yeah, and there are black people who throw around the n word, but I'm not allowed to use it. Are these words like that?
These words do not seem to carry the same negative connotations for people who identify as Redbone or Melungeon. People publish scholarly books, not gangster rap records, with Redbone or Melungeon in the title.
I've heard grownups suggest that white people start calling each other that. The kids would dump the word immediately.
************* M*W: No, there are genealogy groups that research the Melungeon. The area I came from in Appalachia is full of Melungeons. They believe there may have been a shipwreck off the Atlantic Coast and they called those who survived the shipwreck "Portygees," so they may have been from Portugal. One of the features of the Melungeon's is a more pointed inner eyelid bilaterally, and usually were brown eyed. You can look up Melungeon heritage in Web sites on WV, VA, KY & TN. I had never heard the name "Redbone," but I have a friend who wrote a book about Appalachia and one of the mountains in the novel was Redbone Mountain. ************* M*W's Friendly Atheist Quote of the Day: "If Christ were here now, there is one thing he would not be--a Christian." ~ Mark Twain
