facie idiocy.
This is not to say a person is black simply because they choose to call themselves “black.” Being black isn’t like religion; you can’t opt into it. Rachel Dolezal isn’t black just because she “identifies” as black or calls herself black. She’s merely pretending to be something she isn’t (details here).
Nor can you opt out of it, if you are black (or partially black). White supremacist Craig Cobb badly wants to be as pure white as Ivory soap, and he certainly looks the part, but unfortunately for him, he’s 14% black (details here). That doesn’t make him African-American, and I’m not sure what percent of “sub-Saharan African ancestry” in a person’s DNA would, and he can pass as white without any trouble. But he’s just black enough to snicker at him (or harass him, depending on your inclination).
Defining “black” is complicated. I won’t attempt it here, and don’t have to. I’m off the hook because someone else already has: Retired sociology professor F. James Davis. Read an essay by him here. Some people might disagree with how he defines “black,” and I don’t know if his definition is considered definitive, or widely accepted, but it appears to depend in part on the subject’s cultural experience.
The point is, the distinction between black and non-black in American society is blurry, not least because of race mixing (see photo of Thomas Jefferson descendants below; see backstory here). And the larger point is that once again Joe Rogan doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
