Talk:Louisiana Creole people

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Contents

[edit] Jake Delhomme

I'm not sure if he should be in the "Notable Creoles" section... on the List of French Americans, we have him listed as a Cajun (a distinction is made between Cajuns and Creoles there). He's also on the List of Cajuns.

And one more little thing - does it not occur to people that the "Notable Creoles" section is in alphabetical order by last name?
Défenseur 17:17, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I believe I've given good reasons to remove the link, and it's been about four days, so I'm just going to take it off now.
Défenseur 01:43, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Demographics

questions. could cajuns fall into the catagory of 'creole' or are the two soley distinct. and also is it not true that there are creole communities ranging from the eastern tip of texas all the way into the panhandle of florida? (i myself have noticed mardis gras to be very popular in these regions) can someone clairify the history of their settlements? maybe a creole ethno-map would be helpful

Cajuns are descended from Canadian (Acadian) immigrants who fled British rule in Canada, as per Cajuns. Traditionally, Louisiana Creoles are held to be descended from settlers who emigrated directly from France. There are, I'm sure, intermarriages between Cajuns and Creoles, but culturally, they are two distinct groups. For the most part, Cajuns tend to be predominantly caucasian, where in the Creole Community, multiracial individuals are muuuch more common. Also, they speak two different varieties of french.Dlayiga 05:15, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
In response to Cajuns and Creoles intermarrying, the area in and around Bayou Lafourche has a number of people with mixed Cajun and white (predominantly French) Creole backgrounds. Boznia 15:08, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Not all Creoles speak Creole. Many from the region now known as Acadiana speak Cajun French. Some speak both. Creoles from New Iberia, St.Martinville, St Charles etc.. Many know they have Acadian ancestry and consider themselves and by others Black/ Afro-French. They bare the surnames that are considered Cajun. The Acadians in this area owned slaves and children with them, as was the case in many places. So they learned Cajun French. Their way of life, while distinct is closer to Cajuns than New Orleans Creole culture. They are ancestrally linked more than people will say. They all know this in this area. Yes I will say again still distinct cultrally. I know this becaus I come from such a family. Surnames considered Creole are Boutte, Dupri, Rachal,etc.. Surnames that er considered Cajun are, Broussard, Martin, Arceneaux,Le Blanc, etc.. If Creole has any of these names they are considered Creole or simply French. If they have a Hatian Creole Ancestry coming into Louisiana You see name like Fouche'. All French with diffrent histories and African connections. [[User:Barac] 01:17 August 7, 2006 (UTC)

I must second this. As a Louisiana French Creole with ties to the St. James Parish plantations, I was raised by my grandparents speaking Cajun, though I can also understand a good bit of Creole Louisien. There are many African Creoles and mulattes who speak Cajun but say that they speak Creole. I have heard it stated that Creole has been taking more and more from the dominate Cajun dialect, but whether this is true or not, I couldn't say as my linguistic interests lie in syntax. --Alai 04:07, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

I was wondering where did someone get the term Black Cajun? Black Creoles do not consider themselves Black Cajuns. They are often related by blood but call themselves Black Creoles. Black Cajun seems accurate but most, both Cajun and Creole will disagree. Even when a Black Creole speaks Cajun and many do they call thier language Creole ven in that case.

[edit] Creole Flag

The flag currently in the article isn't really recognized as the Creole flag, and I think it's just a concept flag from Frenchcreoles.com [1]. The flag that most Creoles use (online, at least - on MySpace: [2] [3]) is one made by a group called C.R.E.O.L.E., Inc in 1987. It's also the one on "Flags of the World." [4] The image's copyright status is confusing to me (I've never uploaded an image before), so I'm just putting this out there for whoever wanted to mess with that... Défenseur 04:25, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


In New Orleans,if your creole.You are considered "African American" because Im from there.=First of all, thatjeanne (talk) 06:16, 7 April 2008 (UTC) author needs to sign his name! And secondly,someone like myself whose great-grandmother was a white French Creole has to disregard the definition of Creole in most dictionaries because of Afrocentrism.jeanne (talk) 15:58, 6 April 2008 (UTC)I think the article is too biased in favour of Creoles of color.There should be more citations of white Creoles such as Virginie Gautreau, Baroness Pontalba and Gen.Beauregard-surely the greatest Creole of them all.jeanne (talk) 16:04, 6 April 2008

[edit] "related groups" info removed from infobox

For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all {{Infobox Ethnic group}} infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 23:22, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Article Quality

It seems like the quality of the page has declined over time... I just removed two big sections that were copied and pasted into the article from an essay by some professor at Yale.
I'm kind of uneasy with the areas around the numerous references to "gens de couleur libres" because they don't strike me as being particularly easy to understand for people unfamiliar with the subject matter. Along with seemingly random insertions of foreign language words like that "newly arrived" one (that I believe is in the "History" section), the use of foreign language words and phrases seems a bit pervasive - I think that if it's an important one, it should be defined, but it shouldn't be used too much in the article itself.
Some of the language is a little too artsy or dramatic, which I don't think would be good for most readers of the article - for example, "History" used to be "History of a People" and "Identity Issues" was something along the lines of "Identity Crises. Cajun or Creole. Black, white, or mixed." Still, there's this "Caribbean Air" section with the same kind of problem.
It just seems like somehow the article has taken steps backwards with all of these new, unsourced statements. I mean, I removed a sentence that said that Creoles are the largest group of non-white Catholics in the country. There's so much work to be done with the article. Défenseur 05:06, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

I changed in the section on Zydeco to Black Creol Music rather that Cajun/Creole. It is a Black Creole music, however there are Cajun elements. I changed also Black Creoles and Cajuns to Black Creole again, when making mention of musicians in that sentence. There weren't any Cajuns listed just Black Creoles. User:Barac 08:35 , 25 July 2007

[edit] "Anglo-Saxons" and other political attacks in the article

Please observe NPOV rules. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.255.11.149 (talk) 04:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

As a social historian specializing in the Creoles of New Orleans, I am E. Simmons, www.thecreoles.org. I note that it is a standard term and description within the literature on this subject to refer to "Anglos" in this manner. It is historic politics. Louisiana was a foreign, sovereign territory under France until U.S. statehood which occured after 1811. For your reference, refer to Professors Hirsch and Logsdon work, "The Americanization of the Creoles" LSU Press, Baton Rouge. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.125.242.200 (talk) 01:52, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

There should be a balance of POV, not "Anglo-Saxons"=bad. 24.255.11.149 (talk) 03:17, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

The Anglo-Saxons were jealous that Creoles of Color owned property both in Louisiana and in Paris, and were very educated and spoke at least three languages. Anyone who knows New Orleans history knows the Anglos brought their racist ideals with them and at every turn made life for Free Blacks difficult. History cannot be changed and those that know New Orleans history know what Anglos did to its citizens. I am sorry however the truth is the truth and Anglo-Saxons cannot white wash the past. Is "balance" another word for "protect Anglos"? --Margrave1206 (talk) 17:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Creole Identity Cleanup

Has anyone read the Creole Identity section recently? It definitely does not read like an encyclopedia entry. It comes off more as something read in an opinionated pamphlet for a rally.

I agree with you... the whole article has become worse and worse over time, and I think it requires a complete rewrite. I made a comment about the article's quality above, but I don't think people are particularly concerned with this article. I have a feeling that if I did an extensive rewrite alone, we'd get a lot of these unsourced and opinionated thrown back in right away. Défenseur (talk) 20:04, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Creole of color".

Take Buddy Bolden image out of the article, if you are going to have two images place people on the same social level. Don't have a Jazz musician. Also the term Afro-Creole is wrong no one says that. As for Audubon he is a Creole of color however not born in Louisiana. Is it that difficult to find at least four good images of Creoles.--Margrave1206 (talk) 16:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Content

This article does not cover the authentic creole people. Cane River Creoles are a huge part of the culture and yet nothing has been said about them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.61.228.15 (talk) 18:26, 31 January 2008 (UTC)