That is where the song.. "The Yellow Rose of Texas" came from. A song written for a mixed woman that was adored by a poet. ( I have since looked up the story. There appear to be a couple of versions, but the yellow rose was a woman named Emily West who acted as a spy for the Texians during the Texas War for Independence. )
“It’s useful to remember what it was.” Is such a true statement and why I’ve been answering and researching things very honestly as my children ask questions about history.
It's good to appreciate how far we've come, and to see how many people have fought hard to get us here. It also shines a light on where we need to improve, and how all of us are needed to keep marching forward. Good job
It's especially useful when people try to rewrite history like the governor in Florida who is now teaching about the "benefits" of slavery. Florida which also happens to be one of those KKK Central States.
@@studywithyan697 Yeah, I read a little about it and it seems Enlightenment "thinkers" made up the yellow thing when they were coming up with the "races" because they didn't want to call non-europeans white.
Here in the States, blacks would call lighter skinned blacks, "high yellow", as an insult to say that they weren't "black enough" and had it easier in mixed culture.
The term is High Yellow ,It's what they called mixed people, especially pretty mixed people ,they have a warm skin tone and that comes out in,lighter skin tones ...hence ' high yellow ' It's part of the light skinned / dark skinned prejudice that comes from house slaves versus field hands ,sadly .
She's what some would call high yellow. Which refers to fairer skinned black people who think they're above/separate from their darker skinned counterparts. It's an example of colorism, and it's unfortunately still rather common among all POC, not just black people.
I'm not super versed in the theme but I think even among Africans, some do not consider themselves the same kind of... Racial black, and associate more with indo-arians... Again races isn't my thing but people can be weird
From this video alone it's not clear whether she thinks she's better than/separate from darker-skinned black people or if she was just acknowledging that because of her mixed ancestry she has more privilege than black people who don't have it. Or if it was a little of both.
I think it is also reasonable to consider that people used those terms of color the same way we say POC. It didn't necessarily convey the idea of being full of herself. It was simply the word used. Give it 10 or 15 years and the term POC will be considered rascist.
@Matthew Fields That's just your experience. The term itself may not be used as much. But the mentality is still alive and well in many communities. Communities that my family and I are apart of.
You learn a lot about racism in school in Jamaica, how white a slave was determined their status in an estate, with the lightest skinned ones working directly under the master and probably being the person standing out in the field with the whip
@@mobbs6426 almost every piece of literature in school is about how we suffered through slavery for rights and how we had to fight for what we have now. ALMOST EVERY LITERATURE BOOK FOR CLASS. +history class, heritage day, culture day, black history month, at this point we’re lucky independence and emancipation days are in summer or else there’d be a school event that lasts half the school day talking about that too
She may have referred to herself as “yellow”, because in the past, very light skinned black persons were referred to as “high yellow”. Not sure where the phrase comes from but apparently Yellow was a phrase used for light skinned (or mixed race) black persons. Even back in the 70’s my mother had some black coworkers that referred to very light skinned blacks as “high yellows”.
@@regiscaelum1887 I knew I'd get this comment because I wasn't specific enough. I wasn't referring to Mary Seacole specifically, but rather anyone who travels the world as a missionary spreading their own superstitions.
@@jana731 I would think that most western people in that era were Christian, at least culturally, unless they were specifically Jewish. Being atheist or agnostic was an unusual choice.
Yes, there used to be a great difference in your social position dependent upon the number of your ancestors who were black. They actually had names- the woman featured here would be a "quadroon," or one quarter black. There were also the terms "octaroon" and "quintroon" for 1/8 and 1/16 black, respectively.
Here in u.s. state of New Mexico, we have people with Hispanic surnames who identify as white because their ancestors came over with the Spanish conquistadors. There are Americans who want them deported because of their last names. I can't make this up
@@emma-janeadamson4099 well, along with Portugal. In essence, European Empires invaded the American continents and impose their languages and genetics on the native peoples
@Pamela Matthews yes, I know - I am one of the (former) evil invaders! The idea that Spanish and Portuguese people aren't white is crazy here in Europe.
She was in fact a successful bar owner for army officers and gave out snacks to the crowds that were watching the battle. She gave out first aid in the form of lead ointment and Mercury that poisoned her patients.
Learned so much about Mary Seacole in my history of medicine unit in school. Honestly, a better example of what a human can be and should be, her ability to help soldiers was amazing! If you wouldn't mind, I know probably a lot know about it, but Sandal Castle could also do Richard III with this as he did a lot of work improving it. If looking for more faces and names to do videos on, Sabaton (a Swedish metal band) do their songs based on historical events and people, which could always be a good source of information!
Love Sabaton, but they don't have a lot about British (individual, not troops/armies) soldiers right? Which seems like it's more of her niche Edit: would love something about the lady of the dark or the minority troops tho
@Merel Ha very true which is a shame, always got Lawrence of Arabia and could sneak in Bannockburn Would love lady of the dark and the night witches or maybe enjoy a few world War stories
"Medical Hero" is a controversial claim. An article by Lynn McDonald in The Times Literary Supplement asked "How did Mary Seacole come to be viewed as a pioneer of modern nursing?", comparing her unfavourably with Kofoworola Pratt who was the first black nurse in the NHS, and concluded "She deserves much credit for rising to the occasion, but her tea and lemonade did not save lives, pioneer nursing or advance health care".
It's also a very good reminder that race, the way we define it, and the terms we use for it are lately SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS. Transport the same person to different countries/cultures and different eras and society's racial "definition" of her might change drastically. I'm considered white depending on what country/culture you ask; even within the US, my racial "definition" would've changed over the past century. Calling her "yellow" or "black" or "mixed" has no difference *unless you treat people differently based on that label*. So even if you say our society now has better terms to describe her race, it doesn't matter unless our society is better at treating people more equitably/fairly.
@@mamavswild what's in his heart is that he didn't like her skintone, that counts but not i the way you're implying. "You'd be pretty if your skin was lighter" is not a compliment cus she's already pretty
No, it isn't. You're rewriting history to claim that. Also, even reclaiming it from the insult pile it came from doesn't give you and yours the right to argue against historical usage for other people. May as well insist that certain slang terms to denigrate Native Americans and Arabs give them dibs on the N-slur.
In Brazil, mixed race people are either called "moreno" wich would be kind of black but not as black as someone with full ancestry, but it can also be used for a black person, and the most broad term ever "pardo" (literally grizzly lol) wich can be anyone whose ancestry can't be traced only to europe, south america, or africa, wich are most people really, I would call myself white, but my grandma on the father side had a black grandma, black uncles and cousins, but she is not as dark skinned, and my grandpa on my mother side is kind of dark skinned, so technically I'm "pardo" but not by appearance, just ancestry, it is a really complicated term because of the genetic hellhole that is brazillian ancestry, but it is pretty unique
@@celtichound9889 and Mary probably did more harm than good with the remedies she used. Mary was a businesswoman & went to the Crimea to make money. Horrible histories were just perpetuating the myths about her, rather than being historically accurate.
@@ThirrinDiamond Whose standards, though? There were people in the 19th century who hated racism and they weren't subject to it. Then there are the people who actively suffered under it whether they promoted it as well or not. Using a "everyone was a bigot" standard is even more disrespectful to the complexities of the situation.
Love your channel! Up for giving us a list of fascinating books like this one about ms seacole and the others you mention you have! They look super interesting ❤
I have 3 white grandparents and one black one: my brother appears mixed with olive skin, brown hair and brown eyes however i’m tanned nealry always(my skin is naturally pale but as soon as i go in the sun i tan rly easily) and i have blue eyes and was born w red hair which progressed to blonde to light brown
Up to this day, in the Caribbean, if you're mostly white with one black grandparent, you wouldn't be considered "black". Even if one parent is black and one is white, you wouldn't be considered black. Mixed people are not usually considered white or black in the Caribbean... they're a separate group.
Yeah, well I'm thoroughly mixed-race, mostly native Latin American heritage (Latin/Latino/LatinX) with some Native American (American Indian), some Sub-Saharan African (Black/"Negro"), and a bit of European (White/"Caucasian"). My actual skin is very light. I'm fond of saying, "Believe it or not, I'm only 1/8 White, apparently it's my entire outer eighth!" I have suggested on social media that physical descriptions of people make reference to literal skin color, as opposed to race. (Like, "medium tan complexion" as opposed to "Latino or Middle Eastern" etc.) I got back a bunch of people up at arms saying, "What do you mean 'medium tan complexion'?!!!" So we have a long way to go yet.
She looks like my grandmother, who was considered "high yellow", or "brownins" in Jamaica! Uncanny resemblance there. I remember not understanding how she could be my grandmother when I was so dark skinned, but it didn't matter, because she loved me and gave me cookies, candy and cakes, and plenty of hugs!🥰💜
I had never heard of her until she appeared in Doctor Who (in "War of the Sontarans," during the Flux season/Series 13), where she helps Thirteen fight invading Sontarans during the Crimean War. Apparently she was quite a lady.
it did tho, we now acknowledge there’s a thing such as being mixed + we don’t view those of different races than us with the prejudice that our ancestors did
I’d say we’ve definitely made progress. Of course racism still exists, but the Civil Rights movement has gotten a lot done. Since her time, we’ve eliminated segregation in the West, and in America we had our first black president. (There’s a lot more but I’m not going to make you read a whole essay) Of course there’s a lot of room for improvement, but we’ve come a long way! We shouldn’t downplay these achievements, especially by people of color who’ve worked so hard to make these things possible.
My understanding ,as a white American ,is that the term is' High Yellow ',It's what they called mixed people, especially pretty mixed people ,they have a warm skin tone and that comes out in,lighter skin tones ...hence ' high yellow ' It's part of the light skinned / dark skinned prejudice that comes from house slaves versus field hands ,sadly .
So basically, the one-drop rule conception of race had not been popularized in Jamaica at that time. That (current) way of thinking of race was a parent a tool of power in the American South, maximizing the number of people who be exploited as slaves, and the number of slaves that could be counted in census for the benefit of the owners, while minimizing the number of people with access to the rights of citizenship. The REVERSE one-drop rule was employed against Native American people, to minimize the number of "Indians" who had historical claims to land.
I always get a morbid chuckle about the inbetween racists. The most insane version of racial bias. Strange to think how normal those ideas were to the majority.
Hot take: when someone who has lived somewhere for a long time tells you that some people from there are stupid and superstitious, maybe don't instantly dismiss their statement as 'racist'/etc. They may very well be right.
If she didnt consider herself black, we shouldnt call her black. Blackness has much to do with the mind and identifying with other black folk than it is with skin colour. We do not need to claim people who would rather not identify with us
and yet I doubt if anyone were to share any uncomfortable truths about any significant white folk or dare to introduce nuance rather than blind nationalistic idealism such as for example in regards to Winston Churchill instead of excusing their racism, I'm sure you'd have a hissy fit. as all racist hypocrites do.
She sounds like she was very smart in many ways. She even chose a career that put her smarts to use helping others. Fantastic. I'm going to look for that book.
thank you for something I did not know before. In the US it is so sad, but the one drop of black blood was the rule. The Baltimore Library has photographs of slaves that looked a lot like their masters, and quite pale. It was the one "shame" that slave owners could not refute, and indeed when a master died, it was noted that often the wife would sell her husbands favorite slaves, including the children that resembled him. No one came up with a good excuse except that it kept them from bothering their real wives as much.
In the Southern states of America, as late as the 1970's (and early 80's) light skinned black people of African decent were called “High Yellows”. Amongst other black people they were considered a cut above, better than, darker blacks. I'm not sure why. I personally noticed about the time Michael Jackson turned white, white people stopped calling paler black people high yellows. Also about the same time there was a flood of Spanish speaking people into the United States, and they came in lots of different colors. Many were a yellow shade of brown as well. But they were never called high yellows; probably because their skin tone wasn't due to white ancestors. I'm old, and this is what I remember. This was my experience, living in the South, in America. ☮️
I'm canadian and in school we once had an indiginous woman come in for a class and explain the medicine wheel and how you could use it to classify animals, age groups, elements, seasons...and races.... A mixed race kid asked where he would be on there and she said you would be with the rainbow people.
Bit of context - "yellow" was the common North American term for mixed African-European ancestry, with light enough skin and facial features closer to European norms. Thus the terms "High Yellow" (close enough to potentially pass as white), or the reason the subject of the old song was called "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (no, it's *not* about a flower... its about a mixed race prostitute). Of course, at the time it was *not* considered an insult or disparaging epithet, unlike later in the 20th Century.
Brings to mind the law in many states that was called, "The one drop rule". A single drop of "Black blood" made you Black. I believe that some states still have this law, especially as Louisiana still permits slavery in its laws and many "Sundown towns" still exist, where Black people aren't allowed outside in public after sundown.
It was common in my mothers day to refer to her as high yellow. I've heard her say this many times. I've also found that it usually refers to a woman and one of exceptional beauty at that. To everyone that wants to tear down what I just wrote, I'm just sayin what I've observed. I very well may be wrong.
I thought she was 50:50 black white, that’s interesting that she was whiter than I thought. Most depictions of her have her much darker than me (50:50, pretty typical mixed b/w race tone skin) but now I wonder if she really was that dark
The more I learn, the more I can understand why my grandfather changed his name as well as lied and said he was white when he emigrated to this country…I’m still pissed that he didn’t pass on any of his culture or even give us enough family background to track down our cousins and learn about our history.
so many ancestors offed those parts just to survive, and it absolutely left a terrible emptiness where a richer and more meaningful history could have lived. it's lovely to see descendants of different groups digging into their histories, or trying to find those roots before their enslavement, diaspora etc.
@@nochaoticgood all I really know was he was born from (and a member of) an unclear First Nation. I did track down his presumed father…a Catholic priest from France… 🤦♀️ I’m not entirely surprised as there is a fairly clear conclusion as to how THAT happened and it is not remotely comforting. There are a couple of different First Nations in the region that my grandfather came from so it’s a bit more difficult to track his mother down.
I spent some time in an Aboriginal Australian community, and it's still not unheard of the refer to people with both white and Aboriginal heritage as "yellowfellas."
It's crazy to consider what made a person white or black or heck, Italian (as a separate demographic group from whites) by racial categorization back then.
The way americans (and I guess europeans) view race is really weird. She would probably still be white (or mixed) by brazillian modern standards. There is none of the “one drop” thing, you are how you mostly look.
I mean we still *have* people like that though, we still have people who are consciously 'one of the good ones' in every minority group at the expense of other people within the group they belong to.
Race categorizations have always fluctuated throughout history, and honestly- it’s pretty stupid… I’m Moroccan-American… I’ve always considered myself an African (it is the continent of our origin after all lol), but I usually identify as “brown” when asked by others if I’m black or white…. I’ve had many here in America also assume I’m Latino or Hispanic too.. my Puerto Rican friends were totally confused when I told them I wasn’t Latino, that I was actually Moroccan… they say “that’s in Africa right..? Sooo you’re black then..?” 🤦🏽♂️ The whole classification and application of race based on color/features is such a throughly flawed concept, it blows my mind how anyone can continue to try justifying any kind of prejudice based on it….
"... she refers to herself as yellow..." Reminds me of the line in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in which someone is described as "high yaller". Lots of shading between white and Black, with each assigned a social standing relative to the others..
A lot of the older people on the brown side of my family like to think of themselves as white Europeans. Colonialism & race are complicated, with the latter being mostly a social construct rather than an empirical sort of thing. White English usually tend to think of themselves as 'anglo-saxon', despite there being a comlete lack of archeological or genetic evidence that is the case, a belief that is also due to colonisation. White English gentics are mostly mixture of ancient Briton & Scandonavian, with a smattering of everything centuries of being a Roman province brought over. The 'English' aristocracy are still mostly Normans, ie, our colonisers.
Here in the United States she would still have been technically black by law in any state but Virginia prior to our own Civil War. You had to be at least 7/8 white (so only one black great grandparent). And of course, it got worse during Jim Crow with the one drop rule. So the American on top of being rude, was an example of our much more regressive attitudes regarding race.
I don't think people quite realise the difference between Britain and America in this time period. Even up to the world wars, American generals were having to warn their soldiers about our unusual universal hospitality. Obviously things weren't as cushty in her time, but it was people like Mary that helped break our prejudice so much earlier than others. All the British really cared about is if a people could be civilised, aka, not the complete opposite of Christian. If they weren't too disagreeable, we'd trade. If they were, we'd give them what for until they learned the error of their ways. We continued this through the 19th and 20th centuries and tried to abolish slavery as a point of principle, in no small part because they had become civilised, and we could no longer see the distinction by skin tone
the entire idea of "civilised" vs "other" is racist. and of course being colorblind is a fallacy as implicit bias will likely always exist to some degree(just managed better as it should be). people are deserving of common human decency whether or not our own bias prevents us from viewing them as such. the popular American shows of Star Trek and X-Men did well presenting these ideas imho. even now with some of their obsolete language and misunderstanding they serve as good general examples of these ideas.
@@nochaoticgood no, that's called a society, we put the uncivilised people in prison, even our own. Attributing that to a racial group is racist. You can't just cry racist and it becomes true. Civility is a matter of culture, NOT race. Any race can embrace a culture, and that's why we abandoned the racial aspect. Britain isn't a racist country. Its self superior, but then what nation isnt. Get yourself a life, your's revolves far too much around melanin. It's quite pathetic really and we've reached the point now where your detractors are simply going to ask, "So what?". We're genuinely past caring what you think is racist, everything is f'n racist, "Everything is homophobic, everything is sexist, and you have to point it all out." We don't care any more. The word racist has officially lost all meaning and any power you think the accusation has is long since gone. The card has been overplayed, so start using it properly or face losing it entirely. You're racist for thinking that wanting integration will have different impacts on different races. Some cultures may have a harder time converting to British, but any race can acheive it, I've seen it for myself. I'd sooner expect any and all racial groups to integrate with my culture than expect some to fail by virtue of their race. That would be racist, don't you think? Stop being racist. Not everything has to revolve around skin colour
@@nochaoticgood Every culture has the idea of civilised versus other. Civilised is us and other is them. Every culture that has ever been protects it's own first. The acceptance and welcome of other groups and blending by choice not conquest is relatively new to primates. Demonizing people for being human is just not helpful.
"It's useful our conception of race has moved on since her days...." I mean, it's gotten better, but for a lot of people those ideas about race pretty much still exist today. Racism is still going strong, including colorism among lighter skinned POC and those who are educated/wealthy who look down on people with darker skin and those who speak the native language (not the language of their colonizers, like English, Spanish or French) or who don't have a western education.
![How This Woman Survived Being Tortured At The Tower Of London [Long Shorts]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ED63IHhtR_Y/mqdefault.jpg)
![Jamaican Nurse Mary Seacole Puts Down Clueless Racist Clown [Long Shorts]](/img/n.gif)
When researching my familial roots in the Bahamas I found yellow to be a very common term for mixed race people
That is where the song.. "The Yellow Rose of Texas" came from. A song written for a mixed woman that was adored by a poet.
( I have since looked up the story. There appear to be a couple of versions, but the yellow rose was a woman named Emily West who acted as a spy for the Texians during the Texas War for Independence. )
@The Feral Female Society the fact that that song was a popular confederate ballad is a level of irony that I'm not entirely sure I can process
@The Feral Female Society p.s. Love the screenname ❤️
@@3katfox it truly is hilariously ironic.
It would be impressive if it wasn’t quite so sad
@@3katfox Why is that ironic?
"The general reformation of American manners", what a line! I should read that book.
As an American I would like to argue this point. I can't, but I would like to. Unfortunately, true then and true now
She's just another racist rich person complaining about racism
In 2023 STILL waiting for THAT reformation.
in the USA, calling someone yellow means they are a coward and weak
“It’s useful to remember what it was.” Is such a true statement and why I’ve been answering and researching things very honestly as my children ask questions about history.
It's good to appreciate how far we've come, and to see how many people have fought hard to get us here. It also shines a light on where we need to improve, and how all of us are needed to keep marching forward. Good job
It's especially useful when people try to rewrite history like the governor in Florida who is now teaching about the "benefits" of slavery. Florida which also happens to be one of those KKK Central States.
Especially given how many people want to argue that pulling down statues is "trying to erase history".
In all seriousness, I love the chaos that are your camera angles.
The occasion blurry hair is weird though.
'call herself yellow'
Me, an Asian: 👁👄👁
In all fairness, I don't see the yellow in East Asians, you're generally pale.
Except the ones with Hepatitis.
@@marconarvaez9871 fun fact: In the 16th century, Europeans called East Asians white.
@@studywithyan697 Yeah, I read a little about it and it seems Enlightenment "thinkers" made up the yellow thing when they were coming up with the "races" because they didn't want to call non-europeans white.
Here in the States, blacks would call lighter skinned blacks, "high yellow", as an insult to say that they weren't "black enough" and had it easier in mixed culture.
The term is High Yellow ,It's what they called mixed people, especially pretty mixed people ,they have a warm skin tone and that comes out in,lighter skin tones ...hence ' high yellow '
It's part of the light skinned / dark skinned prejudice that comes from house slaves versus field hands ,sadly .
She's what some would call high yellow. Which refers to fairer skinned black people who think they're above/separate from their darker skinned counterparts. It's an example of colorism, and it's unfortunately still rather common among all POC, not just black people.
I'm not super versed in the theme but I think even among Africans, some do not consider themselves the same kind of... Racial black, and associate more with indo-arians...
Again races isn't my thing but people can be weird
From this video alone it's not clear whether she thinks she's better than/separate from darker-skinned black people or if she was just acknowledging that because of her mixed ancestry she has more privilege than black people who don't have it. Or if it was a little of both.
I think it is also reasonable to consider that people used those terms of color the same way we say POC. It didn't necessarily convey the idea of being full of herself. It was simply the word used. Give it 10 or 15 years and the term POC will be considered rascist.
That's an American thing and it's kinda antiquated, nobody calls anyone that anymore.
@Matthew Fields That's just your experience. The term itself may not be used as much. But the mentality is still alive and well in many communities. Communities that my family and I are apart of.
You learn a lot about racism in school in Jamaica, how white a slave was determined their status in an estate, with the lightest skinned ones working directly under the master and probably being the person standing out in the field with the whip
Do you learn it's bad to reciprocate though?
Western schools seem to be encouraging it
@@mobbs6426 almost every piece of literature in school is about how we suffered through slavery for rights and how we had to fight for what we have now. ALMOST EVERY LITERATURE BOOK FOR CLASS. +history class, heritage day, culture day, black history month, at this point we’re lucky independence and emancipation days are in summer or else there’d be a school event that lasts half the school day talking about that too
@@mobbs6426 false
Same in America.
She may have referred to herself as “yellow”, because in the past, very light skinned black persons were referred to as “high yellow”. Not sure where the phrase comes from but apparently Yellow was a phrase used for light skinned (or mixed race) black persons. Even back in the 70’s my mother had some black coworkers that referred to very light skinned blacks as “high yellows”.
She appeared on an episode of Doctor Who!!!!!
I loved that episode!! I love more historical episodes!! ❤
I'm glad you posted this! I thought a lot more people would have mentioned her appearance in Doctor Who! I'm a bit sad about this actually.
Her autobiography is one of my favourite books of all time… it’s pure chaos but i love it
I chuckled at the thought of religious missionaries deeming other people "superstitious".
She was a nurse not a missionary she ran hotels in Jamaica and Crimea during the war
@@regiscaelum1887 I knew I'd get this comment because I wasn't specific enough. I wasn't referring to Mary Seacole specifically, but rather anyone who travels the world as a missionary spreading their own superstitions.
@@regiscaelum1887weren't most nurses in religious institutions back than and therefore had to be christians? Anyways I'm not gonna look that up now
@@jana731 I would think that most western people in that era were Christian, at least culturally, unless they were specifically Jewish. Being atheist or agnostic was an unusual choice.
@@greg_216 Being ignorant, condescending and hypocritical doesn’t make you a better person.
Yes, there used to be a great difference in your social position dependent upon the number of your ancestors who were black. They actually had names- the woman featured here would be a "quadroon," or one quarter black. There were also the terms "octaroon" and "quintroon" for 1/8 and 1/16 black, respectively.
I loved the way they included her in Doctor Who
Here in u.s. state of New Mexico, we have people with Hispanic surnames who identify as white because their ancestors came over with the Spanish conquistadors. There are Americans who want them deported because of their last names. I can't make this up
The Internet tells me some Americans believe all (natural) Spanish speakers are Latinx. You couldn't make that up either...
@@emma-janeadamson4099 that's hilarious, because Spain was the colonial conqueror of south or Latin America
@@emma-janeadamson4099 well, along with Portugal. In essence, European Empires invaded the American continents and impose their languages and genetics on the native peoples
They are white European literally lmao
@Pamela Matthews yes, I know - I am one of the (former) evil invaders! The idea that Spanish and Portuguese people aren't white is crazy here in Europe.
She was in fact a successful bar owner for army officers and gave out snacks to the crowds that were watching the battle. She gave out first aid in the form of lead ointment and Mercury that poisoned her patients.
It's so sad that she didn't know
Thank you for injecting a little truth here!
And when she couldn't sell the supplies she took over to sell to troops, only *then* did she give it away for free
For what I hear Marys father was a white Scottish soldier and her mother was a jamcin hotel owner.
Learned so much about Mary Seacole in my history of medicine unit in school. Honestly, a better example of what a human can be and should be, her ability to help soldiers was amazing! If you wouldn't mind, I know probably a lot know about it, but Sandal Castle could also do Richard III with this as he did a lot of work improving it.
If looking for more faces and names to do videos on, Sabaton (a Swedish metal band) do their songs based on historical events and people, which could always be a good source of information!
Love Sabaton, but they don't have a lot about British (individual, not troops/armies) soldiers right? Which seems like it's more of her niche
Edit: would love something about the lady of the dark or the minority troops tho
@Merel Ha very true which is a shame, always got Lawrence of Arabia and could sneak in Bannockburn
Would love lady of the dark and the night witches or maybe enjoy a few world War stories
"Medical Hero" is a controversial claim. An article by Lynn McDonald in The Times Literary Supplement asked "How did Mary Seacole come to be viewed as a pioneer of modern nursing?", comparing her unfavourably with Kofoworola Pratt who was the first black nurse in the NHS, and concluded "She deserves much credit for rising to the occasion, but her tea and lemonade did not save lives, pioneer nursing or advance health care".
I'm so glad things keep changing for the better
It's also a very good reminder that race, the way we define it, and the terms we use for it are lately SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS. Transport the same person to different countries/cultures and different eras and society's racial "definition" of her might change drastically. I'm considered white depending on what country/culture you ask; even within the US, my racial "definition" would've changed over the past century. Calling her "yellow" or "black" or "mixed" has no difference *unless you treat people differently based on that label*. So even if you say our society now has better terms to describe her race, it doesn't matter unless our society is better at treating people more equitably/fairly.
"Back in the 19th, ...would have put her socially above...". It's like that even in the 21st century 😅
Have that book on my shelf! Thanks for reminding me to read it.
How much research is crammed into a 30 second clip? Snappy editing, eclectic range of subjects, always so good!
As an American… oof. But, yes, she hit the nail on the head. Well put. (Also, in addition it’s good to see recognition of the vital role of nursing.)
At least the guy meant well?? 😅 I guess. It is what’s in the heart that counts at least a little
@@mamavswild what's in his heart is that he didn't like her skintone, that counts but not i the way you're implying. "You'd be pretty if your skin was lighter" is not a compliment cus she's already pretty
American here- sad to say I only “met” Mary through Dr. Who. Thank you for more of her story!
On behalf of the Asian and mixed race Asian community, yellow is our word.
No, it isn't. You're rewriting history to claim that. Also, even reclaiming it from the insult pile it came from doesn't give you and yours the right to argue against historical usage for other people. May as well insist that certain slang terms to denigrate Native Americans and Arabs give them dibs on the N-slur.
In Brazil, mixed race people are either called "moreno" wich would be kind of black but not as black as someone with full ancestry, but it can also be used for a black person, and the most broad term ever "pardo" (literally grizzly lol) wich can be anyone whose ancestry can't be traced only to europe, south america, or africa, wich are most people really, I would call myself white, but my grandma on the father side had a black grandma, black uncles and cousins, but she is not as dark skinned, and my grandpa on my mother side is kind of dark skinned, so technically I'm "pardo" but not by appearance, just ancestry, it is a really complicated term because of the genetic hellhole that is brazillian ancestry, but it is pretty unique
I know about her because of Horrible Histories!
🎵 Me name Mary Seacole, famous nurse to de Crimean boys.🎵
🎵 No, me not Florence Nightingale
Dat mix up, me annoys🎵
@@subheadingfrog 🎵 Me learned me skills in a Jamaica where me mudder nursed da sick🎵
@@celtichound9889 and Mary probably did more harm than good with the remedies she used. Mary was a businesswoman & went to the Crimea to make money. Horrible histories were just perpetuating the myths about her, rather than being historically accurate.
In Louisiana and Texas, some mixed race people were called “high yellow”. This is memorialized in the old song, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”.
What's sad is I learned about this bold woman from Doctor Who. I researched her after that episode and my mind was blown
Given her opinion of Panamanian natives it’s a good reminder that every generation has trailblazers that will still close doors behind them.
I watched several of your Tik-Tok history of the UK I like it you must be a history teacher😊
we have not moved on. the same feelings are hidden by language🎉
I simply love your passion, simply wonderful and quite articulate. Carry on and have a good one. 👍
Eartha Kitt also referred to herself as being called "yellow" as a child. The term lasted for quite a long while in North/Central America, it seems!
what little I know about mary her father was a Scottish sailor and her mother was a mixed race hotel owner
"It is useful to remember what he was"
Exactly. We remember. Do not justify, do not demonize, we see that people were different than we are today.
And also very similar in a lot of ways too. 💔
I am pretty sure we can demonize dictators
We also hold them accountable according to the standards of that time and do notexpect to emulate their moral standards today
@@ThirrinDiamond Whose standards, though? There were people in the 19th century who hated racism and they weren't subject to it. Then there are the people who actively suffered under it whether they promoted it as well or not. Using a "everyone was a bigot" standard is even more disrespectful to the complexities of the situation.
I like the way you think, and present.
Important to remember that the modern conception of race and skin colour is a very new thing
Love your channel! Up for giving us a list of fascinating books like this one about ms seacole and the others you mention you have! They look super interesting ❤
I have 3 white grandparents and one black one: my brother appears mixed with olive skin, brown hair and brown eyes however i’m tanned nealry always(my skin is naturally pale but as soon as i go in the sun i tan rly easily) and i have blue eyes and was born w red hair which progressed to blonde to light brown
I loved learning about her!!!!
Up to this day, in the Caribbean, if you're mostly white with one black grandparent, you wouldn't be considered "black". Even if one parent is black and one is white, you wouldn't be considered black. Mixed people are not usually considered white or black in the Caribbean... they're a separate group.
Yeah, well I'm thoroughly mixed-race, mostly native Latin American heritage (Latin/Latino/LatinX) with some Native American (American Indian), some Sub-Saharan African (Black/"Negro"), and a bit of European (White/"Caucasian"). My actual skin is very light. I'm fond of saying, "Believe it or not, I'm only 1/8 White, apparently it's my entire outer eighth!" I have suggested on social media that physical descriptions of people make reference to literal skin color, as opposed to race. (Like, "medium tan complexion" as opposed to "Latino or Middle Eastern" etc.) I got back a bunch of people up at arms saying, "What do you mean 'medium tan complexion'?!!!" So we have a long way to go yet.
She looks like my grandmother, who was considered "high yellow", or "brownins" in Jamaica! Uncanny resemblance there. I remember not understanding how she could be my grandmother when I was so dark skinned, but it didn't matter, because she loved me and gave me cookies, candy and cakes, and plenty of hugs!🥰💜
In the US, mixed race people were sometimes referred to as yellow up until at least the 1950s. I know I've read it in some old books.
Like that little courtyard. Light in front of the statue looks like the death star for some reason
I love your camera angles. It reminds me of the show Nash Bridges.
Wooo finally someone else talking about her
She also has the most FIRE Horribke Histories song
ua-cam.com/video/yJPhMi8GKjs/v-deo.html
I had never heard of her until she appeared in Doctor Who (in "War of the Sontarans," during the Flux season/Series 13), where she helps Thirteen fight invading Sontarans during the Crimean War. Apparently she was quite a lady.
Love you - the voice of reason doused in levity ❤😏
We cant change the past but we can sure learn frm it.
“Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
did our perception of races really evolve that much?
For real lmao. Like I wish it had but…
it did tho, we now acknowledge there’s a thing such as being mixed + we don’t view those of different races than us with the prejudice that our ancestors did
@@euclid4703 The latter one isn’t exactly true though. It SHOULD be but it isn’t
@@euclid4703 some people still do
I’d say we’ve definitely made progress. Of course racism still exists, but the Civil Rights movement has gotten a lot done. Since her time, we’ve eliminated segregation in the West, and in America we had our first black president. (There’s a lot more but I’m not going to make you read a whole essay)
Of course there’s a lot of room for improvement, but we’ve come a long way! We shouldn’t downplay these achievements, especially by people of color who’ve worked so hard to make these things possible.
My understanding ,as a white American ,is that the term is' High Yellow ',It's what they called mixed people, especially pretty mixed people ,they have a warm skin tone and that comes out in,lighter skin tones ...hence ' high yellow '
It's part of the light skinned / dark skinned prejudice that comes from house slaves versus field hands ,sadly .
We are all yellow on this blessed day.
I absolutely agree. While today we’d consider her black it’s important to remember her perspective.
So basically, the one-drop rule conception of race had not been popularized in Jamaica at that time. That (current) way of thinking of race was a parent a tool of power in the American South, maximizing the number of people who be exploited as slaves, and the number of slaves that could be counted in census for the benefit of the owners, while minimizing the number of people with access to the rights of citizenship. The REVERSE one-drop rule was employed against Native American people, to minimize the number of "Indians" who had historical claims to land.
Highly recommend The History Chicks podcast coverage of Mary Seacole.
I remember Horrible Histories did a song about her along with a sketch with Nightingale
And none of it was accurate
That toast gives me vibes of the apocryphal Gandhi quote: "Mr Gandhi, what do you think of Western civilization?" "I think it would be a good idea."
When you said hee name I literally went MARY SEACOLE and pumped my first in the air
At this point I like the video right away lol
I always get a morbid chuckle about the inbetween racists. The most insane version of racial bias. Strange to think how normal those ideas were to the majority.
Hot take: when someone who has lived somewhere for a long time tells you that some people from there are stupid and superstitious, maybe don't instantly dismiss their statement as 'racist'/etc. They may very well be right.
Stupid comes in every colour and creed. Saying that isn't racist it's fact.
If she didnt consider herself black, we shouldnt call her black. Blackness has much to do with the mind and identifying with other black folk than it is with skin colour. We do not need to claim people who would rather not identify with us
- She wasn't a nurse
- It's generally accepted that her heroic exploits have been embellished
- She was herself racist towards her black staff
Yep, but in the 21st century we make up heroes to make people feel better.
Thanks for sneaking in a bit of truth folks!
and yet I doubt if anyone were to share any uncomfortable truths about any significant white folk or dare to introduce nuance rather than blind nationalistic idealism such as for example in regards to Winston Churchill instead of excusing their racism, I'm sure you'd have a hissy fit. as all racist hypocrites do.
Our perception hasn't though. We still think of race in those terms.
She sounds like she was very smart in many ways. She even chose a career that put her smarts to use helping others. Fantastic. I'm going to look for that book.
She travelled to Crimea to run a hotel and sell refreshments, she wasn't even a nurse. There were other black nurses more deserving of the fame
Sadly, the one drop rule is still mostly adhered too in the English speaking world
thank you for something I did not know before. In the US it is so sad, but the one drop of black blood was the rule. The Baltimore Library has photographs of slaves that looked a lot like their masters, and quite pale. It was the one "shame" that slave owners could not refute, and indeed when a master died, it was noted that often the wife would sell her husbands favorite slaves, including the children that resembled him. No one came up with a good excuse except that it kept them from bothering their real wives as much.
In the Southern states of America, as late as the 1970's (and early 80's) light skinned black people of African decent were called “High Yellows”. Amongst other black people they were considered a cut above, better than, darker blacks. I'm not sure why.
I personally noticed about the time Michael Jackson turned white, white people stopped calling paler black people high yellows. Also about the same time there was a flood of Spanish speaking people into the United States, and they came in lots of different colors. Many were a yellow shade of brown as well. But they were never called high yellows; probably because their skin tone wasn't due to white ancestors.
I'm old, and this is what I remember. This was my experience, living in the South, in America. ☮️
She was not a nurse. She was a 'hotelier' i.e a 'madam' for British officers.
okay as a Panamanian man, I am reading that book
I'm canadian and in school we once had an indiginous woman come in for a class and explain the medicine wheel and how you could use it to classify animals, age groups, elements, seasons...and races.... A mixed race kid asked where he would be on there and she said you would be with the rainbow people.
Bit of context - "yellow" was the common North American term for mixed African-European ancestry, with light enough skin and facial features closer to European norms. Thus the terms "High Yellow" (close enough to potentially pass as white), or the reason the subject of the old song was called "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (no, it's *not* about a flower... its about a mixed race prostitute).
Of course, at the time it was *not* considered an insult or disparaging epithet, unlike later in the 20th Century.
Brings to mind the law in many states that was called, "The one drop rule". A single drop of "Black blood" made you Black. I believe that some states still have this law, especially as Louisiana still permits slavery in its laws and many "Sundown towns" still exist, where Black people aren't allowed outside in public after sundown.
It was common in my mothers day to refer to her as high yellow. I've heard her say this many times. I've also found that it usually refers to a woman and one of exceptional beauty at that. To everyone that wants to tear down what I just wrote, I'm just sayin what I've observed. I very well may be wrong.
Honestly she seems like the kind of woman who I'd be too respectful to and racists would call me a race traitor to so I'm sure of myself
I thought she was 50:50 black white, that’s interesting that she was whiter than I thought. Most depictions of her have her much darker than me (50:50, pretty typical mixed b/w race tone skin) but now I wonder if she really was that dark
Race is purely a social thing. There isn’t anything that significantly separates people of different races.
The more I learn, the more I can understand why my grandfather changed his name as well as lied and said he was white when he emigrated to this country…I’m still pissed that he didn’t pass on any of his culture or even give us enough family background to track down our cousins and learn about our history.
so many ancestors offed those parts just to survive, and it absolutely left a terrible emptiness where a richer and more meaningful history could have lived. it's lovely to see descendants of different groups digging into their histories, or trying to find those roots before their enslavement, diaspora etc.
@@nochaoticgood all I really know was he was born from (and a member of) an unclear First Nation. I did track down his presumed father…a Catholic priest from France… 🤦♀️ I’m not entirely surprised as there is a fairly clear conclusion as to how THAT happened and it is not remotely comforting. There are a couple of different First Nations in the region that my grandfather came from so it’s a bit more difficult to track his mother down.
Always, useful to remember what it was..
I spent some time in an Aboriginal Australian community, and it's still not unheard of the refer to people with both white and Aboriginal heritage as "yellowfellas."
It's crazy to consider what made a person white or black or heck, Italian (as a separate demographic group from whites) by racial categorization back then.
Yellow is a term that Black people use to this day. I just means light skinned
The way americans (and I guess europeans) view race is really weird. She would probably still be white (or mixed) by brazillian modern standards. There is none of the “one drop” thing, you are how you mostly look.
I mean we still *have* people like that though, we still have people who are consciously 'one of the good ones' in every minority group at the expense of other people within the group they belong to.
Race categorizations have always fluctuated throughout history, and honestly- it’s pretty stupid…
I’m Moroccan-American… I’ve always considered myself an African (it is the continent of our origin after all lol), but I usually identify as “brown” when asked by others if I’m black or white…. I’ve had many here in America also assume I’m Latino or Hispanic too.. my Puerto Rican friends were totally confused when I told them I wasn’t Latino, that I was actually Moroccan… they say “that’s in Africa right..? Sooo you’re black then..?” 🤦🏽♂️
The whole classification and application of race based on color/features is such a throughly flawed concept, it blows my mind how anyone can continue to try justifying any kind of prejudice based on it….
"... she refers to herself as yellow..."
Reminds me of the line in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in which someone is described as "high yaller". Lots of shading between white and Black, with each assigned a social standing relative to the others..
Her con eption of race was perfectly alright.
A lot of the older people on the brown side of my family like to think of themselves as white Europeans.
Colonialism & race are complicated, with the latter being mostly a social construct rather than an empirical sort of thing.
White English usually tend to think of themselves as 'anglo-saxon', despite there being a comlete lack of archeological or genetic evidence that is the case, a belief that is also due to colonisation.
White English gentics are mostly mixture of ancient Briton & Scandonavian, with a smattering of everything centuries of being a Roman province brought over.
The 'English' aristocracy are still mostly Normans, ie, our colonisers.
Have we really moved on or just spiffied it up to feel better
The fact that this is considered the first says a lot
My house at school is called Seacole
Here in the United States she would still have been technically black by law in any state but Virginia prior to our own Civil War. You had to be at least 7/8 white (so only one black great grandparent). And of course, it got worse during Jim Crow with the one drop rule.
So the American on top of being rude, was an example of our much more regressive attitudes regarding race.
I don't think people quite realise the difference between Britain and America in this time period. Even up to the world wars, American generals were having to warn their soldiers about our unusual universal hospitality.
Obviously things weren't as cushty in her time, but it was people like Mary that helped break our prejudice so much earlier than others.
All the British really cared about is if a people could be civilised, aka, not the complete opposite of Christian. If they weren't too disagreeable, we'd trade. If they were, we'd give them what for until they learned the error of their ways. We continued this through the 19th and 20th centuries and tried to abolish slavery as a point of principle, in no small part because they had become civilised, and we could no longer see the distinction by skin tone
There is also a broad variation across the US. Where there were slaves, people had different prejudices than elsewhere.
the entire idea of "civilised" vs "other" is racist. and of course being colorblind is a fallacy as implicit bias will likely always exist to some degree(just managed better as it should be). people are deserving of common human decency whether or not our own bias prevents us from viewing them as such. the popular American shows of Star Trek and X-Men did well presenting these ideas imho. even now with some of their obsolete language and misunderstanding they serve as good general examples of these ideas.
@@nochaoticgood no, that's called a society, we put the uncivilised people in prison, even our own.
Attributing that to a racial group is racist. You can't just cry racist and it becomes true. Civility is a matter of culture, NOT race. Any race can embrace a culture, and that's why we abandoned the racial aspect.
Britain isn't a racist country. Its self superior, but then what nation isnt. Get yourself a life, your's revolves far too much around melanin. It's quite pathetic really and we've reached the point now where your detractors are simply going to ask, "So what?".
We're genuinely past caring what you think is racist, everything is f'n racist, "Everything is homophobic, everything is sexist, and you have to point it all out." We don't care any more. The word racist has officially lost all meaning and any power you think the accusation has is long since gone.
The card has been overplayed, so start using it properly or face losing it entirely.
You're racist for thinking that wanting integration will have different impacts on different races. Some cultures may have a harder time converting to British, but any race can acheive it, I've seen it for myself.
I'd sooner expect any and all racial groups to integrate with my culture than expect some to fail by virtue of their race. That would be racist, don't you think?
Stop being racist. Not everything has to revolve around skin colour
@@nochaoticgood Every culture has the idea of civilised versus other. Civilised is us and other is them. Every culture that has ever been protects it's own first. The acceptance and welcome of other groups and blending by choice not conquest is relatively new to primates. Demonizing people for being human is just not helpful.
"It's useful our conception of race has moved on since her days...." I mean, it's gotten better, but for a lot of people those ideas about race pretty much still exist today. Racism is still going strong, including colorism among lighter skinned POC and those who are educated/wealthy who look down on people with darker skin and those who speak the native language (not the language of their colonizers, like English, Spanish or French) or who don't have a western education.
High-Yellow is how it is known in the States