The Folly of Jim Crow: Rethinking the Segregated South

2. Southern Indians and Jim Crow

CHAPTER฀2 Southern฀Indians฀and฀Jim฀Cr ow theda perdue In฀1969,฀Myron฀Jones฀of฀the฀National฀Congress฀of฀American฀Indians ฀ went฀to฀Marksville,฀Louisiana,฀to฀investigate฀the฀situation฀of฀the฀local฀ Tunica-฀ Biloxi฀Indians.฀They฀owned฀130฀acres฀on฀which฀local฀whites฀had฀ encroached฀by฀hunting฀deer,฀building฀a฀road฀and฀a฀gas฀station,฀and฀using฀ the฀ Indians’฀cemetery฀as฀a฀garbage฀dump.฀Jones฀found฀local฀attitudes ฀ even฀more฀disturbing฀than฀violations฀of฀the฀Indians’฀property฀rights:฀most฀ whites฀insisted฀that฀there฀were฀no฀Indians฀in฀the฀vicinity฀of฀Marksville฀despite ฀their฀occupation฀of฀the฀land฀in฀question฀since฀before฀the฀Louisiana฀ Purchase.฀In฀his฀report,฀Jones฀wrote,฀“The฀Chairman฀of฀the฀local฀poverty฀ program,฀a฀white฀lawyer,฀explained฀.฀ .฀.฀that฀‘all฀the฀Indians฀have฀gone. ฀ They’ve฀either฀married฀white฀or฀black,฀and฀that’s฀what฀they฀are฀now — either฀white฀or฀black.’฀”฀In฀fact,฀Jones฀discovered,฀“In฀public฀offi฀cial฀matters ,฀no฀Louisiana฀community฀acknowledges฀the฀existence฀of฀Indians.” 1 ฀ The฀same฀thing฀could฀have฀been฀said฀about฀communities฀across฀the฀Southeast .฀From฀Virginia฀to฀east฀Texas,฀Native฀people฀had฀survived฀disease,฀dispossession ,฀and฀discrimination,฀but฀by฀the฀1960s฀non -฀ Indian฀southerners฀ had฀removed฀most฀of฀them฀from฀the฀racial฀landscape฀of฀the฀region. The฀absence฀of฀Indians฀from฀mid -฀ twentieth-฀ century฀perceptions฀of฀the฀ Southeast฀differs฀dramatically฀from฀what฀Europeans฀found฀four฀centuries฀ earlier.฀When฀they฀fi ฀rst฀arrived,฀the฀Southeast฀was฀one฀of฀the฀most฀densely฀ populated฀regions฀of฀North฀America.฀Native฀peoples฀enjoyed฀sovereignty,฀ which฀they฀exercised฀through฀political฀structures฀that฀managed฀resources,฀ administered฀territories,฀and฀manipulated฀spiritual฀forces.฀The฀English ฀ in฀North฀America฀recognized฀the฀sovereign฀rights฀of฀indigenous฀nations฀ in฀treaties,฀a฀practice฀that฀the฀United฀States฀adop ted฀after฀the฀American ฀ Revolution.฀In฀the฀1830s฀the฀United฀States฀used฀treaties฀to฀force฀fi฀ve฀large฀ Indian฀ nations฀in฀the฀Southeast —Cherokees,฀ Chickasaws,฀Choctaws, ฀ Sem฀ i฀ noles,฀and฀Creeks—west฀of฀the฀Mississippi฀to฀what฀today฀is฀eastern฀ Theda฀Perdue฀ 55 Oklahoma.฀The฀national฀governments฀of฀these฀Native฀nations฀took฀their฀ treaty฀relations฀with฀the฀United฀States฀to฀the฀West,฀and฀their฀history฀differs฀ greatly฀from฀that฀of฀the฀people฀who฀remained.฀Some฀who฀stayed฀were ฀ remnants฀of฀removed฀tribes,฀but฀there฀were฀thousands฀of฀other฀Indian ฀ people฀whose฀tribes฀had฀never฀been฀targeted฀for฀removal.฀Their฀legal฀situations ฀were฀largely฀the฀same.฀At฀the฀end฀of฀the฀American฀Civil฀War,฀the฀ United฀States฀government฀did฀not฀recognize฀the฀sovereign฀rights฀of฀any ฀ tribes฀in฀the฀Southeast,฀nor฀did฀it฀maintain฀government-฀ to-government฀relations ฀with฀them,฀as฀it฀did฀with฀nations฀in฀the฀West.฀Instead,฀southeastern ฀Indians฀lived฀under฀the฀laws฀of฀the฀states.฀For฀the฀next฀century,฀state฀ and฀local฀governments฀would฀try฀to฀force฀Indians฀into฀a฀system฀of฀biracial฀ segregation฀that฀challenged฀their฀identity฀as฀Indians,฀obscured฀their฀histories ,฀and฀denied฀their฀sovereign฀rights.฀In฀response,฀southeastern฀Indians฀ struggled฀to฀preserve฀their฀ethnic฀and฀national฀identities,฀often฀by฀embracing ฀the฀Jim฀Crow฀system฀that฀sought฀to฀destroy฀both. Segregation฀statutes฀passed฀in฀the฀aftermath฀of฀Reconstruction฀made ฀ few฀references฀to฀Indians.฀Segregation,฀after฀all,฀sought฀to฀protect฀whiteness ฀and฀white฀power.฀Lumping฀all฀people฀of฀color฀together฀achieved฀the฀ goal฀of฀preserving฀white฀racial฀purity฀and฀strengthening฀white฀control฀of฀ southern฀economic฀and฀political฀life.฀Only฀Florida฀included฀Indians฀specifically ฀in฀a฀reconstruction฀constitution฀by฀providing฀them฀with฀one฀representative ฀in฀each฀house฀of฀the฀legislature.฀But฀the฀constitutional฀convention฀ of฀1885฀omitted฀this฀provision. 2 ฀Florida฀also฀recognized฀the฀Seminoles’ ฀ presence฀by฀prohibiting฀the฀sale฀of฀alcohol฀to฀Indians,฀a฀demeaning฀concession ฀to฀stereotype.3 ฀In฀the฀1880s,฀Mississippi฀and฀North฀Carolina฀passed฀ laws฀providing฀for฀separate฀schools฀for฀Indians,฀but฀only฀North฀Carolina฀ consistently฀offered฀segregated฀state฀facilities. 4 ฀Most฀laws฀that฀included ฀ Indians฀dealt฀with฀miscegenation. 5 ฀In฀1873,฀North฀Carolina฀prohibited ฀ unions฀between฀whites฀and฀either฀African฀Americans฀or฀Indians,฀and฀in ฀ 1879฀South฀Carolina฀provided฀that฀“marriage฀between฀a฀white฀person ฀ and฀an฀Indian,฀Negro,฀mulatto,฀mestizo,฀or฀half -฀ breed฀shall฀be฀null฀and฀ void.”6 ฀Subsequent฀laws,฀including฀one฀that฀outlawed฀marriage฀between฀ African฀Americans฀and฀the฀Lumbee฀Indians฀of฀North฀Carolina,฀augmented฀ these฀ early฀antimiscegenation฀statutes. 7 ฀ Louisiana฀outlawed฀“concubinage ”฀between฀Indians฀and฀African฀Americans฀in฀1920฀but฀dropped฀the฀ provision฀in฀1942฀because฀it฀reportedly฀“had฀little฀social฀utility. 8 ฀In฀1873฀ and฀1878,฀Virginia฀forbade฀marriage฀between฀whites฀and,฀at฀fi ฀rst,฀“Negroes ”฀and฀then฀“coloreds”฀in฀laws฀that฀touched฀off฀debates฀over฀racial฀ designations.฀In฀1924฀the฀state฀clarifi฀ed฀racial฀categories...