Quadroon, octoroon and, more rarely, quintroon were historically racial categories of hypodescent used in Latin America and parts of the 19th century Southern United States, particularly Louisiana. The terms were also used in Australia to refer to people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry. Hypodescent is the practice of determining the lineage of a child of mixed race ancestry by assigning the child the race of his or her more socially subordinate parent. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Historic Southern United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ... This article deals with the European people as an ethnic group or ethnic groups. ... Kinship and descent is one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology. ...

Various terms

"Quadroon" is someone of one-quarter black ancestry or of one-quarter white ancestry. A quadroon has a biracial parent (black and white) and one white or black parent. In other words, the person has [family unit] one black grandparent and white grandparent [the mothers' or Fathers parents] and one [family unit] that is either white or black grandparents. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The terms multiracial, biracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestors are not of a single race. ... Whites redirects here. ...

"Octoroon" means a person of fourth-generation black ancestry.

"Quintroon" is a rarely used term that means a person of fifth-generation black ancestry. A quintroon has one parent who is an octoroon and one white parent. "Hexadecaroon" is an even less common term to describe a person of fifth-generation black ancestry. Mestee or mestif (mestiffe) was also used for a person with less than one-eighth black ancestry.

Culture and law

This racial classification differed somewhat from the "one-drop theory" current in most of the United States, in that it recognized a higher social status for black-descended people by degree of majority white ancestry. Nevertheless, people of minority black ancestry in these cultures were still heavily discriminated against and often subject to slavery. The one-drop theory (or one-drop rule) is a historical colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of sub-Saharan ancestry (however small or invisible) can not be considered white[1] and so unless said person has an alternative non-white ancestry... Slave redirects here. ...

In the United States, the Jim Crow laws generally followed the "one-drop theory"; hence the case of Homer Plessy, a Louisiana man of one-eighth black ancestry who was prevented from sitting in a railroad car reserved for whites. Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Homer Adolph Plessy (March 17, 1863 – March 1, 1925) was the American plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ...

By the later 20th century, these terms had almost totally faded from use, being generally considered obsolete. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

In literature

• The Quadroon - a novel by Thomas Mayne Reid, written in 1856.
• Pontellier's nurse, from the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, is a quadroon

Thomas Mayne Reid (April 4, 1818 - October 22, 1883), was an Irish-American novelist. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

See also

• Racial purity
• Passing (racial identity)
• Multiracial
• Mulatto
• Colorism