In parts of the US, like Louisiana, a more Latin America like racial system was in place (i.e., black-white not viewed as binary one-drop rule, so octoroons, quadroons, and mulattos were all recognized as things, and even annual balls for them were held). I suspect if you're a settler colony, like most of the original 13, you get a more one-drop rule kind of thing. If you're not, you tend to get more of a Latin American thing (I understand in India there's actually a separate caste for half Anglo, half Indian, and they're particular about the blood quantum).