Summary

Jerkins begins Part 2, Chapter 2 by writing about her great-great aunt, Evelyn Navarre, who was Creole. Evelyn lived in Houston, Texas, where many Creoles moved from Louisiana. When Creole people moved away from Louisiana, they attempted to form new communities in order to preserve Creole culture and privileges. Jerkins considers the fact that her genealogical tree might contain Black people who were free prior to the Civil War. Jerkins then considers the complications of Black history as related to oppression. Although the vast majority of slave owners were white, some were Black or Creole Jerkins went to Louisiana to research her own potential genealogical connections to Creole people. Jerkins also researched the history of Creole people over the course of Louisiana’s history, which changed from a French territory to an American one. Many Creole people lost substantial wealth and social status...