Morle.. (see the pfficial Definition
 
Famous Creoles
Rosette Rochon 
  Harold Doley
  Andre Cailloux
  Dr. Roudanez
  Francis E. Dumas
  Jean Baptiste Du Sable
  Jelly Roll Morton
  Fats Domino
  Henriette Delille
  General Beauregard
  Norbert Rillieux
  Louis Moreau Gottschalk
  Rose Nicaud
  Morris W. Morris
  Edmonde Dede
  Louis A. Snaer
  Pinchback
  Don Vappie
  John Audobon
  Joan Bennett
  Jean Lafitte
  Morton Downey Jr.
  Julien Hudson
  Illinois Jacquet
  Bryant C. Gumbel
  Marie Laveau
  Gilbert E. Martin
  Rudolphe Lucien Desdunes
  Ernest Morial
  Bill Picket
  Bishop Healy
  John Willis Menard
  Homer Plessy
  Ward Connerly
AP Tureaud
  Bishop Olivier
  George Herriman
  Alexander Dumas
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Louisiana Creole Heritage Center
Black,White or What?
Creoles by Definition
Free People of Color
Mixed Race Mestizos/Mulattos
Proud to be Creole
Creoles by Definition
The Quadroon
Creole First
Creole Chronology
Henrette Delille
Creole Heritage center Videos.. very good
Creole Chronology
Dubuclet Family Pictures.. click here
Creole Organizations
Just Who is Black
Creole Names
a Book on Louisiana Creoles
Creole West
We need you support
Creoles speak out
National directory
The One Drop Rule..
Common Creole Names
Cane River Colony

Creole slang

Experience

Historic Black/Latino connection
Creole Organizations
The Creole la boucherie
The Creole Experience

Rosa Parks mulatto

Creole Portraits coming soon
The Titanic..It's Creole Passengers
A Historic Creole House and Museum
The Moors
St. Augustine Church New Orleans La.
The New Worlds First Mulatto / Creole
THE LAST TAINO 'QUEEN'
 
 

Are Creoles Black ?


 

Just what is the difference

 

 

 


the Louisiana Creole
note worthy publication

An Article Written in Jet Magazine June 25th 1953 about the Louisiana Creole

Read the story...Click on page to enlarge

 

 

The Age Old Question

Are Creoles Black ??

 

.The First response is to reply by saying that Creole is Not a Race but rather a Culture.

..This Culture was Brought about By the coming together of the French, Spanish, Native Americans and African People who as a Whole, through their contributions, Created this Culture..As I might add this Culture predates America..

In Fact Louisiana Creoles were of French origin and were Citizens of France well before Louisiana became a part of the United States....What makes it so much more difficult is that the Louisiana Creoles were Black, White and of Mixed Race.

The European Creoles who were of the dominate Culture were responsible for the Creole Customs,Language and basic life style..The African Influence included the Musical, Culinary and development of the French Louisiana Culture and the mixing of the native American and Spanish Culture during the Spanish Period, all of which contributed to the development of this Unique Creole Culture..

.Now that the issue has been limited to the Creole of Color We then proceed to answer the remaining question is

 

ARE THE CREOLES OF COLOR ...BLACK ..??

 

During the Antebellum and post Civil War Era there developed in the South a theory called the "ONE DROP RULE" meaning that anyone who possessed a mere drop of Black blood was considered Black by Race ...because of this ruling the Mulatto, (Multi-Racial ) who prior to this Rule enjoyed a separated Class or Racial classification in the middle, between Black and White, was now defined as Black...

This theory was developed out of fear by the Southern Whites of Racial mixing and also out of revenge against the Southern Mulattos who supported the Northern Whites during the Civil War...The term was expanded to include categories depending upon the amount of White blood in which people possessed .This theory in reality has no real scientific value..

To further complicate the matter We must first Define the Word Black in this context..

 

Legally Speaking

 

1)...By Definition: " Black" is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum;

2)...Historically, any person with any sub-Saharan African ancestry, even if they were mostly white, were designated and classified as "black", according to the "one drop theory," by which any Black African ancestry made the person "black" in legal sense.

3)...Today, the US census in law and practice does not declare any person to belong in any race or ethnicity without the prior consent of that person.

As You can see there is no legitimate nor clear cut definition of just what constitutes being Black...If You define Black as someone with African Ancestory,then most definately they are Black... If that person is of mixed Race parentage that Would not only make him Black but also White...Since according to Race by definition it really does not work...The one drop theory has made anyone of African ancestory Black

 

We can rightrfully say Black denotes the Color of
One's skin while the word African denotes Ancestory...So therefore A Person of Color is someone of African Descent and not Black in Color......

.People of Mixed Race parentage are in a Larger sense People of African Ancestory and not Black...You must remember that Africa is a Continent where all Races of Mankind live...There are Black Africans, Berbers, Muslims, Arabs ,Mixed Race Africans, Ethiopians and Caucasians of all Colors just to name a few.. The African Continent is not Just an all Black World, so, why should all people of African Descent all be called Black..For solidarity Purposes it's a Great Idea but for purposes of Self identification, it's wrong...The Proper Word in all sense should be a ....

 

" Person of African Ancestory "

 

 

In Summary

 

Creole is not a Racial Category so, therefore, Race is not a determining factor as to what Defines a Creole .

A Creole is one that shares the same Cultural values and Customs that derived from the Louisiana Frenchcreole Culture ..There are Black, ,Mixed Race and European White Creoles who all share the same cultural characteristics ..

.There were French Creoles of Color and there were Creole bound by Slavery just as there were Blacks..

What really separates Creoles From African/Americans is the fact that Creoles are Latin in Culture and possessed ideals which come from the Latin French People. The Creole of Color possessed rights and a way of Life much more different and tolerant under French rule...

Louisiana was a seperate Nation prior to the Louisiana Purchase and all it's inhabitants were subjects of France.....

 

Augustine/Comeaux


 

a Frenchcreole Woman
An Antebellum Aristocratic Creole
 

 

Louisiana's European French Creoles
   

 

The European Creoles

 

 

 

 

The New Orleans Creoles

 

 

Although Many Dictionaries and Books on the subject attempt to define the Original Creoles as Europeans nothing can be further from the truth...The Europeans were NOT the first Creoles to inhabit the New World ... they are most generally identified as being the first Creoles because the founding fathers of Louisiana were French,However, before there was a louisiana, there were,Creoles in the New World ..

The first time this word was Used was by a Portuguese Priest who bestowed this name on the first generation of Children born of Slaves in the New World...

 

Dubluclet Family. Web site

 

The Louisiana Creoles

have been more distinctly connected to a place - Louisiana - than perhaps any other American ethnic group except their rural Louisiana neighbors, the Cajuns. But unlike the Cajuns, who settled in Louisiana after being expelled from Canada by the British, the Creoles lived in the birthplace of their culture.

Many Creoles trace their roots to immigrants and slaves from the former French and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, particularly Cuba and what is now Haiti. Historians say it was New Orleans's position as a crossroads and port town that allowed for the easy mingling of races and nationalities that in turn gave birth, in the 18th century, to a part-European, part-Afro-Caribbean society that grew to an estimated 20,000 people in Louisiana by the mid-1800's.

 

 

The Ceole State ( The State motto)....

why it is no longer called The Creole State

 

 

The Creole culture that developed over generations - known for a distinctive cuisine, language and music - contributed to New Orleans's singular identity and helped define Louisiana to the world. Before Hurricane Katrina, experts estimated that 10 to 20 percent of black people in New Orleans - 30,000 to 60,000 people - considered themselves Creole by way of ancestry, but even more lived lives influenced by the culture because of their proximity to it.

 

Many, though, had already left, some to live as whites in other parts of the country. Large numbers of Creoles also departed Louisiana after World War II, frustrated with the slow pace of racial progress in the South.

The Creoles in New Orleans were an economically diverse group. Some lived in simple but historic houses in the Tremé area near the French Quarter, while others were concentrated in Gentilly and in more modern, upscale neighborhoods in New Orleans East.

Large swaths of the last two areas were damaged beyond repair in the flood and are likely to be condemned.Some Creoles predict that the area around Natchitoches (pronounced NACK-ih-tish), which already had a sizable, generations-old Creole community, will become the new center of the culture.

 
Source

 

 
 

 

 
Next Page



 
 
Questions, Comments, Dead Links? Email Webmaster
**All articles taken from selected reading materials are the sole property of the authors listed. In no way are these articles credited to this site. The material presented is only a brief presentation of writings from the publisher & producer of each article.
Copyright French Creoles of America®, All Rights Reserved