{"id":27975,"date":"2013-01-31T20:50:33","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T20:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=27975"},"modified":"2013-01-31T21:51:54","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T21:51:54","slug":"a-code-to-live-by-in-appalachia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=27975","title":{"rendered":"A Code To Live By In Appalachia"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Code To Live By In Appalachia<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Transom<\/a>
\n2013-01-30<\/p>\n

Mary Helen Miller<\/a><\/strong>, Producer\/Reporter
\nWUTC, 88.1 FM
\nUniversity of Tennessee, Chattanooga<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

with help from:
\nViki Merrick<\/strong>, Editor<\/p>\n

There may come a day when races are so blended as to be irrelevant, but not yet. For our first 2012 Transom Donor Fund piece, producer Mary Helen Miller explores the racial identity of Melungeons<\/a> in Appalachia<\/a>. It\u2019s not an easy task to come up with a definition, as it turns out, even in the age of DNA. The truth of heritage can be tough to admit for some. Mary Helen\u2019s piece will clear things up for you, as clear as possible anyway, and includes a trip to the 16th annual Melungeon Reunion in Big Stone Gap, Virginia<\/a>.<\/em> \u2013Jay Allison<\/a>, Producer\/Editor\/Founder<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

About A Code To Live By In Appalachia<\/strong>
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\n\u201cMysterious\u201d is probably the first word most people associate with the Melungeons<\/a>. They were a mixed race group that settled in southern Appalachia<\/a> in the late 1700s. They lived in their own communities, separate from their white neighbors. Some stayed in those communities as late as the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n

The oldest generations of Melungeons had a striking look: dark skin, straight black hair, blue eyes. Nobody knew where they had come from or how, exactly, they ended up in the mountains along the Tennessee-Virginia border. Melungeons themselves often explained their distinct looks by claiming Native American or Portuguese ancestry. But their white neighbors would sometimes claim they had African heritage.<\/p>\n

The mystery of the Melungeon people drew me in, just like it\u2019s drawn in so many others. Growing up in Tennessee, I remember my mom occasionally mentioning the Melungeons. Whatever remarks she made always seemed to end with: \u201c\u2026 and nobody knows where they\u2019re from. Isn\u2019t that something?\u201d
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\nRecently, a little googling led me to Jack Goins<\/a>, the force behind the Melungeon DNA Project. Jack is a retired TV salesman in Hawkins County, Tennessee<\/a>, who is descended from Melungeons. He\u2019s been gathering DNA samples from other descendants to try to get some answers about Melungeon ancestry…<\/p>\n