CARIBBEAN-L Archives

Archiver > CARIBBEAN > 2000-04 > 0955127383


From: "Nevilla E. Ottley & Edgar E. Adjahoe" <>
Subject: Re: [CARIBBEAN] Re: Surnames and Families - "FAMILY NAME"
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000 13:09:43 -0400


I appreciate this overview, Cod. In many cases in life, the general rule is not
always so general, and many exceptions can be as much as 40%. We just have to
remember times, places, and people vary, even within the same time, place and
among the same peoples.

Nevilla Ottley

"C.M.Codrington" wrote:

> Carol asked "Was this an exception to the rule"
>
> I think it is a topic of pretty intense study in the academic community as
> to what percentage of european men "did right" by their biracial children
> over the 300 years in question. Realistically the evidence shows the
> majority did not and the increasingly codified and reinforced slave laws and
> racial codes made it more and more tricky for those who were honorably
> inclined to do so effectively.
>
> The trick to all these deliberations is that the topic spans centuries and
> involves both general patterns, legal codes, and individual acts. What was
> done by someone in 1650 was influenced by decidedly different social
> conditions and attitudes than a similar act in 1828.....
> And the bottom line is those children occupied a place between one polar
> opposite and another and despite the well-intentioned (though no doubt
> qualified) efforts of a planter father(or mother!), their options in society
> were lousy and if they managed to enjoy improved status by virtue of their
> birth their situation was certainly ironic to say the least. Legally there
> was no accrued privilege from their birth.
>
> Forgive a digression. In "The Killing Time" by Gad Heuman one of his themes
> is the painful quandary of the bi-racial citizens of eastern Jamaica who
> were generally inclined to protect the status quo yet were maligned and held
> down by it. At the same time, during the riot, the rioters went after them
> as much as the Backra planters. Ironically the man now known as Martyr of
> the Rebellion and a Hero of the Jamaican Nation(George W. Gordon), was also
> a man of mixed heritage, and Heuman attempts to examine all these seeming
> contradictions as part and parcel of the perverse legacy of the Old Regime
> which they certainly were.
>
> Anyway, I hope by writing this I did nothing to inflame the hearts of
> listers because that is certainly not my intent...this stuff is tough and it
> is complex and I appreciate the general open-ness towards discussion here
> because I think it facilitates mutual learning. None of my postings are
> written in stone, but are an attempt to share reflections coming out of
> serious study.I am thankful to all of you
>
> Cod

This thread: