Who you calling a Melungeon?
Moorish Empire Flag |
By Sulaimon Musalah Ali Muzari |
My name is Sulaimon Musalah Ali Muzari, I started a website
called P.R.O.U.D., standing for “People Recognizing Our
Unique Descendants.” This is a website about the
mysterious dark-skinned peoples of Appalachia, or as some
know them the Melungeons. In researching not only the facts
but also philosophy of our people, I came to understand that
our origin could be found in the Moorish people of Spain.
Seeing this as the most plausible explanation for the origin
of the Melungeon people, I also came to see that the word
Melungeon is inadequate in light of what we know about our
people now. Many in the field of studying Melungeons find it
questionable that we would consider the term to be
inadequate and in a sense offensive. When one knows the
history of the Melungeons and their origin it becomes
understandable to see why this would become an offensive
term.
Many ask
‘aren’t you proud of your heritage? Don’t you want people to
know that you are Melungeon?’ My answer to both questions is
a resounding yes that is why I wish it to be properly
recognized. There are many different ideas on where the
Melungeons came from; I believe the only plausible origin is
that we came from the Moorish Empire. I would agree that at
some point in time the term Melungeon may have fit and may
have even been proper. For instance when the first
Anglo-Europeans came to North America they encountered
people they would have deemed strange or unknown. They
though the Native Americans to be strange and vice versa for
both the Moorish and Native American attitudes towards these
“White men.” They saw these dark-skinned peoples of
Appalachia speaking broken English appearing to be Native
American yet there seemed to be something different about
them, they recognized there Mediterranean origins though.
Well back then it was certainly a reasonable term but after
about the 1700’s and especially in the year 2003 the term
should be obsolete. The term Melungeon perpetuates today,
partly because no one really has thought about the word and
it’s application to our people and partly because a growing
effort against the resurgence of a want to know about these
Appalachian people. There are several reasons why it is in
today’s time wrong for the term Melungeon to continue. The
first is that I believe that our origin has been
established, some would still disagree with me on this one
but I feel like all the pieces of the puzzle fall into
place. I feel that it has accurately been established that
the Melungeon people are of Arabic descent. First the term
Melungeon suggests that the person has no lineage, or their
ancestry is unknown. This cannot apply to our people today
in light of new and old research. Secondly it asserts that
the person is a foreigner. This cannot apply to us either,
because most research places our people in North America in
the year 1586. This was before any White-Europeans
established settlements in this country, so how can we be
foreigners in a land where we were already living. If
anything the White-Europeans were the foreigners, and indeed
they were foreign to the Moors and the Native Americans.
Using this term is the same as calling us foreigner and is
the same as saying that our ancestry is unknown, and it
continually strips us of our culture and heritage.
Some have asserted that the Arabs who made it here to North
America referred to themselves as being Melungeon. This word
means cursed soul in the original language spoken by our
ancestors. The way they meant Melungeon was as an adjective
describing the way they were feeling after having arrived
here. I mean wouldn’t you feel like a cursed soul if you had
just departed your home to escape extermination in Spain and
now you were in a strange land having to fend for yourself.
You certainly would have some strong feelings in a situation
like that, one of them maybe being hopelessness as many of
our ancestors surely felt. Many make the argument that
Melungeon simply means mix. True many of us have not only
our Moorish heritage; some are also of White ancestry.
Nearly all of our people are of some kind of Native American
background.
However we are not the only people who have two different
backgrounds. Say there was a White man who had Irish,
German, and maybe even a Jewish background; he would not be
called a Melungeon. So this argument should not and cannot
apply to our people. After establishing that our people are
of Moorish, or Arabic decent we must come to what is a
proper term for our people. I feel as if the terms Moorish,
Arabic, or Appalachia n American fit the best, these to me
seem like respectful terms. We are not the only group who
has ever felt that the names used to describe us were
inadequate. The Native Americans and the Romas are other
ethnic groups who in the past have had very disparaging
labels placed upon their people. So in the same way that
those disparaging terms are treated the word Melungeon
should be treated the same, our people need to see this and
have pride in their Moorish heritage.
For more information on my beliefs, as well as good solid
research visit:
P.R.O.U.D. People Recognizing Our Unique Descendants
The Ummah Radio Show and listen to the weekly
articles section.
To the Moorish people, who to some are know as Melungeons,
remember to stay proud. |
