Miscegenation

Miscegenation is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: 1) "The interbreeding of different races or of persons of different racial backgrounds." 2) "Cohabitation, sexual relations, or marriage involving persons of different races." and 3) "A mixture or hybridization: There was musical miscegenation at a time when segregation was the common rule".

Word Origin

The term miscegenation was coined in a 1863 propaganda pamphlet titled Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro. The pamphlet was ostensibly by an Abolitionist who was in favor of "miscegenation" and the complete blending of the races, claiming it was the goal of the Republican Party to make the American race the finest on earth by "engrafting upon our stock the negro element". However, later in 1864 it was revealed that the pamphlet was a hoax written by two men named George Wakeman and David Goodman Croly working for the Democratic Party. They hoped to bring ridicule upon the Republicans, the Lincoln administration, and the Conservative Abolitionist movement in general by playing on the irrational fears and bigotry of their fellow racists.

See also

• Loving Day (holiday celebrating Loving v. Virginia)

References:

• American Psychological Association (APA):

Miscegenation. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved April 05, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Miscegenation

• Chicago Manual Style (CMS):

Miscegenation. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Miscegenation (accessed: April 05, 2008).

• Modern Language Association (MLA):

"Miscegenation." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 05 Apr. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Miscegenation>.