The sun., 1885-06-28
THE NEW ORLEANS NEGROES
SINGULAR CHANGES IN CUSTOMS AND
CIfARACTER.

NEW ORLEANS, June 20.-One-Quartcr, or
sixty thousand. OF the population OF Now
Orleans are what are improperly styled
colored people-a misnomer OF comparatively
recent origin. Formerly tho population was
divided into whites. blasks. and colored. the
latter being the mixed breeds: and this dis
tnction is still preserved in the West Indies.
The word black. however. is not employed now
in the South once In hundred times; darky.
very common thirty years ago. is obsolete.
Even negro is going out OF fashion. in favor OF
colored people. a term specially gratifying to
the negro himself. whether full blood or mu-
latto. and one which he always uses when
speaking OF himself 1t is safe to predict that
negro will be obsolete In the South In twenty
years and we may see the African American
figuring in the census OF 1890. certainly in that
OF 1900. as colored. although in that OF 1880 he
was negro. and In that Of 1880 black.
Among the colored population Of New Or
leans there Is SO great q variety OF grades and
divisions. such as mulattoes. ouadroons. octo-
rooms. critics. metifs &C.. Of mixed white. black.
gypsy. and Indian blood. that the combined
French and English languages do not contain
enough names for the different grades OF color.
Nowhere else in the world does such q mixed
population exist: nowhere else can the prob
lem resulting from the presence Of this third
and mixed race be better studied than here.
Before the war New Orleans threatened to
become negro city. the capital OF the free COL
| ored population OF the South. Tho whites wore
In minority. and Of tho negroes great ma
ority were free mon and womcn Of color. rang
ing from auadroons up to whito negroes. or
those colored only by tradition. Here. moro
| than in Boston or any Abolition centre. did
they enjoy freedom. They had their society.
their clubs. their dances. their tier at tho
| kcA hats NIL IN
| who fought with Jackson at Chal lmette and
who later on. offered their services to the Con.
,epms the Abolitoniss Yantess Many
law did not allow ii and finally they had their
| slaves and were not very good masters
rapidly than either whites or slaves. that the
fore she war Sscsme alarmed and lerisatsd
against enfranch hisement. Yet. despite this:
81 hs Evo
traveller noticed them and paid deserved
tribute to the grace. beauty. and Ia accomplish; !;
Greece. their future depended on attracting the
protection and support OF some white man. and
politely termed. @ The xirl ri must must play we'll. sing
well. be always good natured. must bs a perfect
cook and housekeeper, economical, and clean.
Al one OF the arsenals OF a crack militia COM
pany OF this city. some months ago, number
| upon which several bets wsr, made In order
went to the office OF the Recorder Of Births
ph Oe S hs Snsy ss shsFs
They turned to the date and read:
John Chase son @ Of Charlie. % Exnsr Chase and Marie
| No ono but young man born In the South.
with all the prejudice Of race engendered there.
can imagine how great shock was this discov-
His father had % preserved the secret against ali
gossip and scandal. and here It was betrayed.
not to himself alone. but to all his friends and
and went to Colorado, What his fate has been
| there no one in Louisiana knows.
Only one white man who was free from preju-
on r. hs he n Z TSo
Orleans birth. but Spanish purentaxs. who.
Joining the ReDubIican party in Its early days.
the largest negro ward in the, city. and its so;;
publican voters always drew ths color line and
down. Chariio would have stood small chance
| with them had he not been very shrewd poll
OF MIS- former friends. it was learned on his own
authority that no had u large amount Of col
ored blood running III his veins To the doubt
d"ri 81 color ana Wss indsn
| headdress strongly corroborated his claim.
ish alone. Had she understood the charge her
| son made against her terrible outburst would
shS D1 sed with "
cross between Tie white ana negro became
There is scarcely a book written on the sub
Ject Of slavery by, Southerner. that does not
| contain this utterly false and unfounded asser-
ton. On the other hand. no attention has
| ever been called to the fact that persons. ap-
parSny Wnte te and
we'll known to be OF colored descent. hut the
a rfnnf
ten years ngo ono OF these girls married a very
respectable young white man OF this city. They
It IS ' Startling tin to see that child. It It sen has
original African are wonderfully reproduced.
feet and kinky, hair. And yet it is only one
sixty-tonrth colcred. and has to count back
| two centuries to find u negro ancestor.
At the. same time that very small propor-
ton OF the lighter grades OF coored people are
and s9Wy m away int
swnllownd ur in the great mass of negroes.
Before the war the free negroes and slaves
| kept far apart; among the former. as among
srrsly on tSs prosorsons q wSiSs b!oea Sfa IN
the sadd -hueJ. and the latter looked down on
the mahogani"s. Fresdom has altngethor
swept away these distinctions. and it is lmpos-
| sible to now toll the former slave from the free
Tie former slaves made better politicians
than the free men OF color They rose. acquired
wealth. for politics was then synonymous with
wealth. and. when they married. sought like
| Fred Douglass. to get wives rs nearly white us
possible The girls OF the octoroon class found
themselves in great demsnd ~ spouses for
these nOmred'tr riches and were thus married
| Off and ceased 10 be sccn mt octoroon balls. or
to become the places of white men. There
| IL not q prominent cOlorod politician in
| Louisiana whose wife is not several
| shades lighter than hs Is. and the higher
| his rank and wealth the whittier Is tho wife.
| This new DEVELOPMENT completely changed the
| position occupied by the mixed class OF tho
| population. and with this change came the dis
| appearance Of the former octoroon balls The
last one given was the celebrated Maddox ball
| OF 1876 50 intimate y connected with the count
| ing in OF Hayes. and at which Senator Sherman
| and the other visiting statesmen won such
| reputation Ms gay and festive walters. 1t WIS
| a difficult matter even then to got together the
| former octoroon beauties and 1t required all
| Maddoxs persuasive elounenco and socita-
tion to achieve SUCCESS. His was the grund.st
! "cOlornd' ball over saen here. having half n
doZsn United States Senators and Representa-
tives present to lend it dignity and grace but
| IL was tho last that ever viii bo given.
Freedom has killed msccg.nation. Tho
white and black races arc drifting further
apart every day and the mixed breeds ara
growing fewer. One-third OF tho negroes oi
New Orleans in 1868 wrro OF mixed blood.
| There is less danger to-day OF the creation nf a
| mixed breed In the South. such rs exists in
Mexico and South America now. than in the
| layS of slavery.