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Archiver > Melungeon > 2007-03 > 1172788847


From: (Joanne Pezzullo)
Subject: Re: [MELUNGEON] The Meluneons - According to Joanne
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:40:47 +0000


Dennis wrote:
> I think the use of Portuguese ancestry to deny black ancestry, both by
> the Melungeons themselves and by later commentators, is one reason
> academics have been reluctant take Melungeon claims of Portuguese
> ancestry seriously.
>
> [Tari] And I agree with this point. Some were probably true, while some did
> use it as a cover, the same as Black Dutch or Black Irish which I also heard
> in my family.


I think you need to keep in mind these people did not just claim they were Portuguese, they were accepted as Portuguese by most of their neighbors. These were well respected men who testified for these people. They were judges, sheriffs, tax collectors, attorneys, etc., with no connection to or nothing to gain from saying they thought they were Portuguese. And personally on a side note I think it is high time the academics quit trying to write this story, they have been butchering it for years.

--
Joanne Pezzullo

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From: "Tari" <>

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