Creole

Senusret I · #1 06-29-2005, 10:18 AM

I am having a debate with someone about what it means to be Creole. It will probably get heated between he and I, but I just wanted to see what other people's thoughts were before I Beatrix Kiddo his ass, intellectually speaking.

What does it mean to you? Do you consider yourself Creole? Do you use another term?

Do you find the term to be archaic and irrelevant in 2005?

In what context do you/would you use the term?

This is a racial question, so if you can't hang, don't answer.

Honeykiss1974 · #2 06-29-2005, 10:41 AM

Where I'm from (Mississippi) "Creole" refers to a person of Spanish or French descent (mostly French though). It can also also apply to blacks that are also of mixed Spanish and/or French descent too.

I do think the term is archaic and is a throwback from a time long gone - when color/skin tone issues were used to divide us. Technically, I am because of my father, but I just consider myself black.

Plus, where I grew up, its really not that distinguishable from being southern in general (speaking in terms of the culture). In my experience, only people in the south really know what a Creole is or has even heard of the term outside of food. lol

The Truth · #3 06-29-2005, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Senusret I
before I Beatrix Kiddo his ass, intellectually speaking.

I love her!! She is one bad mamajama!

carnation · #4 06-29-2005, 10:57 AM

Growing up, our Louisiana great aunts always told us we were of Creole descent. They were very dark and spoke with heavy Cajun accents and we vaguely assumed they meant mixed Spanish-Cajun.

Well, we got some pictures of their mom and had our DNA done. We are Spanish-Cajun, all right, and we discovered that our great grandmother was also half black. I guess my great aunts just assumed we knew what Creole meant!

Senusret I · #5 06-29-2005, 01:13 PM

Thanks guys.

The debate turned into an argument, and I gave up.

I just don't believe that one can be Creole in 2005 if they don't have immediate French or Spanish ancestry. Basically, I am saying that people who say they are Creole in 2005 are PRESSED and need to find their own identity, lol.

I think it's one thing to say "I have Creole heritage"....but it's another to say "I'm Creole" and both of your parents are black and you live in Virginia. ???

I have a white great-grandparent.....AM I WHITE??????? Awww damn, there goes my scholarship.

Honeykiss1974 · #6 06-29-2005, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Senusret I
Thanks guys.

The debate turned into an argument, and I gave up.

I just don't believe that one can be Creole in 2005 if they don't have immediate French or Spanish ancestry. Basically, I am saying that people who say they are Creole in 2005 are PRESSED and need to find their own identity, lol.

I think it's one thing to say "I have Creole heritage"....but it's another to say "I'm Creole" and both of your parents are black and you live in Virginia. ???

I have a white great-grandparent.....AM I WHITE??????? Awww damn, there goes my scholarship.

you are funnny!

True, yet funny at the same time.

KillarneyRose · #7 06-30-2005, 12:49 AM

I'm afraid that after reading this thread I still don't understand quite what is meant when someone is described as Creole. Could someone please dumb it down for me? I love historical fiction set in the South and I've "run into" many Creole characters but I had always assumed Creoles were simply descended from French immigrants to Louisiana.

I've also come across Cajun characters in the same books but wasn't sure what is meant by that.

I remember one book where identical twins were separated at birth and one was raised by her wealthy father in New Orleans and the other was raised by her mother on the Bayou and when they met the New Orleans one thought she was superior to the other because she had been raised as a Creole and the other one had been raised as a Cajun. I had no idea what the big deal was, so I just skimmed over that part

Private I · #8 06-30-2005, 05:29 AM

The definition of Creole that I learned for my Latin American major is that it's a 1st generation born in the America's to parents who are Peninsulares (directly from Spain).

I wonder how many definitions of Creole there are...

MysticCat · #9 06-30-2005, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Private I
I wonder how many definitions of Creole there are...

Quite a few. From Dictionary.com:

Creole

n.
1. A person of European descent born in the West Indies or Spanish America.

2. a. A person descended from or culturally related to the original French settlers of the southern United States, especially Louisiana.

b. The French dialect spoken by these people.

3. A person descended from or culturally related to the Spanish and Portuguese settlers of the Gulf States.

4. often creole A person of mixed Black and European ancestry who speaks a creolized language, especially one based on French or Spanish.

5. A Black slave born in the Americas as opposed to one brought from Africa.

6. creole A creolized language.

7. Haitian Creole.

adj.
1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Creoles.

2. creole Cooked with a spicy sauce containing tomatoes, onions, and peppers: shrimp creole; creole cuisine.

also

adj.

1: of or relating to a language that arises from contact between two other languages and has features of both; "Creole grammars" [syn: Creole] 2: of or relating to or characteristic of native-born persons of French descent in Louisiana; "Creole cooking" [syn: Creole] n 1: a person of European descent born in the West Indies or Latin America [syn: Creole] 2: a person descended from French ancestors in southern United States (especially Louisiana) [syn: Creole] 3: a mother tongue that originates from contact between two languages.

BTW, "Haitian Creole" is defined as "A language spoken by the majority of Haitians, based on French and various African languages."

The Wikipedia entry on "Creole" has entries on Alaska, Filipino and Portugese Creole as well as the more common Caribbean and Louisiana Creole.

MysticCat · #10 06-30-2005, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KillarneyRose
I've also come across Cajun characters in the same books but wasn't sure what is meant by that.

Cajuns are descendants the Acadians, who were driven out of Nova Scotia (Acadia) by the British in the mid-1700s for their refusal to swear allegiance to the British Crown. The Acadians were French. They relocated to Louisiana, which at the time was still under French control.

Quote:

I remember one book where identical twins were separated at birth and one was raised by her wealthy father in New Orleans and the other was raised by her mother on the Bayou and when they met the New Orleans one thought she was superior to the other because she had been raised as a Creole and the other one had been raised as a Cajun. I had no idea what the big deal was, so I just skimmed over that part.

You can pretty much substitute one had been raised a cultured city-girl and the other had been raised as an uncultured Bayou redneck and you would have the gist of the prejudices involved.