Ok....I've been reading along with the recent posts in this thread for a bit and I have to admit that I don't really "get it".
I had to go look up Melungeon and Red Bones to understand what everyone is talking about. Forgive me if I'm being too simplistic......but it sounds like both groups are comprised of multi-racial people - White, Black and Native American. I mean.....ok......
I suppose that may make sense to people from the "South" and that fact that these labels came about many, many years ago, but I don't understand the labeling of it. It's as if these pockets of multi-racial people were proud of their mixed race at a time when it might not have been socially acceptable. (?)
But then, one reference I saw stated that the Red Bones successfully got their group to be considered "white" instead of "colored" for voting purposes. So, I guess they were proud to be "Red Bones" as long as no one said the word Black?
In my ignorance, I assume that, back in the day in the South, being a mixed race was not favorable. Right? And even to this day some people [all over] are still racist. Unless they're Melungeon or Red Bones....in which case their "coloredness" is ok?
I guess I'm confused is because I grew up in Southern California where being a mixed race wasn't a big deal. It's not as if the family of my sister's friend, Crystal, had to come up with a group name for being bi-racial. The family of my childhood best friend, Shelley, didn't have a special name for their tri-racial family. I guess I don't understand why this is a "thing"?
I tried to read-up, but I'm getting a bunch of ancestry/genealogy type results. I'm trying to work out the sociological and cultural implications of what it means to be Melungeon or Red Bones both back then....and today.
I am a social scientist by nature and scholarship - my brain is trying to understand this concept. If anyone can fill me in....or point me to a better reading material.....I would appreciate it.
Edited to add - This article illuminates the situation quite a bit and confirms many of the things I suspected:
https://www.newsleader.com/story/new...on/4611383001/
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