lying about one's ethnicity

[brigittebod]

OK, I have a young boy in the latter part of the 19th century in America. One of his parents is a Native American (tentatively identified as an Apache, or possibly one of the Pueblo People). If his father wanted to disguise this fact, what ethnicity would he claim the mother was?

Comments

[anonymous]

Which would be why I started out with the phrase "Depending on the time period..."? And talked about the mid to late 1800s and not the past 43 years?

And just for reference, I'm basing this on four years of studying primary source documents from 1580 to about 1890 from New Mexico and parts of Arizona for various theses for my history degree. I'd be happy to list them out, but it would take me a few days to find the photocopied title pages and lists in my filing cabinet, type them out and organize them so they're not just a random and ginormous list of doom.

Oh, and from California history, which, oddly enough, they teach here, where Mexican priests and ranchers were way higher up on the ladder than the Indians they were converting here, whether they had Indian blood themselves or not (and, when the 'Anglos' came, whether they were Catholic or not), at least before 1849 and the Foreign Miners' Tax.

Of course, my only anecdotal evidence of modern views on the subject comes from growing up in California and all that entails, and having a half-Mexican brother-in-law, a half-Mexican roommate, a roommate and step-family who are part Native American. Luckily, hon, I was talking about this nifty time that happened before the 1960s (even before the 1890s). Good thing I wasn't talking about the past 43 years of New Mexico's history, or I'd look real dumb, huh?

[badgermirlacca]

So glad you're getting a history degree. However, I hope you read your primary source documents a little more carefully than you read my post; "I've lived in New Mexico for 43 years" does not mean that my comments were solely applicable to the last 43 years, or that I was limiting myself to modern views on the subject (which is why I noted "it depends on where you are, and when you are." I did not specify a time period at all--my point was that the time period was relevant.

What applies in California does not, and did not, necessarily apply in New Mexico--or Arizona, or Texas, or Colorado. Indeed, what applies or applied in Northern New Mexico doesn't, and didn't, necessarily apply in southern New Mexico.

You missed my point entirely. Do you have the academic integrity to admit it?

[mayhemwench]

So glad you're getting a history degree.
Got.

However, I hope you read your primary source documents a little more carefully than you read my post;

Dear Pot,

You are of a dark hue!

Sincerely,
Kettle

What applies in California does not, and did not, necessarily apply in New Mexico

It was a comparison for purposes of illustration, but I did not put that clearly as I was more interested in mocking you for being so condescending to me for my original response. And for that I apologize to the moderators of this community, because I should have been the bigger person and let it go. Sorry, mods. I love little_details, please don't hate me.

You missed my point entirely. Do you have the academic integrity to admit it?
Actually, I was kind of rebutting your point insofar as you were saying that people with some Mexican blood were almost as bad as people with some Indian blood. Because it really was a totally different point.

As for your "repeat" that it depends on the time and place...I kind of made that point in my original response to you. In fact, that was the entirity of my original reply. Which I posted in response to your own post because it went along with your own post, not because I was attacking you somehow, but that seems to have escaped noticed.

The second post was kind of an attack, and again, I apologize to the moderators for that.

I refuse to continue this arguement anymore, to save their sanity. I hope that our future interactions in this community will at least be polite and infused with icy resentment if not pleasant, rather than condescending and bitchy, and I admit I have been. It was immature, whether it was deserved or not.