A question for the ages.  Paul Heinegg argues that folks told the enumerator what they were, race-wise.  My wife's family was not asked.  I suspect most were not.  My wife's mixed-race grandparents appeared to be white but in 1930 were enumerated as "Neg", as was my wife and her mother.   Take a look at my wife with me at her retirement dinner

http://nativeamericansofdelawarestate.com/Mitsawokett%20Photos/TerryBetty&Ray.htm

Further on down the page she is standing with her mother, Grace.  

What do you think?


Ray Terry
---------------

"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around." - G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 1908

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mitch Lichtenberg <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sun, Feb 13, 2011 10:45 am
Subject: [VA-HIST] Census Enumerator's Instructions re: race


In my research on Orange County, I've run across a number of free black

families, listed in the 1850 census, where there is mix of black and mulatto

children while both parents are listed as black.  There are some obvious

reasons why this might take place, but I wonder who exactly is providing

this information.  The instructional circular issued to assistant marshals

of the 1850 census is very brief regarding race: If White, leave the space

blank, if Black insert the letter "B", if Mulatto, insert "M."  My question

is:  who determined the difference between Black vs. Mulatto.  I would

suppose that the person who is speaking to the enumerator is supplying it. 

But maybe the enumerator is making an observation.  Can we say that this is

information about inherited genetic background (i.e., a known white

ancestor) or is it merely describing 'skin color,' or is it evidence of an

'adopted' child in the family, or something else entirely?  I would

appreciate some input from the group on this.   Thanks.



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