By Ethan Godsey
When someone talks about the Melungeon people many different thoughts come to mind. Is Melungeon a race of people, a slur, a part of an identity? The answer is both yes and no as the history of the Melungoen people is an interesting and complex story that is well worth learning.
To start, the word Melungeon is a slur for people of mixed race in the Appalachian region of America. This is due to a high population of mixed race peoples in the area from white settlers, free people of color, and even some native people, though most were of mainly European and African descent. The use of Melungeon as a slur was mostly phased out in the 20th century when modern Melungeons reclaimed the term as a source of identity and pride. This is wonderful as its use as a slur was rather biting as seen by one of the first recorded instances of the word. In the minutes of Scott County, Virginia’s Stony Creek Baptist Church a woman was noted as saying to another person that, “she harbored them Melungeons.”. This quote shows that at the time the Melungeon people were seen as lesser than, and that allowing one into your home was seen as harboring them like an illegal item.
Living as a Melungeon was rather difficult for a long time, this is due to a wide variety of myths and lies about the people. Many people believed that Melungeons were identifiable by deformities due to being mixed race. Some of these believed deformities are Familial Mediterranean fever, polydactyly, and Anatolian bumps. They also believed that they had dark skin, high cheekbones, and bright eyes, all of these things are untrue as most melungeon people are white passing and have no genetic issues like those provided. Despite many being white passing many were discriminated against, especially in 1924 in Virginia when they passed the Racial Integrity Act and solidified the one drop rule. Due to this Act anyone with even “one drop” of non-white blood would be subjected to the dystopian Jim Crow laws. Due to Melungeons being mixed race, despite many being white passing, they were classified as black, were discriminated against and given limited freedoms. It was seen as an insult that the Melungeons could be seen as white, as seen in December 1943. Walter Ashby Plecker wrote to officials that “colored” people were disregarding the Racial Integrity Act by passing as “white” or “indian”. He notably noted the “Tennessee Melungeons” and forced them to be reclassified as black. It wasn’t until 1967’s Loving vs Virginia case that the Melungeons were no longer forced to be labeled as the race they mostly resembled.
The modern culture of the Melungeon does not exist due to there never being one unifying monoculture of the people, instead most Melungeons typically have the very same culture of their neighbors and surrounding community, this is also true for past Melungeon peoples. Despite not having any real cultural precedent there are many Melungeons who have created their own “Tribal identity” if they have native ancestors. Though this is not all Melungeons as not all have native history, and most are of African and European descent. To this day there are many Melungeon people to be found in southern Appalachia, most white passing but containing a deep history and legacy of strife and pain of any mixed race people of America.
