New Orleans's Mixed-Race "Marriages" Fascinate Traveler

[@grimftl]

A good many Black women became quite wealthy through plaçage. Also, for some time, there was the "paper bag" test. A shopping bag from a Schwegmann's store was compared to the skin of a person of color. If they were lighter than the bag, then that allowed them to attend certain churches and schools and even universities. No small number of people of color in Louisiana owned slaves.

[@Anonymousfromthe305]

I've been to New Orleans four times. I love that city more than any other city in the states, save my home town of Miami.

[@robertrobert7924]

Fascinating history at a time when alternate societal arrangements could be made despite the laws on the books. I suspect this happened in many places in the Caribbean. A good example would be the Dominion Republic which shares the same island as Haiti, but divided by a mountain range. The 2 societies are as different as night and day.

[@marvi1515]

This is still common though not as well known. Haiti and Dominican Republic both practice this.

[@serahloeffelroberts9901]

In the Edna Ferber novel Saratoga Trunk it is implied but never spelled out that the protagonist Cleo and her mother and aunt are part of this mixed heritage. In the movie Cleo is played by Ingrid Bergman in a black wig and the question of background is totally ignored except to imply her ancestry belongs to the coutesan class

[@Joyful_Smiles]

That author makes it seem as if our people enjoyed being treated as white men's play things. We remember it as a sad and brutally scary time. From the Quadroon Balls to the horrific laws that legalized our ancestors abuse, even children. We are still healing and recovering from that time. Another reason why Reparations for Black Americans is a must. This Country did it's best to break our people, yet we survived, overcame, and are still fighting for justice. Beyonce has done a good job documenting this part of American history in her music videos. She captures the eeriness and unrest of the ancestors souls calling for justice and she portrays their pride in their Blackness despite the abuses they suffered. Black American Authors write about that time, and a few movies have been made. Many of Hollywood's actors were white passing to runaway from the abuse. At least one President was white passing, and the notorious head of the FBI made it his mission to abuse Black Americans because of his self hatred. That author caught a glance of what America really was and thought it pretty. What a perverse mind to only see the physical and not the souls of the people.

[@mikehenson819]

Well one thing is certain by your post. Your soul isn’t pretty. It’s stuck in the past demanding reparations for something you not o ever had to endure. Yesterday is gone, and time marches forward. All those injustices of the past are no more. I suggest you change your hateful attitude and embrace TODAY, and be grateful for it. Stop wasting your emotions on things that neither you or I can go back and fix.

[@leewhitaker538]

~ Why should you get reparations? You’ve experienced none of what you speak of.