The Old West - by the early C19th one in four of all cowboys were Black.
\
"White men referred to themselves as cattlemen, whereas Black men (and Black women) solely were called cowboys, which was a derogatory word. Hence “boy” instead of “man,” and other negative things they grouped with it for the formerly enslaved in the United States.
A cattleman is a person who owns cattle while a cowboy is a person who herds and tends to the cattle. The epitome of a hard worker…which is why that truism was bulldozed and scooped up for their initial signature imagery in Hollywood.
Then Black Americans just vibing out, unknowingly made yet another new style of music later referred to as country music, which blended Negro spirituals, the blues and jazz paired with the banjo, and white men decided to merge the two as their own: cowboys + country music. That’s another topic.
Our cowboy/cowboy tradition is solidified in Black American culture all across the country where we exist, regardless if we’re finally heavily depicted as such in pop culture or not. That ain’t never letting up."
Some in the photoset ranging from the late-1800s to the early 1900s: Bill Pickett, Stagecoach Mary, Jesse Stahl, Bass Reeves, Nat Love, Isom Dart, James Beckwourth
"Articles about Black cowhands in the Old West typically include at least one of the eight photos Erwin E. Smith took at the “Negro State Fair,” as it was titled at the time. Held at Bonham in North Texas during August 23 – 27, the 1911 event had four days of races, rodeo events, parades, and a talent show.
Census records the year before the start of the Civil War in 1861 listed 180,682 slaves in Texas, 30 percent of the state’s population. Since Texas had been part of Mexico until 1836, many of the early cowboys were also Hispanic. After the War, many non-white cowhands trailed longhorns north to railroads that connected to Eastern markets. "
further reading at The Smithsonian
No comments:
Post a Comment