Post by Insightful on Aug 31, 2004 13:58:48 GMT -5
The other day I was reading a column in which was stated, "...white men in the South participated in miscegenation.... Most African-Americans have white blood in some concentration...."
I dare state that all true African-Americans (up from slavery in the U.S.) have some concentration of white blood and go further by stating that a significant number have some concentrations of Amerindian blood, too. The misinformation comes from the lack of knowledge of anything beyond a "2-way streak" (black/white mix), that when dealing with miscegenation in preCivil War America, it was always involving white men and black slave women. I get tired of this.
We just tend to forget that "3-way mixture" that just as white men participated in miscegenation with black women, black men participated in miscegenation with Indian women on the mainland.
I state mainland because there were much fewer Native Americans on the islands of the Caribbean and a greater infusion of African genes there. In other words, Native Americans were almost wiped out by European contact in the relatively confined ‘island space'. And plus the Caribbean served as the center of the New World Slave trade in that many (not all) slaves destined for North America passed through there.
Out on the frontiers of the southern United States like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, florida swamp, etc. where large expanses of virgin wilderness met the black man who had to clear it alongside his white master, sometimes the Indian was all the black man had to mingle with or marry as blacks early on were few and far between in these areas. And whites didn't consider Indians to be worth more than blacks (meaning it was a legal union).
I should also point out that there was an imbalance of African males over females on the plantations, as slave owners preferred males for hard labor. The ratio was like this until the overseas importation slackened off and natural increase began to gain significance.
www.utep.edu/kc3312/clymer/images/map34.jpg [/img]Many times if the Indians had not left a brand new area to be cultivated under the plantation economy after being pushed to leave, they were incorporated into it and absorbed by the incoming blacks from New Orleans and the U.S. eastern seaboard. Other times many runnaway slaves ran to the shelter of native american tribes in an attempt to escape slavery. Have you ever heard of the black seminoles? They were escaped slaves who ran away from slavery to the Florida swamps and hooked up with the seminole indians and intermarried and became equal partners with them. Sometimes a white master employed an Indian overseer since he new the land and it would be difficult for any black slave to successfully escape. Also, many American indians actually owned Slaves legally or stole them from whites in raids out on the western frontiers of the southern United States. Throughout the history of slavery in the United States, blacks and native Americans frequently crossed each others paths for intermarriage whether intentional or not. Read this excerpt below:
"In the 1780s, certain white Virginians began to agitate for the termination of the Gingaskin Indian Reservation in Northampton County... In 1812 it was argued that: 'the place is now inhabited by as many black men as Indians... the Indian women have many of them married black men, and a majority probably, of the inhabitants are blacks or have black-blood in them... the real Indians [are few].' The reserve was divided (allotted) in 1813 and by 1832 whites had acquired most of it."
Africans and Native Americans: The language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples
See black indians below:
Many Native Americans welcomed African Americans into their villages. Even as slaves many African Americans became part of a family group, and many intermarried with Native Americans - thus many later became classified as Black Indians. Therefore Black Oklahoma evolved in many areas as biracial communities within Indian nations. This is a unique history, which developed in many of the western communities where the two groups came together.
James Beckwourth was born into slavery in Virginia. At age 19 he became a blacksmith while living in Missouri. At age 24 he ran off to New Orleans and became a scout on an expedition for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Beckwourth was known as a daredevil and knew how to bargain with the Native Americans. He was known for his fighting and hunting skills. Beckwourth married a Native American Crow tribe woman and was later asked to be their Chief.
When more than 60,000 Native Americans were removed from their homes during the 1830s by U.S. Federal troops from the southeastern states of the United States - they were forced Westward to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. This was called the "Trail of Tears." Many of these Native American tribes had previously embraced and either helped or kept numerous African Americans as slaves. African Americans and Native Americans created a mixed cultural blend depending upon the specific tribal group.
Nat Love (part Cherokee) was born in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1854. After the American Civil War (1861-1865), Love moved to Dodge City, Kansas. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 granted him his right to freedom before going westward at age 15. The first job that appealed to Nat Love was herding cattle as a cowboy. Love's first test was given to him by Bronco Jim who had Love to ride Good Eye, a horse known for bucking and throwing a man off the saddle. Love stayed on Good Eye and was hired, at $30 a month, as a cowboy. Nat Love was often seen with his saddle, cowboy chaps, and rifle in many Old West pictures.
Bill Boyer (part American Indian)
George Washington Carver was probably 1/4 Native American
Music stars Usher and Chili (left to right) both have Native American ancestry
Music producer Babyface is also part American Indian
Left to right: Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Reggie Hayes, and Little Richard as well
American Indian ancestry is VERY COMMON throughout black America. It is what separates them from their fellow island blacks in the Caribbean that are mainly African and European in mix. Anyway, The percentage varies of course from African-American to African-American but it's there and should be acknowledged.
I dare state that all true African-Americans (up from slavery in the U.S.) have some concentration of white blood and go further by stating that a significant number have some concentrations of Amerindian blood, too. The misinformation comes from the lack of knowledge of anything beyond a "2-way streak" (black/white mix), that when dealing with miscegenation in preCivil War America, it was always involving white men and black slave women. I get tired of this.
We just tend to forget that "3-way mixture" that just as white men participated in miscegenation with black women, black men participated in miscegenation with Indian women on the mainland.
I state mainland because there were much fewer Native Americans on the islands of the Caribbean and a greater infusion of African genes there. In other words, Native Americans were almost wiped out by European contact in the relatively confined ‘island space'. And plus the Caribbean served as the center of the New World Slave trade in that many (not all) slaves destined for North America passed through there.
Out on the frontiers of the southern United States like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, florida swamp, etc. where large expanses of virgin wilderness met the black man who had to clear it alongside his white master, sometimes the Indian was all the black man had to mingle with or marry as blacks early on were few and far between in these areas. And whites didn't consider Indians to be worth more than blacks (meaning it was a legal union).
I should also point out that there was an imbalance of African males over females on the plantations, as slave owners preferred males for hard labor. The ratio was like this until the overseas importation slackened off and natural increase began to gain significance.
www.utep.edu/kc3312/clymer/images/map34.jpg [/img]Many times if the Indians had not left a brand new area to be cultivated under the plantation economy after being pushed to leave, they were incorporated into it and absorbed by the incoming blacks from New Orleans and the U.S. eastern seaboard. Other times many runnaway slaves ran to the shelter of native american tribes in an attempt to escape slavery. Have you ever heard of the black seminoles? They were escaped slaves who ran away from slavery to the Florida swamps and hooked up with the seminole indians and intermarried and became equal partners with them. Sometimes a white master employed an Indian overseer since he new the land and it would be difficult for any black slave to successfully escape. Also, many American indians actually owned Slaves legally or stole them from whites in raids out on the western frontiers of the southern United States. Throughout the history of slavery in the United States, blacks and native Americans frequently crossed each others paths for intermarriage whether intentional or not. Read this excerpt below:
"In the 1780s, certain white Virginians began to agitate for the termination of the Gingaskin Indian Reservation in Northampton County... In 1812 it was argued that: 'the place is now inhabited by as many black men as Indians... the Indian women have many of them married black men, and a majority probably, of the inhabitants are blacks or have black-blood in them... the real Indians [are few].' The reserve was divided (allotted) in 1813 and by 1832 whites had acquired most of it."
Africans and Native Americans: The language of Race and the Evolution of Red-Black Peoples
See black indians below:
Many Native Americans welcomed African Americans into their villages. Even as slaves many African Americans became part of a family group, and many intermarried with Native Americans - thus many later became classified as Black Indians. Therefore Black Oklahoma evolved in many areas as biracial communities within Indian nations. This is a unique history, which developed in many of the western communities where the two groups came together.
James Beckwourth was born into slavery in Virginia. At age 19 he became a blacksmith while living in Missouri. At age 24 he ran off to New Orleans and became a scout on an expedition for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Beckwourth was known as a daredevil and knew how to bargain with the Native Americans. He was known for his fighting and hunting skills. Beckwourth married a Native American Crow tribe woman and was later asked to be their Chief.
When more than 60,000 Native Americans were removed from their homes during the 1830s by U.S. Federal troops from the southeastern states of the United States - they were forced Westward to Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. This was called the "Trail of Tears." Many of these Native American tribes had previously embraced and either helped or kept numerous African Americans as slaves. African Americans and Native Americans created a mixed cultural blend depending upon the specific tribal group.
Nat Love (part Cherokee) was born in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1854. After the American Civil War (1861-1865), Love moved to Dodge City, Kansas. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 granted him his right to freedom before going westward at age 15. The first job that appealed to Nat Love was herding cattle as a cowboy. Love's first test was given to him by Bronco Jim who had Love to ride Good Eye, a horse known for bucking and throwing a man off the saddle. Love stayed on Good Eye and was hired, at $30 a month, as a cowboy. Nat Love was often seen with his saddle, cowboy chaps, and rifle in many Old West pictures.
Bill Boyer (part American Indian)
George Washington Carver was probably 1/4 Native American
Music stars Usher and Chili (left to right) both have Native American ancestry
Music producer Babyface is also part American Indian
Left to right: Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Reggie Hayes, and Little Richard as well
American Indian ancestry is VERY COMMON throughout black America. It is what separates them from their fellow island blacks in the Caribbean that are mainly African and European in mix. Anyway, The percentage varies of course from African-American to African-American but it's there and should be acknowledged.