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Archiver > Melungeon > 2008-01 > 1201314549


From: Curtis Christy <>
Subject: Re: [MELUNGEON] Reply to Joanne Re Portuguese Theory
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:29:09 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <001601c85f76$e9ca7b80$03211c3f@pavilion>


You mean, you're really not in the cabal?

Oh. Well, never mind, then.

... But that's good to know.

You've convinced me and I'm glad.

Curtis friend9


Dennis Maggard <> wrote:
From: "Curtis Christy"

> Dennis, I realize that you have a reason for these deadpan responses
which always tiptoe right around the sleeping dog that you want to let lie.

Curtis, nothing you say below is new, and it's nothing I haven't I said
myself or agreed with in the past. In fact, I mentioned the possibilty of
Melungeons having acquired a tradition of Portuguese ancestry via Africa
just yesterday.

Now, my question to you is this: why do you keep hinting that I'm part of
some secret cabal out to suprress the truth about Melungeon ancestry in the
pursuit of some hidden agenda? What is it, exactly, that you think I'm up
to? I would very much like to get it out it the open to deal with it and be
done it.

Dennis


> And you KNOW the answer to the question you pose, namely (A) "WHY
would someone make up a story in which another ethnicity than one's own is
claimed?" Bart (B) of the question is, "And if they did that, why would
they have selected Portuguese as the 'cover story'? Why not some other
ethnicity?"
>
> Easy on both counts:
>
> A. They needed to be something else than people of African descent
because the laws in Virginia and nearby states had begun to change. People
were not being allowed to pass on their property to their heirs if they were
Black ... and the definition of "who is Black?" was fast moving toward the
"one drop rule." In order to stem the tide of changing laws that promised
to curtail the freedoms of people of color, people of mixed ancestry had to
leave the area ... which meant losing the property they and their parents
and grandparents had worked so hard for. In a famous legal case, neighbors
had to swear to a man's "Portuguese origins" for the purpose of keeping land
in the family. But even if one case was successful somewhere, no doubt
money and power spoke louder in other places, and untold hundreds of free
people of color must have been driven out of the South, or went from
land-owners to share cropper-type status as pressure mounted against their
rights. So, if you
> were faced with such a threat, and your generation's complexion was
lighter than your parents, and you had maried White so that the next
generation would be even lighter, then the idea of "passing" for some other
ethnic group would have become more and more appealing. They didn't look
Swedish or Irish or English ... but one country in Europe had a darker mean
complexion than the rest.
>
> B. Why hide behind a Portuguese 'cover story' rather than another
nationality or ethnicity? Three reasons: (1) The Portuguese were not an
unpopular group. They were respected as sailors. And they were known to
sail into the ports of the coastal colonies. (2) They were a nation of
mixed people and they tended to be darker complected than other Europeans.
And (3) they had a knowledge of the Portuguese -- because their parents or
their parents' parents had been under Portuguese control, captured by them,
baptised and named by them, and shipped off to parts unknown by them. The
fact that the Portuguese were not only mercenary, but also missionaries,
helped the newly arrived Africans to bridge the gap of trust that would have
been greater--and, perhaps, insurmountable, had they not bee Christians
already when they arrived. That fact may have been the key element in their
indentures being treated like those of British subjects. Also, it was a
legitimate argument to say,
> "We are of Portuguese descent" and not really a lie .. because they
really WERE subjects of the Portuguese empire, and therefore, in some real
sense "Portuguese," as a result. That's the answere to the question, "Why
Portuguese?"
>
> Curtis friend9
>
>
>
>
> Dennis Maggard wrote:
> From: "Curtis Christy"
>
> > Your reply, Dennis, avoids the African issue completely.
>
> I have always believed that the Melungeon core families had African
> ancestry, among others. It is entirely possible that the Portuguese claim
> came by way of Africa. It is also possible that it came more or less
> straight from Portugal. And it's possible that it came by both routes, or
> some other route.
>
> Of course it's also possible that the claim was simply made up by someone
as
> a cover story, or whatever, though I find that a bit hard to believe. It
> seems such an unlikely claim to just make up that I can't help but suspect
> it must have been based on something, but as of yet, we just don't know.
> And at this point there is no reason that I know of to insist that any one
> idea is right, let alone that all the others must be wrong.
>
> Dennis
>
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ATTENTION:
The above message is copyright and may not be published elsewhere in all or in part without the original contributor's express permission. Doing so could lead to permanent expulsion from this list.

MELUNGEON Mailing List Archives:

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=melungeon

Lost Colony:

http://the-lost-colony.blogspot.com

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DNA Website:

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For list problems contact Administrator Janet Crain at:

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