#since Strangerville world building is mostly happening in my brain and this gives y’all a better visual of it

[aheathen-conceivably]

Wait, so is the school Violette’s about to go to a segregated school, especially since Abraham doesn’t know she’s mixed? Because if so then identity crisis incoming I guess 😫😥. I’ve been literally thinking about this since I saw the story post hours ago and finally worked up the courage to express my worries about Little Lottie (on anon of course).

Awww Nonny! If something is weighing on your mind always feel free to ask! I’m glad you worked up the courage to do so (even if it’s on anon 💕)

This is actually discussed in a few posts, but to give you an answer now: no, Violette will not be attending a segregated school. Although there were segregated schools in New Mexico in this period, Strangerville is not one of those. This is a purposeful choice influenced by the bounds of this story as well as the historical situation in this region of the state. If you’re interested in more background info I’ll leave it for y’all below the cut.

Also on the topic of your worries, we will be seeing Violette’s journey with her identity throughout her life. Even at an integrated school, she is in a unique position and as she grows older it’s something she becomes more and more aware of. But I appreciate your worry for our little heiress and again always feel free to reach out.

As discussed in this post, Strangerville is a figment of my imagination, but it was in-part inspired by the towns and locations throughout New Mexico where Black Americans moved throughout the 19th century as well as the Jim Crowe Era (Blackdom, New Mexico and African American History in New Mexico are both great books on this). Many of these settlers formed their own towns and communities, where others found success amidst established towns. Strangerville is meant to be one of these towns, and the Hines (our new characters) are an homage to this history.

Like much of the nation in this period, Black Americans in New Mexico faced segregation both formal and informal. As discussed in this post concerning interracial marriage, this was less extreme than in other parts of the country (and by this I should clarify that I mean legally, as the day to day situation and experience of people could look much different than what was legally permitted). This includes school segregation, which was legal but infrequently employed in New Mexico.

In 1924 the New Mexico State Legislature made it legal to establish segregated schools. However, the decision was left to the individual school districts, and the vast majority of segregated schools in New Mexico were established along the Texas border, which was a segregated state. As the Darlington-Duplanchiers are in the Northwestern part of the state, this was much less likely to happen. Further, most segregated schools were in places with large populations such as cities, while smaller regional locations (like Strangerville) continued to operate with integrated schools as they would have been pre-1924.

However it is also very necessary to note the fact that some school districts in New Mexico voted to have segregated schools for Mexican and/or Native children. As this is not a topic I have researched like the one above, I will abstain on speaking on it further, but it was an everyday reality in this part of the nation that worked in tangent with the segregation of black children in this period.

For the purposes of this story, all of the children in Strangerville attend one school and will continue to do so throughout the story. While this may be realistic for the black population in this region, it is perhaps more unlikely for Native children. Strangerville is meant to be located amongst Navajo land, so it is likely that many of these children would attend school on the reservations. However, I’m unsure how this intersects with personally owned native tracts and have chosen to give this particular fictional town one school. If anyone has insight into this I would be more than glad to hear from you!

Now all of this is not to say that the town is free from informal segregation or racism. It will not be as heavy of a theme as it was in the 1920s, as I purposefully conceived of Strangerville as a place with long history of integration and multi-ethnic history. However, we will still see some of this on a personal level, and especially insofar as Strangerville residents hold a distrust particularly for newcomers to their town.

#the latest installment in #a heathen goes on a history ramble #not even gunna lie to y’all I feel like I need to make this a real tag 😅 #anywho thanks for asking Nonny I’m glad you did! #gunna give this one a #Darlington extras #too #since Strangerville world building is mostly happening in my brain and this gives y’all a better visual of it #ask #answered