[quote=scaredycat]i think i might be an octoroon, but im not sure what that is.[/quote]
Once upon a time, in America, one eighth African ancestry was enough to be viewed as “black” under the law (I believe the popularly cited legal case was Plessy vs Ferguson that held 1/11th to be the legal boundary between black and white).
Octoroon is a term used in several of William Faulkner’s books. It refers to a person who is one eight of African heritage and seven eights European. Because these people were one eight African they were not entitled to the same rights as whites. In his fictional stories (admittedly with roots in some very ugly truths) octoroons were intentionally bred to work in New Orleans’ brothels, with the one to eight ratio considered to be “optimal” for sexual fulfillment (baby got back?). And of course the hapless octoroon was also slave. Kinda makes today’s front page stories of sex slavery seem tame if that is even possible.
How near or far this falls from actual historical accuracy I don’t know. I hope it never happened, but judging from all the sick things people do it seems entirely plausible.
Wikipedia has some more, and a somewhat redeeming paragraph about mixed race mistresses being freed from slavery by enamored lovers in early New Orleans.
The oddest thing about this thread, and the north American view of race generally is how most people have an either-or view of race. In America you are either “white” or you are “black”. It is very different in most other parts of the world (yes, I’ve been there). Maybe all this conversation will help us start to recognize the full spectrum of “color”. It is indeed quite a rainbow. Scandinavian blond, olive Italian, light and dark Africans, and lighter still African Americans. Now, add in Asian (lighter and darker), Hispanic, Indian, and of course lets not forget Native American (of which race I would easily qualify as using the Plessy 1/11 test – but so far have failed to receive ANY minority set asides or casino proceeds – and despite my aboriginal background and features, every one sees me as “white” – I even got beat up in Atlanta by a group of (light skinned) African Americans who wanted to “stomp his cracker ass”, they probably want reparations too, even though unlike the poor octoroons who are long since dead, these young men have been coddled with preferential treatment all their living years).
For the lack of anything else good Obama is doing for the USA at least he is seems to be getting serious on school reform. And his presidency has us talking about race. Maybe our crude view of race will evolve towards something more complete. Or maybe it will just break us into distant camps, where each race votes for their own, and looks to leverage political patronage to extract race based favors.
