Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century

by Dorothy Roberts

In her defense, Alice surprised Leonard and his attorneys by choosing not to prove she was white. She admitted that she had some “colored blood” but insisted that Leonard—who prior to the wedding had met her family, spent many nights with her at the Hotel Marie Antoinette, and even bathed her naked body—was well aware of her true identity. The climax of the trial occurred when Alice was compelled to provide the key evidence in her defense. The judge, lawyers, jurors, and Leonard waited in the jury room while Alice stripped to her underwear, covered by a coat, in an adjoining lavatory. At her lawyer’s direction, a weeping Alice let down the coat before the white male jurors so they could see for themselves how easy it was to tell that she was black.