The Study of Racialism

HPChi · New User Joined: 10 Jun 2009 {Posts: 26 }

Quote:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/may/31/tr-racial-stigma-forced-some-to-start-new-life/life/

Racial stigma forced some to start new life
By Sharon Tate Moody
Tribune correspondent
[The Tampa Tribune]
Published: May 31, 2009

America has long been called a "melting pot," a positive reference to all those of European heritage who poured into the United States, where they blended to become "Americans."

Another melting pot term, sometimes uttered with less positive connotation, is race mixing. It's used to describe Europeans who had children with those of African or American Indian ancestry.

Many of our ancestors had strong feelings about race mixing. Those old prejudices are reflected in the documents we seek to create a factual history of our families.

I first became interested in racial terminology when I found one of my own ancestors listed in the Halifax County, N.C., censuses of 1850 and 1860 as a "mulatto" and in the 1830 and 1840 censuses as a "free person of color." Until these findings, I had no idea I had a racially mixed heritage.

So I began my quest to understand the racial distinctions and what they meant - not to me but to my ancestor. Modern dictionaries say that a mulatto is a person of half white and half black heritage. I quickly learned this definition wasn't applied.

I sought the instructions under which the census enumerators made their racial classifications. They gave me insight but didn't totally clarify the matter.

For example, in 1860, census takers were told to be "particularly careful in reporting the class mulatto. The word is generic and includes ... all persons having any perceptible trace of African blood."

That gave me a clue that my ancestor had a "perceptible trace" of African blood.

By 1910, census takers were told that "black" included everyone who was evidently full-blooded, while the term "mulatto" included anyone with some evidence of black ancestry.

But they were also told to rely on their own observations and inquiries.

From other research I learned that the term "free persons of color" was used to label free Africans and American Indians during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Both were treated with equal disdain, legally and socially.

People were eager to distance themselves from racial classifications that would mean higher taxes, less education and ostracism from white society. Many struggled to avoid being classified as mulatto.

With each generation, complexions became lighter or darker. If individuals remained in their communities, everyone knew they were mulatto, and they likely grew darker as they mixed with other mulattos or those of pure African or Indian blood. If ancestors were light-skinned enough and moved somewhere where no one knew them, they could pass as white.

My own ancestor in 1847 moved from her birth home in Halifax County, N.C., and settled in Cherokee County. She is shown on the 1850 and 1860 censuses as white, while her parents - still in Halifax - were listed as mulatto.

Often, people with a swarthy complexion might say they were Portuguese or Black Dutch (dark-skinned Germans). When you see such claims in records, it's a clue they were trying to hide their heritage, so don't run off to Portugal looking for records.

Non-whites had to pay extra taxes and were denied a decent education and access to eating establishments, health care facilities and other amenities. How can we blame them for trying to improve their lot in life by denying their heritage?

As genealogists seeking to know and understand our ancestors, we must not glaze over records with closed minds.

Sharon Tate Moody is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Send your genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of Getaway, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa FL 33606 or stmoody0720@mac.com.

girlfromthenc · Mentor Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 269 }

onlyhuman77

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Frechesmaedl

girlfromthenc,

I am also from NC. I found tons of info on Ancestry.com. They have death certificates for NC and I was able to trace back to around 1820 with these. They only run from 1909 to 1975, but if you have long-lived ancestors, you can often find listings for their parents and parents place of birth. Also, check out all death certificates of your direct ancestors' siblings, you may find a wealth of info there too. For example, I found the death cerftificates of two of my ggggrandmothers born in 1840 and 1844, who respectively lived until 1922 and 1914. This info allowed me to gather info about their parents. So I learned that both were related - it seems that their parents (born ca. 1820) were siblings, which means that two of my gggrandparents were cousins! This confirmed our oral history and also links us to another family in our town which oral history says we are linked. We are linked by a very unusual surname (yes, slaves had surnames within slavery that they passed down and they were not always what the masters' selected). The name is Gunter. From what I have seen, there are a lot of Gunters within the 5 civilized tribes, which possibly confirms Native American heritage, especially considering the area from which part of my family originates: the Mississippi territory.

Hth,

Frechesmaedl

girlfromthenc · Mentor Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 269 }

Frechesmaedl · Posted: Sat 20 Jun 2009 02:06 Post subject:

Hi GirlfromtheNC,

I encountered a similar problem: nicknames and a lack of concise spelling of surnames. I solved it by examining the original census forms page by page. I was breastfeeding my newborn daughter at the time, so I had lots of time on my hands. I went through my hometown section by section and line by line. Finally, I came to a section that seemed to have a lot of "B"s and "M"s. Since I knew the first names of my gggrandparents and the names of their children I was able to find them in the 1870 census twice (!), with their surname spelled incorrectly both times. It seems that miscommunication between census takers (who were often poor themselves - it was a tough job that was low paid) and former slaves was a common problem back then, especially in the South with all of the thick accents. It was probably compounded by the fact that most of my family is listed as having been illiterate at the time. Ten years later, however, the 1880 census records that the first members of the family had switched over from being "farm labourers" and had graduated from college and become teachers.

Also, the pre-1950 death certificates usually list parents' names I believe. This is how I was able to go back so far and confirm our oral history.

HTH,

Frechesmaedl