Melungeon

Rare card · No. 19871

Melungeon ( mə-LUN-jən) (sometimes also spelled Malungean, Melangean, Melungean, Melungin) is a reclaimed term historically applied to mixed-race individuals and families and their predominately white descendants with roots in colonial Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina who were primarily descended from early European and African interracial relationships. In the late 20th century, the term was reclaimed by descendants of these families, especially in southern Appalachia. Prior to the 1960s, no individual or family identified as Melungeon. However, in the 1990s, whites descended from mixed-race families began identifying with the term. This process has been defined by some researchers, such as Melissa Schrift, as a socially constructed identity relying or built on popular culture, media narratives, and myths. Researcher Paul Heinegg, who compiled thousands of pages and oral histories documenting early free black families, believed the Melungeons to be the product of free...

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