various other states began to include the measure of in their miscegenation laws “Indian” prohibiting marriage between whites and non-whites, including Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon (Pascoe, p. 98). Following the passing of such laws, however, there remained concern about what exactly should define rooted in the idea that Native “Indian,” Americans with lighter skin tones should, perhaps, not be included in the legislation. Continual debates and appeals on individual state laws reflected the struggle in determining how to the American Indian (Pascoe, p. 100). Pascoe notes that “racialize” sexual relationships between white men and Native American women were prosecuted as a means of forcing them to officially recognize their relationship as a marriage or to discontinue their behavior. In other words, such prosecutions were a means of controlling interpersonal relationships of European men and perpetuating the separation between the races (p. 100). When examining the years in the late nineteenth century it becomes clear that this was a very debatable issue to lawmakers. Emergence of terms such as the Custom Marriage” (a marriage between two Native Americans or between a “Indian Native American woman and a white man), the common-law marriage (the notion that marriage is a thing of right” and that Native American women in common-law “common marriage with white men shall be treated as white women would), or the man’s “white common right to marriage,” reflect the loopholes created due to a lack of unanimity regarding whether Native Americans should be assimilated into white culture or separated from it (Pascoe, p. 97). This debate reflects the somewhat blurred lines that inherently come with the creation of supposedly measurable racial characteristics, as it is difficult to provide a scientific method for measuring such traits other than physical observation. Furthermore, the Western miscegenation laws were somewhat contradictory
various other states began to include the measure of “Indian” in their miscegenation laws prohibiting marriage between whites and non-whites, including Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon (Pascoe, p. 98). Following the passing of such laws, however, there remained concern about what exactly should define “Indian,” rooted in the idea that Native Americans with lighter skin tones should, perhaps, not be included in the legislation. Continual debates and appeals on individual state laws reflected the struggle in determining how to “racialize” the American Indian (Pascoe, p. 100). Pascoe notes that sexual relationships between white men and Native American women were prosecuted as a means of forcing them to officially recognize their relationship as a marriage or to discontinue their behavior. In other words, such prosecutions were a means of controlling interpersonal relationships of European men and perpetuating the separation between the races (p. 100). When examining the years in the late nineteenth century it becomes clear that this was a very debatable issue to lawmakers. Emergence of terms such as the “Indian Custom Marriage” (a marriage between two Native Americans or between a Native American woman and a white man), the common-law marriage (the notion that marriage is a thing of “common right” and that Native American women in common-law marriage with white men shall be treated as white women would), or the “white man’s common right to marriage,” reflect the loopholes created due to a lack of unanimity regarding whether Native Americans should be assimilated into white culture or separated from it (Pascoe, p. 97). This debate reflects the somewhat blurred lines that inherently come with the creation of supposedly measurable racial characteristics, as it is difficult to provide a scientific method for measuring such traits other than physical observation. Furthermore, the Western miscegenation laws were somewhat contradictory
DForbesSOC297.docx