During the early 20th century, Virginia passed a law establishing a binary system of the "one drop rule", requiring each individual to be classified as white or colored (the latter covered anyone with any known African ancestry, regardless of other ancestry or cultural context).
In the early 20th century, Virginia enacted a law implementing a two-tiered system based on the 'one drop rule', necessitating each person to be categorized as either white or colored (the latter encompassing anyone with any acknowledged African heritage, irrespective of other ancestry or cultural nuances).