According to the Sisters of the Holy Family, a New Orleans, La. based Catholic Religious Order, along with a substantial portion of the African-American Catholic population, it still is.

Here is the situation: Mother Henriette Delille, the founder of the Order of the Sisters of the Holy Family, has been selected by the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II and a Commission of Vatican City, Rome, Italy to be nominated for canonization as a Saint. This process has been going on since 1989. It is an honor bestowed upon Mother Delille because of the aid that she and her Order of Nuns gave to the slaves, freed slaves, Free People of Color, children, the elderly and the sick, at a period of time -- from 1842 to 1862 -- when there was no mercy tendered toward these people.

During her life, from 1812 to 1862, Mother Delille was identified as a Free Woman of Color from the Creole Community. By virtue of her having been born in 1812 -- when Louisiana had become an American Territory -- of parents who were French Creoles formerly of the French Louisiana Territory, she was a Creole American. Therefore the identity of “Native Born African American” is very incorrect.

Mother Henriette Delille was the daughter of Jean Baptiste Delille Sarpy (Sarpi) who was of French and Italian descent; her mother, Marie Dias, was of French, Spanish and African descent; Marie Dias’ parents were John Joseph Laveau, of French and African descent and Henriette Dubreuil Laveau, of French and African descent; Henriette’s parents were Jean Sarpi, an Italian from Italy and Cecile Marthe Basile Dubreuil, of French and African desscent, who was born in 1742 from a relationship with Claude Villars Dubreuil of France with his slave, Marie Anne. In no instances were the births of the aforenamed persons from parents who were both African only.

For those who do not know what the identity “Creole”means, this is the explanation. The origin of the word dates as far back as the 16th Century in the West Indies and was explained in a book on the history of Peru written at that time by Garcilosa de la Vega, a Peruvian. At that time, there were people of Spanish, African and Indian who had been having interracial relations for so long that their offsprings appeared to be neither one race or the other. They felt that since they were interracial, other people coming into their country who were pure Spanish, African, Indian or other European could not take on the same identity as theirs. So in order to differentiate themselves from these new people, they decided to identify themselves as “Crioullo”, the Spanish word meaning created. The French took on the word but used the French term “Creole”.

However, according to the biographer for Mother Delille, Dr. Charles Nolan, the Sisters of the Holy Family have decided to identify Mother Henriette as a “Native Born African American” instead of the Free Person of Color or Creole American that she was throughout her life.

The One Drop Policy Rule, which mandated all persons having any African ancestry to be identified as “Black” rather than the prior term “Mulatto” (which meant bi-racial and did not identify these Century old interracials) was established by the American factions when they saw that there were so many interracial people resulting from the many unions of the Europeans and the Africans during the Colonial Period of French Louisiana. This was also brought about in order to discourage unions of African-Americans with European-Americans. Because of these multiracial offsprings, it was hard for the European Americans to differentiate who was Caucasian and who was not.

This caused many who had some African ancestry to meld and get lost in the European American population. The Europeans, not understanding how the term “Creole” was originated in the West Indies, felt that only the “pure” French and Spanish people could be identified as Creoles and took the identity for themselves, denying that Creoles could be of mixed origin. When they realized that persons of mixed ancestry were identifying themselves as Creoles, they discontinued the use since they didn’t want it to be misconstrued that they had any African ancestry. However, in spite of all of the legislation and race changing, most true Creoles have continued to identify themselves as the Creoles that they historically and rightfully were.

Basically, one needs to understand the One Drop Policy Rule that originated from a pseudo-scientific belief that one percent of African blood was much greater that ninety-nine percent European blood. This belief is so stupidly founded that even a person with a Ph.D. has problems explaining it. It can be compared to a person drinking a cup of milk who decides to place a drop of coffee in it, and it follows that he isn’t drinking milk anymore but coffee or vice versa. When a union was formed by an African and a European person in America, and in Louisiana particularly, their offspring was perceived automatically as having only African descent. The reason being that the European blood had become tainted by the African blood and had become inferior because of the former slavery of the African person. These Americans failed to realize that Africans who were captured and brought to America came from a country just as they had and were as civilized as they were, only in their own language and customs.

Now in 21st Century America, Catholic Americans, the same victims of the “Policy” of their adversaries, are using this same policy to label Mother Henriette Delille and all Creole Americans as “Native Born African Americans” instead of the “Native Born Creole Americans” which she and they are.

It is really amazing that in a country as diversified as the United States, the State of California and Los Angeles, in particular, that this idiotic One Drop Policy is still alive and as well as when it was first established although there are no federal laws found to substantiate the legality of this racial ruling policy.

The question might be asked, “Why has this erronious labelling gone on for so long?” That’s a great question. This change in identification of Creoles was not taken lightly by the many who lived in America during the period 1803 (United States Purchase of the French Louisiana Territory) through 1910. Many affluent Creoles who were wealthy, educated land owners prior to the Civil War of 1862, lost their personal and real estate properties and fought long and hard to change the discriminatory laws of their American oppressors. However because they were overpowered by the European Americans who spoke English, migrated to Louisiana from other States, and made these harsh laws, many left the United States in order to live free and be treated like the free human beings that they were prior thereto. They went to Veracruz, Mexico; France, other European countries and the Carribeans, ironically for the same reasons that these Europeans left their countries. We lost some of our most talented and wealthy people who were musicians, authors, sculptors, architects and builders.

The Order of the Sisters of the Holy Family, in order that Mother Delille’s identity might represent theirs instead of her own “Creole Identity” has taken the authority to go back some 252 years, over two centuries and a half, to change her identity from a “Free Person of Color” or “Creole American” to a “Native Born African-American”. This authority steals Mother Delille’s identity and our Creole Heritage from us as a people. They have published this in the newspapers and media, and passed out brochures at all of the churches in which they introduced the proposed canonization of Mother Delille. Dr. Charles Nolan, the biographer for the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Mother Delille has stated that the reason the Nuns are doing this is because Mother Delille, a Creole, has been “adopted” by the African American Community. This is what one might call the height of the falsehood of “Political Correctness” and not backed by Louisiana History.

It is a sad thing to say that in this day and age African American Catholics have not been able to secure a “Native Born African American” candidate for Sainthood in all of these 252 years. But that can be explained because in the days of Mother Henriette Delille, most Africans were in slavery and were only Catholics by virtue of the Code Noir Laws that ruled that they should only be taught the Catholic Religion. They had no power to do anything and most especially that of founding an African Order whose mission was to help the slaves, freed slaves, people of color, children, elderly and sick. In the book “No Cross, No Crown” “Black” Nuns in the 19th Century (incorrectly titled since most of the original Nuns were Creole) written by Sister Deggs and corroberated by the biographer for Mother Delille, Dr. Charles Nolan, it was stated that only Free People of Color (meaning Creoles), Catholics and people of elite backgrounds were permitted to join this Order before the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.

An example of this kind of injustice might be compared to the holocaust slaughter of six million Jews by the German regime in Germany, branding them as inferior, during the years of 1939 through 1945 before Hitler and Germany were overthrown. But the American factions accomplished almost the same thing to the Creole Americans with labelling, verbal, physical and psychological genocide instead of guns and gas chambers. I think that if they had had their wishes, we would have been put on a ship, just as the British of Nova Scotia did the Acadians, and put out of America on a ship to sail around the world begging some country to accept us as citizens.

If Mother Henriette Delille goes down in history identified as a “Native Born African American” Saint and not as the “Creole American” which she was when she lived and died, this will be another one of the greatest unjust travesties (short of human slavery) to be manifested in American history.

I have taken the period of February 2002 to October 2002 to collect signatures for a Petition of Protest in regards to the above stated. These signatures were taken at Creole funerals, Catholic Church affairs, the internet and personal solicitation. This was the last thing that I as a Native Born, 76 year old Creole American Catholic woman wanted to take my time to do, in lieu of the sacredness of this whole matter. However, I was forced by the actions of the Sisters of the Holy Family. This Petition and its signatures have been mailed by Fed Ex to Pope John Paul II, in Vatican City, Rome and the Commision for the Proposed Canonization of Mother Henriette Delille, along with Exhibits One through Twelve supporting my Petition of Protest. Copies have also been sent to Cardinal Alfred Hughes of the New Orleans, Louisiana diocese and Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles, California. Copies of my letter to the Pope and signatures obtained will also be sent to all of the Cardinals and Bishops in these United States. A group of Creoles have met to form the Society for the Preservation of Creole Heritage and Identity.

It is about time that this outmoded and bogus One Drop Policy labelling of Native Born Creole Americans and theft of our Creole Heritage be exposed to the public and also be abolished from the 21st Century of our modern day diversified society in America. Creole Americans and multiracial Americans are no more African-American than a 2002 Mercedes Benz is a 2002 Chevrolet.

By Mrs. Marion I. Ferreira
Native Born Creole American
of Creole Connection
Post Office Box 43313
Los Angeles, CA 90043

Email: Redbino9@aol.com

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