Is Primarily Identifying As Creole Anti-Black? 

I’m from Lake Charles. My maternal grandmother is from New Iberia and my paternal grandmother is from Crowley. My grandmother speaks a little bit of Kouri-Vini and you hear it all throughout zydeco music. My mother is mixed creole although she doesn’t like identifying as such and that’s okay. Our last name has a Latin origin. This channel is helping me embrace being Creole and I’m even more proud to be from Louisiana. When I think about our culture, our food and our music there has to be some kind of explanation about all of this lol so thank you for this video and your channel 💖

I am a Texas born Louisiana Creole myself. My family migrated from Louisina in the 30s and settled in the Baytown/ Houston area where othere creoles lived. When those creoles left Louisiana alot settled in Houston and surrounding areas and brought the culture with them. This was a great video you made explaining our ethnicity. I been trying to tell people this for years that we are just proud of our culture and not excluding being black. You did an excellent job explaining this in this video!🙂 Thank you

Identifying as creole has been a struggle. My mom's family is a great migration family. I'm partially creole on both sides but it was activity downplayed in my mother's family. Even though we all have French names. My middle and last are French. My grandfather's mother only spoke creole when she came to Chicago from the Mississippi delta area. By the time I came around he activity discouraged her from speaking it, called its nonsense. She was the last speaker. I had dropped it until my uncle on my father's side dropped it, "we're creole, you should be proud" I wish Grandma Lillian's creole was accessible, it's hard to feel related to thre culture, just all these dead ends 😢

It’s crazy that you mention this I started to have a weird relationship with my identity because growing up in Louisiana I always identified as creole, but then moving away from there when people ask me that it started to get complicated and feel a little muddy

Yes, I identify as Louisiana Creole and Cuban people get very upset, lol. I never said that I wasn't black. I am part black and other mixes, not just black, and they need to understand that! My family is from New Orleans, Louisiana and they spoke Kouri Vini and spanish so this makes me just that. We shouldn't have to hide our Creole culture to make them feel comfortable and I will not.

Great Video. My Nana was Louisiana Creole (French, Cherokee, Black) from Jefferson Parish, Gretna, she passed last year so yes I’m Creole from my Dad side. I feel the same as you. My mom is mixed Black too Venezuelan & Trinidadian from her mom and Black American, Irish & Puerto Rican from her Dad, so we’re a lot alike dna wise. I’m glad you addressed this!

You explained this so well and thankful you spoke out on this platform. This explains how I've felt most of my life as a summed-up MGM/Louisiana Creole/Cajun person (with multiple mixtures down the line). I've got family from Louisiana and East Texas. I choose and feel liberated to acknowledge all my mixtures, not just one race based on our society's norms. People have always asked me "What are you?" growing up. My identity comes from my heritage and history, the truth and reality. It simply is what it is and I embrace it. 🙂

Good afternoon young lady...your explanation of what is an Louisiana creole is impressive..you have the right 2 call yourself what ever you want....all i will say 2 all..carry yourself as a person of dignity..be respectful to others..praise God from whom all blessings flow..peace

Wow you definitely explained Creole to me!! My husband’s family is from Louisiana. Most of his family speak French, but never heard them say that they are Creole. Thank you for opening up my eyes 👍🏽

Creole has no racial designation. As she stated , "They can be European, African, or mixed race." People often confuse the difference between race, and ethnicity. While race is associated to individuals on the basis of physical traits, ethnicity involves everything from language, to nationality, culture, and religion. If someone is cleaving to their nationality or ethnicity, instead of their race, it could be due to the fact that in different countries racial categories and how they see themselves (in most cases )are different from the way people see themselves in the US (which is strictly race-based.) However, if you were born and raised in a race-based country, such as the US, and you are cleaving to your nationality, or ethnic group of your race, it could be a form of distancing oneself from the race that they are assigned to...(whether it be on purpose, or not knowing the difference between race and ethnicity).... in America, they primarily see people as Black , Brown white, latino, Asian, Jewish, and most currently biracial ( which is a hodgepodge of nonsense without any nuances) At the end of the day, race is a social construct, rooted from white supremacy .... it is a racist, social hierarchy or caste system where white is at the top and Black is at the bottom, with no biological basis. Race is still used today to protect dominant white status, even though many of us may not be aware, or may have forgotten that fact ( and I feel we should stop using the concept of race)……. it may be said that race is used as a means, to find out who lives in what communities, who goes to what schools ,what resources are giving to whom or who is voting for whom, etc ....In the US these racial categories have became a part of many of our identities, especially African-Americans or Black people, because of lack of knowing their original origins due to the stripping of their identities and culture due to slavery and cultural genocide , however, in many cases most African-Americans originate from west Africa.(but due to generations of separation, they have no idea what tribe they belong to ) But the fact is that, if race needs to be weighed and measured in such a way, then that is a clear sign of inquality ..... some people use their racial ambiguity to gain access to more resources in a racist unequal, society..... (and that is only an explanation not a justification) If one was to say , " I am creole ,not Black "or "I'm not Black, I'm Dominican " or even "I'm not Black , I'm Somalian etc.... in their mind they may be genuinely explaining who and what they are..... but, to be honest there are a lot of creole , afro Latino, north African ( and some mixed race people ) who do not like to be called Black despite looking, phenotypically, Black or having Black ancestry (you might run into a few cases in real life but you see a lot of it on social media)…….in a race-based society, such as the United States it is also seen as an effort to push one’s self up the racial social hierarchy, even though most white people may not see it that way or accept the idea of it ; It's like a social passing that functions to elevate oneself amongst their racial peers ( it kind of functions the same way as colorism) . .... this is also done in reverse when some white people say that Jewish people (that are phenotypically white )are not white. But many people in the United States don't understand that Jewish people are not just white, they are Arab, and Black also (forgive me if I missed anyone else, it is not intentional )because being Jewish is not a race .....it is a religion . But in the United States, some people try to use it as a means of racial categorization to separate themselves from some Jewish people that are phenotypically white to elevate themselves over them, which is antisemitism. .... this confusion between race and religion also operates as erasure for those Jewish people who are not white. As it was explained, there is a difference between race, ethnicity, and religion.... but some people will try to manipulate these things to segregate people do to white supremacy.…. mind you there are other Black subcultures in America, the members of these cultures are only seen as Black, such as the Gullah Geechee, phenotypically Black expressing Creoles, and there are also a few African Americans with some Native American heritage.... however, as I said, before, they will not be seen as anything but Black because of their Black skin due to racism.... and myth in the United States that being Black is monolithic (it is not)......and that goes the same for any other Black phenotypically expressing, unambiguous Black African, Black Caribbean, Black British , Black Canadian, Afro Latinos, that live in the United States that have a variety of different cultures, and ethnicities and languages that encounter this phenomenon as well (they will always have to prove and defend their ethnicities and backgrounds because of how they look.)

Thank you for the explanation. It gives us a new perspective.

I love the Louisiana culture, what makes it awesome to me is the mix of peoples and cultures. It's ok to celebrate one's culture and background. The mistake comes when we view our own as superior to all others.

We see the word Creole is seen in some the earlier slave inventory. On some plantations the first enslaved africans were listed by their place of origin i.e., Temne, Naga (Yoruba), Senegal(Wolof), Mina,Mandinka. But their children mainly the mothers children were labeled as Creole on the slave registry. We could have a few more African country's flag like Guinea Sierra Leone, Nigeria etc., on the Louisiana Creole flag (French,Spanish Mali, Senegal) I'm for the 7th Ward. I use Afro Creole.

Grandparents in Mississippi were Louisiana creole. New Orleans, new Iberia. Creole culture. My other grandparents were creole also. Gullah from SC. A creole culture as well. Thanks. Happy to be both and black.

“There’s bad apples in every group” ya honestly with Spanish as a second language you would be surprised at how many dark “black & brown” latinos I encounter that completely deny blatant heritage and get offended if you slightly suggest they’re of African descent, as a dark skinned person myself it’s shocking to me and makes me feel all type of alone sometimes

I had no idea about this. As a Dutch person, I’ve only heard the word referring to afro-Surinamese people as distinguished from the Hindustani, Javanese, and all the other ethnicities in Suriname. I assumed it applied to other peeps from African decent in American countries. I didn’t know it was a whole thing.

Great Video! You covered it all! I've always believed that anyone that can trace their ancestors either to living in Louisiana prior to the Louisiana Purchase or St. Domingue prior to the Haitian Revolution then your ancestors are Creole. I think once Jim Crow took a hold of Louisiana that's when you saw the negative connotations of Creoles begin. Some began to passé blanc during the Great Migration (Chicago, NY, LA) and others tried to only socialize with folks their hue. Creoles come in all different hues, white or black. As long as you had an ancestor born in Louisiana prior to the purchase, that ancestor or ancestors provides the Creole lineage. I've never identified as Creole but I was born and raised in NOLA and I'm sure I had ancestors born in Louisiana prior to the Louisiana Purchase.

Thank you for your clarity, conciseness, and careful analysis of what is a complex issue. Across racial lines, color trumps ethnicity for many, many people. But we are not only defined by the political and economic consequences of our color/race. Our culture is the bedrock of who we become. It strongly influences so much of who we are. And anyone who has experienced Creole culture knows it is a distinct culture regardless of the color of the Creole.

Thank you sista for clearing that up.

Thanks for this elucidating presentation. I'm glad that you're proud of your heritage and that you won't allow others to rob you of that cultural treasure by trying to force you to identify in a way that would make them more comfortable. Louisiana Creole is as distinct an ethnic group as any other and should not be erased in the name of anyone else's insecurity or contempt for that culture. There's more to the various African Diasporic cultures and identities than a simple, monolithic identification as "black".

My grandfather’s family are Louisiana/Alabama Creole by way of Trinidad 😊

Terrific presentation

You gave an interesting explanation. I had thought people who loudly proclaimed the term "Creole" in many cases were trying to separate themselves from people of African descent as a badge of honor. Thank you for the clarification.

Well said 👏👏👏 I've experienced dealing with these kinds of questions and issues my whole life too. My father's mother (grandmother) was born in Texas, and her husband (my grandfather) was born in Louisiana in 1872. He eventually moved to Texas and married my grandmother who is very dark and fully black as far as I know, with maybe a little Spanish on her father's side i.e. my great grandfather. But my grandfather the one from Louisiana he is listed on his marriage & death certificate as Mulatto. I've never seen a picture of him and my father's side in Texas is quite large, and they have done a lot of ancestry research and scrapbooking yet they haven't found one either 😕 But in the last 9 years I was able to see a picture of my father's mother for the first time, it made me so happy since all my grandparents passed before I was born and never got to meet any of them. I was always told something completely different a lot of stories get passed along by one side or the other. I was told by my other side of the family she was mostly white and Native American, when in actuality my father's mother was black and possibly a little Spanish like I say. Some people just go off what they hear, but my father was too Creole looking to be mostly white and there is no Native American on his side that anyone is aware of. On my mother's side however from Washington state where I was born and where she met my father, I think he was a sailor for a time aboard a ship and eventually he ended up here and decided to stay. So on my mom's side here there is even more French besides the Creole with my dad. My mom has French-Canadian on her side as well and Native American. I think the word Creole perfectly sums up who we are as people with direct Louisiana roots from the time of it's existence. Too many words have been tried to be taken away and removed from our language, because honestly I think it makes other people not want to accept it as part of our history and culture still to this day. For people without deep roots and deep history they can't even begin to understand it's importance and significance. And we should be proud of who we are and embrace it just like everyone else of whatever origins they hold. A lot of people deep down are just jealous of our rich & colorful unique beauty, and that we get to have the best of both French/European as well as our black roots. Yet through education and making content to help people understand we can continue to make strides in helping people learn what Creole IS, and that it is real and can be defined and it's goes back Centuries and the terms and words used for Creole's didn't just originate in the last few years or decades. I made a short video of my father's Creole ancestry here quite a few months ago on my channel as well as one with my grandmother if you get a chance and are interested in checking those out. They are short but over a minute so they are in my Videos section 😀 Most of my content is spiritual and music based but also a lot of other things related to history and origins as well. And I have a top Creole videos playlist as well, with all of the Creole content I've had a chance to check out thus far 👍 Blessings to you!

Great Video

Love the video. In the Caribbean, we know we are creole but mainly identify as such by our cultural dishes, cultural dress, second language, kreyol, for which we have dictionaries, and in some cases, taught in schools now, music, outwards appearances, I.e, fair skin tone and sometimes, eye colours, hair textures. Am from one such island, 🇩🇲 Dominica. 👏🏾👏🏾🙏🏾💯. 🇨🇼🇨🇼🇨🇼🇩🇲🇩🇲🇨🇦

Great video breakdown thank you. In Jamaica too. My 4th great grandma Phyllis was Creole according to records. Still trying to find out more.

No one has the right to be offended by anyone else's personal identity. If someone who is 5 feet 2 inches in height but considers themselves tall that's their right. You can disagree with their personal opinion but it's their's. You have no say in what they think of themselves. So called "race" is cultural and subjective. While physical features, genes and phenotypes are biological. Two different things.

Thank you for sharing & explaining Creole...It makes a lots of sense.. But what concerns me ..I remember when my parents would talk about the paper bag test...which I found very disturbing ..so why is it that whole families have a certain skin tone in what I call the Creole spectrum from very light to a beige brown...Are people going out of their way to only marry those with a certain skin tone..to keep the family looking Creole. It kind of reminds me of Jet magazine when they would show debutante balls & all the young women & men looked very fair skin ..I dated a very fair skinned young women & when she took me home to meet her parents. I could tell they were not pleased that I had a dark skin tone..so that was the end to our dating...So my question.. is their people in the Creole community who only marry those who look like them skin tone wise..?

I'm a very mixed race person as well born and raised in London, and over here there aren't many mixed people and so I often find myself struggling with how to identify, while I don't identify as creole I guess it helps me to know that this identity problem is also confusing for entire identity groups of mixed people such as creole and that makes me feel a lot less alone. Very nice video, thank you algorhythm for showing me this haha

I find myself in a unique situation. My father’s family is from North Louisiana (Franklin Parish), my mother from East Texas (Jasper County). Through my mother’s lineage, I find that I have a mixture of African, English, Spanish, Native American and Asian ancestry. No doubt that my father’s side will have African and Irish ancestry (surname: Doyle). I was never raised as Catholic, however, from my father’s upbringing, we adopt a lot of Louisiana traditions and practices. With all that I have gathered about myself thus far, I would be safe in identifying my background is Creole. I am very interested in learning more and reviving the culture and bringing a new breath of pride and advocacy of who we are.

Thank you! You are divinely real, beautiful, and a lovely teacher of Creole. Although this was regarding Louisiana, what can you tell us about Haitian that speak Creole? Thank you!

Hey there. I'm Creole in Texas. I don't even bother trying to explain it to people. They just assume either my mom or dad is white. I just tell em my folks from Louisiana.

excellent video and spot on information! I appreciate including Louisiana as Latin America because it is and I never thought about it that way. As a Black Catholic from Mississippi I have grown up with and be en influenced greatly by Creole Catholic culture and it formed a part of my own Black Catholic identity as a non "Frenchman"-as we call the Creole people for their language.

I tend avoided stating that I am part Creole, because people hear that term just assume they synonymous with being multiracial (which it's like you said, Creole doesn't equal mixed but so many people still assume it means mixed) or in my case having lighter skin because I was multiracial (Multiracial Creole and Black Native) but didn't "look it". I didn't want to explain my entire family history, nor did I want people treat me like I'm saying it to be "different" cause of bullying experiences as a kid so I just latched on to be Black though I grew out of it and was more comfortable learning my culture from my late mom and aunt eventually as a older teen. A lot of other people in my family, like my 2nd older sister fit the bill more of the stereotype. I feel like dark skinned multiracial people already get put in the Black box especially by other Black people and when people did think you're mixed you feel like you're being examined and analyzed, though I will admit I do get a bit pleased when politely asked am I Creole because I can proudly say yes. However, sometimes you still have issues where you feel too Black to be Creole, but not Black enough by others it's odd feeling. I want people to be proud to be both Black or Creole, one doesn't cancel out the other to still be validated. I think your video did a great of explaining a big struggle a lot of people have, including myself so I'm glad this got in my recommended somehow.

It more complicated than that. I remember the brown paper bag test, the pencil test. You can't play with them they are too dark. It hard to be discriminated by people who look like you, but are treating you like your less than. As time passed, things did get better. With the Civil Rights Movement, and James Brown "I'm Black and Proud I saw my generation become more inclusive. My grandfather confessed that his mother was ,not native American. He said that his grandfather was a white Irishman. The funny thing about was we never questioned the hazel eyes and red hair in the family. Thanks from sharing your Creole culture. ♥

an interesting lecture of what is french creole...

My family migrated from texas to alabama and louisiana. My family is mix with african, commache indian and osage indian. I'am proud of my african heritage and proud to be a STRONG BLACK MAN.

When the Americans got hold of Louisiana they destroyed so much with their strict black-white racial divisions. IF they didn't take hold of Louisiana, it would be like Puerto Rico today. Creole culture is also a Latin based culture because of the French language, but this Black-White division will always be a problem for Americans, sad.

Hello. I am a proud Creole woman from the Caribbean. We are mixtures of the British slave owners and African slaves. The Mestizo are descendants of the Spaniards and Mayan. We are all Belizeans. ❤❤❤. I also have Mestizo in my lineage too

For me… I grew up being pro black! So, I will always identify my race as black. My ethnicity within my race is Louisiana Creole of Color. I’m also Afro Latina bc I’m also partially Hispanic like you. Lol My great grandfather was from Spain. MGM I feel would also be an ethnic categorization. You informed me about MGM. I never knew that was a thing to be honest. I’d always tell people no. I’m not mixed. I have two black parents. Then, I’d just say I am mixed down the line. I’m not first generation mixed though. I love the MGM term! It’s an ethnic term that can help people understand our background. I’m also a “thoroughbred” Creole. My mom’s side identifies as black and my dad’s side doesn’t. They will literally say they’re not black. They’re Creole. My mom’s side is the polar opposite. My mom joined the new panthers briefly. My uncle was a black Muslim. My aunt marched with the original black panthers. My mom’s side is very much so “say it loud I’m black and I’m proud”! So … being that I was raised by my mom and most heavily influenced by her side of my family… I will never not identify as black. I hate that many of my fellow Creoles feel like I’m not embracing being Creole, because I identify my race as Black. So, I love how you explained this. Non Creole AA’s feel like I’m denying my blackness by being proud of my ethnic background as a Creole and an Afro Latina! I’m taking your advice and learning more Spanish this year. I’m also going to start learning Louisiana French Creole. We should know our languages. ♥️♥️♥️

I'm African American, But if another person would say that they are Creole, I would automatically get what they're saying. But when referring to America today would those of the Creole Community who identify more with blackness see themselves apart of the broader Black Community or specifically just of the Creole Community, Honest Question to someone who's Creole and also how Creoles feel towards the African American Community. But I hope you guys get recognized status for preservation towards culture and language.

Beautifully explained and articulated. Beautiful girl, too.

This is why being a biracial or heavily mixed race person is hard. Half of the black population in America still conforms to the one drop rule, and the other half(myself included) feels biracial people and heavily mixed race people aren’t black at all. Depending on the person it’s a lose lose situation. Personally, I don’t see a problem with a person identifying as Creole especially if they’re heavily mixed race and racially ambiguous like you. You’re not a BW so why would you identify as black? Your mixed race heritage and creole culture is something to be proud of.

Why is there a Nicaraguan flag on the bottom of the left of the screen? I lived in NOLA a few years ago and I knew a Creole woman named Maria Diaz who lived in Bayou St. John, she claimed she was Honduran & Creole descent.

I don’t think identifying as Creole is anti-black at all. Like you said, it's the Catholic religion, the French Creole language, African heritage, and mixed ancestry, etc. I'm dark skinned with curly hair. My Dad's family are Creole from Louisiana. My Mom's family is also African-American, but from Kentucky. Growing up in KY and Ohio, people would ask where I was from, and when I would reply that my father's family were Creoles from Louisiana, that would be all I would have to say. I wouldn't have to explain anything else. So I get exactly where you're coming from. On my Ancestry DNA test results, my top community is Early Louisiana African and Creole Americans. And Kentucky is just now showing up (as Bluegrass region) as one of my communities, with the latest Ancestry update. Before, it just had early Virginia African-Americans, which I get because Kentucky use to be a part of Virginia, but still, I'm Kentucky proud and I wanted it to show as one of my top communities like Louisiana Creole does. Also what I noticed with the results, is the Basque ancestry (people from a region between Spain and France). My results showed 2% Basque. I think Basque is a common ancestry for Creoles and people of Latin descent. Most of my dna matches on my Dad's side also have Basque ancestry. That was surprising. Also surprising, is the number of different African countries we are from. My top ancestry result shows I'm 32% Nigerian, but I'm also mixed with numerous other African countries (in addition to the European countries and my 1% Indigenous Yucatan Pennisula).

I’m Louisiana creole also and actually most of us actually speak French rather than creole which I think is why the creole language numbers are so much lower than the french. I identify as creole but the problem is we have no representation. No one reps us . We need to speek french and Spanish again and claim our culture

Having grown up in South Los Angeles (born in Ohio --where much of the black population have not only Louisiana Creole but Lumbee/Melungeon/Gullah -Geechee heritage thanks to generational Southern migration, amongst others), I have limited knowledge about Creoles (despite growing up among many of them, along with Mexican Americans). Anyway, I only recently came upon my minority (Alabama Creole) ancestry, largely maternal (ditto my Mexican and Taino native American side mixed in with my paternal Cherokee) via DNA 🧬 testing. I have medium brown 🟤 skin but I look as mixed as my numerous ethnicities would indicate. 🤔 insight.

Interesting talk and one that stirs different opinions and experiences. I'm gonna move from race a little and just present another topic that is dominating perspectives today. It seems here in a America many are ready to accept a biological male as a woman--even some woman are accepting that as okay, women of any racial background too; and considering how as women regardless of color and race, we have been denied historically certain rights. Okay, now about being mixed race in America. As a tri-racial person basically, I see how one's identify can cause debate and tensions on various sides, and others can project feelings on you regarding how they perceive you but it's their feelings and not yours. My story isn't Creole in the context you are explaining here though. My mother is of African descent. My dad's side though takes a different turn. My grandmother is fully Irish, ginger hair and born and raised in NYC; she's deceased. Her history goes back to Ireland and the Vikings. My great, great grandfather was born in Ireland. In other words one side of my history goes back to the Irish Diaspora due to the Potato Famine and Catholic Persecution. My dad's father is more or less Mestizo (Spanish and Amerindian). With that being the case, I know genetically I'm a blend of Afro-Eurasian, or I often refer to myself as Afro-Mestizo. Our Latin regions extend from Chile, Peru, Mexico and landing it seems in Puerto Rico. I don't identify myself with Ireland, although I am close to 25% Irish because my dad is half Irish. If you have one great parent up to the 3rd generation who's from Ireland it's possible to get Irish citizenship. But still, I don't claim myself as Irish-and not too many Irish would probably claim me either, that's fine. However, I do acknowledge my Irish roots if the topic is raised because there's no way I will deny my own Irish grandmother if whites are uncomfortable or any other racial group. My white grandmother later in life married a Jamaican man by the way and had more mixed kids. So overall, my mixed heritage is because an Irish woman was attracted to the foreign man, you know other than her countrymen. So my sister, I appreciate you bringing up this topic. It's better to have healthy discussion than always avoid it. Also, not all mixed people share the same history, story or experiences. God Bless You!

Creole. European ancestry on dad's side is German/French from one line for sure. Baltic and Scandinavian likely from another line (never gets talked about here like that). My mom's European side is Scottish, Irish, Finnish, Jewish. The thing that's the funniest, most frustrating is that my mom's white 2nd great-grandmother was born around World War 1. WAY AFTER slavery. But I guess we can't claim them either since it was still Jim Crow? Bizarre.

I sometimes get confused about myslef being creole or not, because mother is fully black but one side of my hrat grand grandmothers is mullato and on the other side my great grand mothers is geecche & native american my dad is black with his great grandpa to be a sprinkle of black & asian. So sometimes i get a confustion on if im Creole ir not

i think my grandmother was creole, but it wasn't discussed; the terms weren't used. I was too young to get into it. My mother told me her french was different than my dad's parents' french. That's a clue, i guess. My sister looks like she's from hawaii, and i've been mistaken as being spanish. I'm thinking about doing a DNA test, but i hear they're not accurate. Would a records search be better? My grandmother's ancestry seems to be a dead end. Very frustrating.

Latino and Creole at one time in history, as you pointed out, was a term in reference to European culture and ethnicity particularly in the Western Hemisphere, but today is more accepted as a term in reference to mixed race people; particularly Black African and European. Here is something most people refuse to come to terms with, the same applies to those who identify themselves as Mulattoes, Colored or LA Raza, ( The Race, New Race) Which all are terms of conscripts established by way of White Supremacy with assisting those of African descent suffering from inferiority complex to slide out and over via generational outbreeding to a higher social, economic and political class while eventually succumbing to by way of breeding with only whiter or so-called fair skin others to the point the future generations can classify as White, or European. This process is considered by White Supremacist to be a more civilized manner of ethnic cleansing. Yes , darker skin Lousianians can and do classify "themselves" as Creole or claim to be of some descendent of Native American tribe but this may be a case of self-imposed misidentity due to confusion, a inferioity complex having to deal with being a Black of African descent rather than miscegenation.

My great grandmother is creole (she is still alive) and she came from Louisiana. She had all her kids in Illinois. She has silky curly hair and she passed that down to my grandfather then to my mother and auntie, then to me. Would I be Creole?

Hey what about definitions/description of Creole caste (Mulatto, Quadroon, Octaroon…)

I’m a dark skin creole of multigenerational mixing of native, Senegalese, Congo, Cuban descent. My family has some crazy history when it comes to rebellion

Recently, I’ve had the experience that a few people from PR thought I was Puerto Rican or Spanish. I went with my go to explanation “No I’m from Louisiana”. 98 percent of the time this works but I had to go into a whole history lesson haha.

I also come from a highly mixed Louisiana Creole family (with lineage from Saint-Domingue and Acadia) and have always self-identified as Creole. But growing up outside of Louisiana, there was always a kind of stigma associated with it. Some people like to categorize you and can't seem to understand that Creole is a legit ethnicity, and certain people in particular get offended and try to shame you for saying Creole is distinct from African American. But relating Creole to Latino is an excellent comparison, especially since Louisiana Creoles have far more similarities (ethnically, culturally and historically) with Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Brazilians than we do with anyone else in America, and that's how I tend to explain our heritage to others as well whenever I’m asked "where are you from?" and "what is Creole?" It’s sad that so many of us deny our ethnic identity out of some imposed shame, or to simply avoid the hassle of explaining what it means, but I’m glad to find some other Creoles out here who embrace our culture and heritage and care about preserving it. Thank you for making this video and God bless.

So I identify as a Black American and have done so prior to taking 23andme test (78.2%, 20.5% Euro, 0.8 Asian/Native). I knew I was of Creole heritage from both sides of my family, coming primarily from my maternal great-grandmother and paternal great grandparent/gg grandparents. Growing up I noticed my mom was into Creole culture and knows a little French as well as my one of my aunts, but I strictly know Spanish as a second language (self-taught). I’ve been told I also have some Euro, Hispanic, and supposedly Cherokee ancestry on both sides of my family. In terms of ethnicity, would it be appropriate to identify as Creole over “African-American”?

Oh man....the similarities to our south african coloured culture is astounding...amazing

The imitation of life clip had me 💀

That’s exactly what I try to explain to people but they always want to put you in a box of black or white like that’s all there is 🤦🏻‍♀️

I also forgot to comment something else . Creoles are Latin. In Latin society, we have a triracial system unlike the Anglo two race systems. Historically, it was always white, mixed, and black. So, many Creoles did not ever identify as Black although they might now just because of the influx of American racial politics in the 19th and 20th century. Nowadays, a lot of people who are identifying as Black would have never done so if they were born 100 years prior. For instance, my grandmother is about 40-50% European . She always says “ my black was black “ Which is odd to me because it’s also like saying her mom wasn’t black. They were all Creoles from New Orleans. It’s just my great grandmother was predominantly European ( ig considering my grandmothers about half ) and her husband was predominantly African. In our Creole, if you were like half black , half white , or if certainly it you were mostly European, you didn’t identify as Black. And yes there was a lot of racism and stuff. My great grandmother had “ negro workers “ and such. That’s just how it was

I think of Louisiana Creole as a culture and a lineage rather than a race. I know people who are completely white European descent who identify as Creole. Also Louisiana the colony isn’t the same as Louisiana the state. I have friends and relatives in MS and AL whose ancestors never lived in LA the state who are Creole. Mobile was once the capital and held the first Carnival celebration in current day USA. I have had people ask me if I’m Creole or say I “look like I’m from Louisiana”. No. I have a little bit on my dad’s dad but they were estranged and so I don’t consider this my culture. Actually most of my family is from rural Alabama. We Have our own land and own culture going back to 1800s. A lot of them were marked mulatto in the census but this could be arbitrary and could be different in different censuses. My great grandmother’s mother was biracial. When they were with their parents the family was listed as mulato. As married adults my grgrandma was listed as black and her sister as mulato. Probably based on who they married. FYI Haitians are also Latinos. No Latino isn’t a race and in Latin America the term doesn’t mean race/skin color. There are other words for that like mestizo, trigueño, moreno, guero, pardo, prieto, mulato. And just like anywhere else there has been immigration to Latin America. Not everyone there has a long familial history there and they are Latino none the less. Former Peruvian Pres. Alberto Fujimori has Japanese immigrant parents. A lot of my Peruvian friends have grandparents from Asia.

Hi. As a Creole and a Creole scholar, you did a very nice job at explaining Creole. Very informative and enjoyable to watch. I believe Creole became associated with mixed ancestry because the ethnicity was highly claimed by the Creoles of Color. You did a very nice job at tackling this difficult subject. It’s hard when people do not understand that it’s an ethnicity. I do feel a lot of black Americans might feel a sense of jealous toward creoles. Because being Creole gives you access to an ethnicity, an identity, etc that most black Americans do not have unfortunately. I’ve seen this sort of animosity toward Latinos, Creoles, even West Indians. Also, the way the times are nowadays, a lot of people are quite frankly anti-white, so identifying as Creole, for many people, since it acknowledges in a way a mixed heritage, becomes “ pro white “ which they interpret as “ anti black “. I don’t see it that way. Both of my grandmothers descent from free people of color and my grandfathers descendent from enslaved predominantly African populations. For me, like you said, identifying as a Creole is literally acknowledging African ancestry or blackness ( kinda bc some creoles are fully European but most aren’t ). I think it’s inappropriate to pretend my white ancestors don’t exist, especially since many of us descend from des placées and Creoles of color , so our white ancestry doesn’t come from r*pe like many black Anglo Americans- at least not entirely. Bref, identifying as a Creole is a great way to acknowledge all parts of your ancestry. Great job overall.

I applaud your efforts to harmonize a erroneous European concept called "Race". White and Black are colors not a racial designations. Color representations for racial categories was invented to separate European indentured servitude from African enslavement. Slave and black was wield together to brand anyone of African descent as subservient in inferior to Europeans the so called "Master race" ie.. white people. Children of the African Diaspora have fought hard for centuries to reclaim our own identity. You should be at liberty to claim your own identity too. Thanks for giving us some food for thought and research.

The racial rules in America are beyond ridiculous. Mixed Creole "Black" people, are not only Black. There is nothing wrong w/ saying that you are Black and something else. If people have a problem with it, that is their own personal business. If you choose to not even mention being partially Black, again, thats your own prerogative. Have you seen the LHH Race episode? It will explain why all of this has happened to you. Some people feel as if you don't claim Black, that means that you will be viewed as better than them or have preferential treatment. I am Creole as well, but I have no problem saying that Im also Black (but thats just me).

Thanks for your honest explanation on being Creole . Definitely softened my biases towards Creole people. Still feel, however wrong, that theirs this superiority complex creoles have as it relates to black people, especially if your skin is black. Like your knowingly excluding black people from your circle of friends/family so as to not have them intermarry/ have kids. You had slaves, were privileged over slaves and when forced to claim either black or white you chose white. My assumptions are simplistic and not fully articulated for lack of texting. Sorry. Just left New Orleans for first time. Enlightening. Thanks

Creole is a blend of cultures and/or specific ethnicities into one..nothing wrong there. If some people don’t like that then that’s their insecurity projecting imo.

You don’t owe it to anyone to label yourself as they like it, because of some false sense of community that some trot out.

My maternal grandparents identified as French speaking creoles from Louisiana. And they always identified as Black. My maternal grandfather's side of the family were all damn near White. But adhered to the one drop rule. His ancestors actually came from Haiti in the early 1800s as free people of color. My maternal grandmother's side also came from Haiti as slaves in the late 1700s.She had a mixture of African, Haitian, French and Houma ancestry on both sides of her family. She was born in 1905.What was amazing to me was by her mid 50s i got to meet both her parents and surviving paternal and maternal great Aunts and Uncles on both sides of her family in 1962.Her parents spoke a different variation of creole than the generation of her grandparents. It was amazing. I heard Cajun and zydeco music growing up. But the music of these people went even further back than that. The one thing that amused me is that although my maternal grandfather's side identified as Black, many of them were even lighter than the Cajuns who identified as White. There were slight variations in the cuisine and the music between the two groups. I know there was a musician that both groups identified with .Amede Ardoin.And he was definitely a Black man who spoke only Cajun/Creole French.

I wish there were millions and millions of beautiful young ladies like you. 💎💎💎

I am Japanese (Okinawa); my relatives are from Brazil (my dad's side) and Peru (my mom's side). (I like how there is a diaspora of African(s)-(Americans) in the Caribbean region (Afro-Latino/Latina): Cuba, Dominican Republic (DR), Haiti, Jamaica (from England; there are White Jamaicans; just like South Africans (who are Caucasian/Wh#te, not just African/bl#ck) ), France (like what Creole Lady M. said); Bermuda, the Bahamas or Puerto Rico (Taino indigenous Indians/Native American tribes); the Gullah (island) peoples, that live off the coast of 3 states: South Carolina, Florida and Georgia; Mexico; Central and South America.) I bet that there are Mexican/Filipinos (mixed in with: Indonesian, Australian, Japanese, American; Spanish (colonized)), living in the Philiippines. It is like a Hawaiian mixed plate, a gumbo or jambalaya; the Filipino dessert = "Halo Halo" (it means "mix mix.")

So, you check the “other” box when need be?

In Puerto Rico criollo was originally meant for island born Spaniards, now it just means anybody from the island, as well as anything that is indigenous or produced there. Latino is also Portuguese based in Latin America. I always saw the connection with Louisiana creoles and Latinos.

And I get what you saying

I hate when people ask me what I’m mixed with. I always respond….. it’s complicated. Leave me alone lol explaining creole is hard. Because I’m brown and not high yella people get confused. My dad is dark with straight hair and my mom is VERY light with curly hair. Lol I now mostly say I’m a black man of creole descent.

I know you from Facebook and seeing your face when you Google Louisiana Creole

There are many different groups within Black America. Creoles, Gullah’s ect. Black Americans fight for liberation has always been what has tied all of the groups together. Unlike in the Caribbean, no group falling under the Black identity has ever been confused about their non-white status within society. I can say I’m Iroquois, but when the Gullah’s were putting in that work and choppin heads off to free Blacks, they were doing it for my family too. You can claim whatever sect you want but the gang is “Black American”.

as an 18 yr old black woman engaged to a white (Irish/Italian) guy I don’t believe identifying as mixed race in general is anti black. I’m pregnant and would never force my kids to identify as black but will instill pride of them in being more than one race. There’s nothing wrong w stating you’re creole/mixed/ Asian etc & whatever else you are

It isn't anti anything , but rather embracing the unique varied heritage that's being from Louisiana ! Beaucoups heritage est une grande famile .

This is a question that is a subset of a larger question that comes from the racist British-American efforts to keep all trace of blackness out of their bloodline. When I was little, some boys on my street jumped me and broke my only adult tooth in half because I had a so-called `white man` come to my house. That so-called white man was my creole grand father. A man so creole he didn`t even speak English. This was in 76. So I think that this controversy has been going on from before when all of us were born. I have had other creoles call me out and I`m ok with that. But I haven`t gained much from using the creole label throughout my life. All throughout my school years it was either making fun of my name or Frenchie or hi-yellow or even Crayola. You get tired of it cause its hard to win. I realize as an adult that the trouble isn't whether you are creole or black or any of that. The root is that black people in the US are educated by white people . They prepare the curriculum so we don't know anything about the black experience outside of a few major events. Most of us don't even know important stuff like Congo Square or the Bacon rebellion. All black communities are not the same. We have a flat view of ourselves because of what is not taught. Funny thing is in France or even in west Africa I have been picked out 90% of the time as being a so called `black French` or a Antillais sometimes they call it. They recognize that creole thing right away. Louisiana Creoles we have a look. Its a look we share with other black communities that were colonized by the French and not the English or the Spanish, At the end of the day though we are all in the same situation the only difference being which boat brought your ancestors and where.

Hello, my country is also Creole with a Portuguese and African base and there are 10 islands located on the west African coast and called Cape Verde. We also face a lot of prejudice because we do not identify as just Africans but rather as a country with mixed language, culture and DNA. Our Creole language is similar to the Papiamento Creole language of the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

Thanks you for being proud. I’m proud also. But the nonsense needs to stop.

I think we might be related…my name is Kathleen Duvernay (also from New Orleans,Louisiana).

I found out my great great great was a native American creole man I don't know what tribe he's from and not all Creoles are light skin too my families from Franklin....we love our blackness

During the first decades of European settlement Creole was originally used by Spanish and French colonists to describe anyone mixed or not who was born in the so-called New World instead of in the "old world" of Europe, Africa, or Asia. Over time it changed to mean someone of mixed race. Unfortunately, with the establishment of the race and color based hierarchy, Creoles and mixed race people became part of a buffer class between black people and the whites who ran things. Unfortunately, many of them embraced the hierarchy and prized their status within it. That mentality was dragged into modern times so the resentments caused by the race and color hierarchy have never gone away. History has consequences.

Wow!!!!!! Aren't you the actor from a House Divided?????

Honduran, Choctaw, black, French, Irish, Sierra Leone African here

Some people seem to get triggered by people who identity as Creole but it is no more anti black than Gullah identity is imo.

I'm Puerto Rican. I look white, that is until I skip a few haircuts and the hair grows out. That's when the ig'nant questions start. When asked what race I identify as I say Puerto Rican knowing that their response will be "that's not race". But quite frankly I'm over trying to placate go one group or another as I did when I was a kid. What I find ironic is that if I try to shift to either side of that binary spectrum, I then find myself being gatekept from said group. Typically it's be the same type of personality that gets offended by me initially denying either end of the binary spectrum.

❤….🙏🏿

There is a component here that is often forgotten , if you were born in the French speaking colonies as a mixed race man you were not born into slavery. Many slave owners were in fact mixed race. Poor whites could not talk down or had privilege as the mixed race men which resulted in many literal wars between them. However while mixed race women were not born into slavery they still did not enjoy the privileges of mixed race men and where at a massive disadvantage which brings us to the religion of voodoo. In voodoo women are not held back from hosting seminars or owning armies so many mixed race women began practising it also voodoo is matrilineal which means the power goes through the mother so voodoo is heavily linked through mixed race women identifying more as black because of this

Spanish and French in same family .wow.

Creole is black to me like dominican is black. Ironically the darker side of my family were the ones that spoke creole all the way to 30 years ago and the lighter side stopped well before that so i associate the culture more with black people then the mulatto stuff though im not particularly black in tone

My my papa dad was ah full blown creole

I’m Louisiana creole yup

I an dominican and creo people are welcomed in my country. We are a mixed nation of 11 million people

Creole and aboriginal also have some Irish in me

My thoughts are that Creoles is an ethnicity specifically an american ethnicity that is adjacent to Black communities and exists within Black society mainly because what happened after louisiana being sold to the united states and what happened after the civil war and reconstruction to the migration period. Also several if not many black institutions were founded by creoles so its intertwined at this point. Funny how this isnt an issue with your counterparts the cajuns who are primarily white but mixed with something as well but anything black mixed has to justify their mix heritage and blackness. I dont know who has an issue with creole as an identification but that may be a new generational thing who has the problem as well as the fact that we have generations of mix people who are born from an anglo saxon and other european class that never had a society or community like the louisiana creoles have and cause problems within the black community in general complaining about being half black and black people in general of hearing about it. Its the legacy of the tragic you know what troupe which has ultimately have some pushing back and it seems creoles are getting caught up in it where previously they weren't as much.