LANGUAGE + HISTORY

Why Labels Change, But Racism Is Stubborn as a Mule

No matter what racial minorities are called, they experience racial discrimination

AI-generated painting of a woman wearing natural pearls | created by author using CANVA

Whenever we say that "race is a social construct," we're pointing out the fact racial identity is man-made, not biological. While various groups of people look different on the outside, they're all part of our human family. It's only through racist beliefs, policies, and laws that a distinction between racial groups is made. Indeed, we can see this in the different ways racial groups identify throughout time, even in the same lifetime.

While reviewing some branches of my family tree, I learned more about some of my enslaved ancestors and those born free. One of the most fascinating points I discovered was the use of different racial identity terms throughout their lives. Using Census data, a survey taken by the federal government every ten years since 1790, you can learn the racial identity of your ancestors, and this is precisely how I discovered some discrepancies. To simplify this analysis, let's begin with my 3rd great-grandmother, Aimée Bazile (1819–1880), and work our way down to the modern era.

Aimée, whose listed as property in Jean Vavvasseur's estate, was valued at $1800 and described as a Creole Negress…