Creoles of color
Ethnic group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Creoles of color are a historic ethnic group of Louisiana Creoles that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana (especially in New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida, in what is now the United States. French colonists in Louisiana first used the term "Creole" to refer to people born in the colony, rather than in Europe, thus drawing a distinction between Old-World Europeans and Africans from their descendants born in the New World.[2][3] Today, many of these Creoles of color have assimilated into Black culture, while some chose to remain a separate yet inclusive subsection of the African American ethnic group.[4]
Total population | |
---|---|
Indeterminable | |
Regions with significant populations | |
New Orleans, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Memphis, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco[1] | |
Languages | |
English, French, Spanish and Louisiana Creole (Kouri-Vini) | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Roman Catholic, Protestant; some practice Voodoo | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Cajuns, Louisiana Creole people, Isleños, Alabama Creole people, Québécois African Americans
Peoples in Louisiana Métis Acadians French Americans French-Canadian Americans Cajuns Native Americans Caribbean Americans Spanish Americans Portuguese Americans Afro Latino Cuban Americans Dominican Americans Stateside Puerto Ricans Canarian Americans Mexican Americans Italian Americans German Americans Irish Americans |
New Orleans Creoles of color have been named as a "vital source of U.S. national-indigenous culture."[5] Creoles of color helped produce the historic cultural pattern of unique literature, art, music, architecture, and cuisine we see in New Orleans.[6] The first black poetry works in the United States such as the Cenelles was created by New Orleans Creoles of color.[5] The centuries old New Orleans Tribune was operated and owned by Creoles of color.[7]
After the American Civil War, and reconstruction, the city's black elite fought against informal segregation practices and Jim Crow laws.[8] With Plessy v. Ferguson and the beginning of federal segregation in 1896, Creoles of color became disenfranchised, and began moving to other states, sometimes passing into white groups as passé blanc or integrated into black groups.[9] Creole of color artists helped spread Jazz, such as Sidney Bechet and Jelly Roll Morton, and rhythm and blues such as Allen Toussaint, the "beloved Creole gentleman."[10]
Creoles of color founded diaspora communities in other states called "Little New Orleans", such as Little New Orleans, California and Little New Orleans, Texas.[11][12]