Summary: Onwuachi-Willig, Angela. “A Beautiful Lie: Exploring Rhinelander v. Rhinelander as a Formative Lesson on Race, Identity, Marriage, and Family.” California Law Review. 95:6 (Dec. 2007): 2393-2458. JSTOR. Web. Accessed 06 June 2013.
by Staci Miller
“There was the Rhinelander case.” This small blip accompanied with no explanation in Nella Larsen’s Passing is not just a quickly forgotten fear in the frenzied mind of Irene Redfield. Rhinelander v. Rhinelander was a radically sensational annulment case in New York which was quickly forgotten to history. The Rhinelander case was such a small blip that most people didn’t think about it until Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone wrote their book Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White. Though Lewis and Ardizzone wrote the book that reawakened interest in the Rhinelander case, they did so using only newspapers from the time of the trial, the legal documents being lost to them. In her essay “A Beautiful Lie,” Angela Onwuachi-Willig gains access to these court documents and claims to be one of only two legal experts to have such access. Using these documents Onwuachi-Willig shows that the Rhinelander case was used not only to force Alice Jones-Rhinelander to redefine how she identified her own race, but also to punish a white man for knowingly marrying a black woman.
The article begins with a detailed description of the courtship, marriage, and falling out of Alice and Leonard Rhinelander. The article then goes on to give an in-depth account of the trial including the varying strategies both attorneys used to try to win the case. The article then discusses the specific strategy of Alice Rhinelander’s lawyer and his choice to change strategies in order to win the case. Alice Rhinelander had tried to fight being classified as a black woman, she herself identified as white, but when it came time for the trial (in which she never spoke) her race was never questioned: she was presented as a black woman. While this change of voice did win the case for Alice it also redefined her racial identity. This also made it impossible for Alice and Leonard Rhinelander to be a socially accepted married couple. This also meant that the jury’s decision to rule on the side of Alice was a slight to Leonard. Onwuachi-Willig sees the verdict as a desire on the part of the all-white, all-male jury to punish a white man for knowingly marrying a black woman by not allowing him to annul the marriage, but rather by validating the marriage and forcing the man to go through with a divorce. The article then deeply analyzes Alice Rhinelander’s own struggles with her racial identity. Alice identified as a white, working-class woman who married a wealthy white man but in the court case was presented as a black woman who never considered herself a white woman or tried to fool anyone into thinking she was a white woman.
The article concludes with what Onwuachi-Willig calls “Lessons from Rhinelander.” Here she argues that this case shows that race is not determined by how you identify racially, but rather by how society perceives you. She also explores the continued ideas in America of pure whiteness and how still today biracial people who are half-white and half-black are socially forced to identify as black. Onwuachi-Willig also argues that this case does not only determine Alice Rhinelander’s racial identity for her, but also what is expected of Leonard Rhinelander as a member of his race. As a white man, Leonard is expected to avoid enjoying the company of a black woman and especially avoid marrying her. Onwuachi-Willig concludes the essay with the lack of social acceptance for biracial families brought out by the trial. While Alice’s mother is a white woman, Alice’s family is referred to as black in the trial. Because of her choice to cross the color barrier and willingly participate in an interracial marriage, Alice’s mother loses the racial identity that is hers not only by her own identity but also by her biology. Onwuachi-Willig then shows cases of biracial families given the same treatment today.
by Staci Miller
“There was the Rhinelander case.” This small blip accompanied with no explanation in Nella Larsen’s Passing is not just a quickly forgotten fear in the frenzied mind of Irene Redfield. Rhinelander v. Rhinelander was a radically sensational annulment case in New York which was quickly forgotten to history. The Rhinelander case was such a small blip that most people didn’t think about it until Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone wrote their book Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White. Though Lewis and Ardizzone wrote the book that reawakened interest in the Rhinelander case, they did so using only newspapers from the time of the trial, the legal documents being lost to them. In her essay “A Beautiful Lie,” Angela Onwuachi-Willig gains access to these court documents and claims to be one of only two legal experts to have such access. Using these documents Onwuachi-Willig shows that the Rhinelander case was used not only to force Alice Jones-Rhinelander to redefine how she identified her own race, but also to punish a white man for knowingly marrying a black woman.
The article begins with a detailed description of the courtship, marriage, and falling out of Alice and Leonard Rhinelander. The article then goes on to give an in-depth account of the trial including the varying strategies both attorneys used to try to win the case. The article then discusses the specific strategy of Alice Rhinelander’s lawyer and his choice to change strategies in order to win the case. Alice Rhinelander had tried to fight being classified as a black woman, she herself identified as white, but when it came time for the trial (in which she never spoke) her race was never questioned: she was presented as a black woman. While this change of voice did win the case for Alice it also redefined her racial identity. This also made it impossible for Alice and Leonard Rhinelander to be a socially accepted married couple. This also meant that the jury’s decision to rule on the side of Alice was a slight to Leonard. Onwuachi-Willig sees the verdict as a desire on the part of the all-white, all-male jury to punish a white man for knowingly marrying a black woman by not allowing him to annul the marriage, but rather by validating the marriage and forcing the man to go through with a divorce. The article then deeply analyzes Alice Rhinelander’s own struggles with her racial identity. Alice identified as a white, working-class woman who married a wealthy white man but in the court case was presented as a black woman who never considered herself a white woman or tried to fool anyone into thinking she was a white woman.
The article concludes with what Onwuachi-Willig calls “Lessons from Rhinelander.” Here she argues that this case shows that race is not determined by how you identify racially, but rather by how society perceives you. She also explores the continued ideas in America of pure whiteness and how still today biracial people who are half-white and half-black are socially forced to identify as black. Onwuachi-Willig also argues that this case does not only determine Alice Rhinelander’s racial identity for her, but also what is expected of Leonard Rhinelander as a member of his race. As a white man, Leonard is expected to avoid enjoying the company of a black woman and especially avoid marrying her. Onwuachi-Willig concludes the essay with the lack of social acceptance for biracial families brought out by the trial. While Alice’s mother is a white woman, Alice’s family is referred to as black in the trial. Because of her choice to cross the color barrier and willingly participate in an interracial marriage, Alice’s mother loses the racial identity that is hers not only by her own identity but also by her biology. Onwuachi-Willig then shows cases of biracial families given the same treatment today.