Melungeon anyone?

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by navane

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/

Part of the reason you're drawing a blank on this is precisely because you grew up in California during the second half of the twentieth century. Many people who felt boxed in by the weird racial dynamics of the Southeast moved to California after World War II in part to get away from that...and Jim Crow/rampant de jure segregation.

Virtually everyone who can trace their ancestry to the Southeast a few generations claims some Native American heritage. For Black-presenting people, we often claim Native ancestry to explain straight hair, light skin, sharp features, or hazel eyes. The rise of DNA testing has blown that right out of the water--most Black-presenting Americans have about 15-20% of Northwestern European ancestry, the rest being Subsaharan African. Most of the European ancestry is along the male line, which suggests slaveowners. For White-presenting Americans, that very same Native ancestry--or Iberian ancestry--is used to explain away darker hair or skin.

There's obviously substantial pride on both sides of having Native American heritage as well, and I know Blacks and Whites who get disappointed when their DNA doesn't reflect this grand Native American heritage at all, or only in small amounts. More and more people are learning that the "full-blooded Indian great-great-great grandmother" was most likely someone with noticeable African ancestry. How would Spanish or Portuguese people have made it to the Inland South en masse and integrate with the local populations during and after the Civil War?

The Melungeons, Dominickers, and Red Bones all received a lot of stigma for being so obviously mixed-race. In fact, the Dominickers were called that because they were "black and white, like a Dominecker chicken." It was an insult. If people could, they'd pass as white and/or leave the region. If they couldn't, they were stigmatized. Their descendants have taken this as a badge of honor. If anything, I'm glad that people are starting to embrace all of their heritage...as slow as a process it may be.

People who know more than I do, please feel free to chime in!