Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-06-04
PRETTY OCTOROONs.
A Race Which Is no Race-The Pecu.
liar Position Oflts women.
,ocke C'Nasby') in Toledo CO., Blade.

d. NJ. Locke ('Nasby") in Toledo CO., Blade
There is in New Orleans race and distinct
race which is no race. 1t has its one hand upon
the whites and the other upon the blacks, and
it occupies position betwixt and between, be-
longing to both and to neither. The whites re-
fuse to acknowledge them. and they hold them
selves so far above the blacks that they will not
acknowledge no relationship with them. Like the
bat. they are neither bird nor animal, but occupy
apositon entirely distinct, and very lonesome
one it is. These are the octoroons. which in
New Orleans means not only person whose
blood is one-eighth negro, but all of that class
who are almost white, but in whom negro blood
is perceptbe. Down here they don't say negro
biood-it is negro faint" They are not white
enough for the white nor black enough for the
negro.
Their position. especially that of the women
OF the race, is very peculiar. No matter how
white an octoroon girl may be- a white man
may not marry her She may be as beautiful
as Venus. and accomplished in every possible
way; she may sing like Patti and paint like Rosa
Bonheur, but 10 white man would marry her
and remain in New Orleans. 1t would be Ostra-
cism for her and for him also. She could not be
received in society, and he would find himself on
the wrong side of the wall at once. The law is
fixed and the barricade is impossible
Inc women OF this mixed race are wOndrOusly
white. with a shade of olive underneath the skin
that shines through, tOning down the white to
shade OF brown that is as beautiful in the
matter OF color as beautiful can be. Their teeth
are marvels OF whiteEess and regularity. The
figures are invariably perfect in their vOluptu-
BUSINESS and the whole woman is as near phys
ical perfection as anything ever permitted on
this earth to the temptation of men. ST.
Anthony would have stood but poor chance
had he undergone his temptation in New Orleans
milo
women to his fall. There is nothing in woman
hood more delightful. The men among them
are In various emplOyments and many of them
have achieved successes. They have had adj
yantaGes above their half-brothers, who are
darker In color, for they are all necessarily the
sons OF white men. many of whom have for their
mothers sake been liberal to them in the matter
OF education and means to commence life with
after education was completed.
To understand this the status OF the octoroon
woman must be understood. She cannot marry
white man. nor can n white man marry her
She cannot associate with the race with which
she Is allied. for she has had opportunities far
above them. She looks upon the ''nigger'
proper with even more contempt than does the
pure white Her contempt is tinged with Bit
terness for she cannot help thinking that, were
she without that one drop of negro blood. her
beauty and requirements wend give her any
place among women she might desire. But,
whiie white man cannot marry her, there
his living with her. AS the poor girl cannot
marry white man, and will not marry a
negro. she does what seems to her the next
best thing, and the only thing she can do; she
accepts the 'prOtectiOn' of white lover and
lives with him. The next thing is for the white
lover to buy her house and furnish it gor-
geously. and make it really his home He does
not take her to the theater or balls of his own
class, nor is he ever with her on the street;
but her house Is really his home. She bears
him children. and those children he educates
and provides for, in many instances. better
than his legal offspring. but he may not recog-
niZe them. The black blood in them bars that
When he is tired of his illegal flame it is the
simplest thing in the world. The house and it's
furnishings are hers. and whatever money he
has given her becomes hers i'm her own right;
and the .middle-uged woman who has lost her
beauty accepts the situation lets the furnished
rooms to single gentlemen, and lives i'm comfort
all her life on the proceeds. 1t was for this that
she entered into the arrangement to begin with,
and its ending satisfies her. She accumulates
money, her children, who would pass for white
anywhere except in the south. 90 elsewhere
where their talent has scope ard become actual
men; and the daughters may emigrate also. or
they may stay in New Orleans and go through
the same experience that their mother did be-
fore them.