redleg. / (ˈrɛdˌlɛɡ) / noun. Caribbean derogatory a poor White person.
What is a redleg in Barbados?
Redleg is a term used to refer to poor whites that live or at one time lived on Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and a few other Caribbean islands. Their forebears came from Ireland, Scotland and Continental Europe.
Why did they call them red legs?
The men composing the company became known as “Red Legs,” from the fact that they wore leggings of red or tan-colored leather. This secret Union military society was organized by General Thomas Ewing and James Blunt for desperate service along the border and numbered as many as 100 men.
Who were known as a red legs?
The Red Legs were a somewhat secretive organization of about 50 to 100 ardent abolitionists who were hand selected for harsh duties along the border. Membership in the group was fluid and some of the men went on to serve in the 7th Kansas Cavalry or other regular army commands and state militias.
Who are the Red Legs of Jamaica?
THROUGHOUT the British West Indies the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder is reserved for groups of poor, backward and Isolated whites known generally as “Redlegs.” They are the descendants of men, women and children shipped to the Caribbean islands from Britain from the mid‐1600’s to the mid‐1800’s to shore up
What is an ECKY Becky?
ecky-becky (plural ecky-beckies) (slang, derogatory) A poor Caucasian person. Specifically, a lower-class descendant of the Caucasians who worked the land before the arrival of African slaves.
Are there white Caribbean?
Barbados and Trinidad were both ‘discovered’ in the late 15th century by Europeans who seized land from the native populations. While maintaining the concept of racial purity as white is difficult in the globalised Caribbean, colonial notions of whiteness still remain in Barbados and Trinidad.
Why are Kansas called jayhawkers?
The name combines two birds–the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a quiet, stealthy hunter. The message here: Don’t turn your back on this bird. During the 1850’s, the Kansas Territory was filled with such Jayhawks.
What is a Confederate Bushwhacker?
The “bushwhackers” were Missourians who fled to the rugged backcountry and forests to live in hiding and resist the Union occupation of the border counties. They fought Union patrols, typically by ambush, in countless small skirmishes, and hit-and-run engagements.
What is Jayhawk?
The term “Jayhawk” was originally a term used by pro-slavery Kansans to describe Free State supporters during the “Bleeding Kansas” period in the 1850s. Over time, “Jayhawk” lost its war-like connotations and Kansans came to embrace the title as a term of endearment.
What did jayhawkers do?
Charles R. Jennison led the “Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawkers,” also known as the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, into Jackson County, where they sustained themselves by looting and stealing from Missourians, indiscriminate of their loyalty to the Union or opinions on slavery.
Why is artillery called red legs?
Members of the Field Artillery are referred to as “redlegs” because during the Mexican American War, both Ringgold’s Battery and Duncan’s Battery were issued uniforms distinguished by scarlet stripes down the legs of their uniform pants, a practice continued through the Civil War and on dress uniforms even after WWI.
Who were the Bushwhackers and jayhawkers?
In Missouri and other Border States of the Western Theater, guerilla fighters — regardless of which side they favored — were commonly called “bushwhackers,” although pro-Union partisans were also known as “jayhawkers,” a term that had originated during the pre-war Bleeding Kansas period.
What does Black Irish mean?
The term “Black Irish” is sometimes used outside Ireland to refer to Irish people with black hair and dark eyes. One theory is that they are descendants of Spanish traders or of the few sailors of the Spanish Armada who were shipwrecked on Ireland’s west coast, but there is little evidence for this.
Is Rihanna a red leg?
Rihanna’s Red Leg roots proved an issue for her during her youth. In an article for Allure magazine, the singer revealed how she was bullied in school and called ‘white’ when growing up.
Are Barbados Irish?
About 400 Irish descendants live in poverty today on an eastern Caribbean island called Barbados. One can date their ancestors back to the 1600s when Captain Joseph West sold the first 53 Irish indentured servants to the government of Barbados.
What ethnicity is white Yardie?
White Yardie was born in England but moved to Jamaica when he was 3-months-old, he grew up in Black River St Elizabeth Jamaica, before he moved to the UK when he was 17. As a Caucasian male with a strong Jamaican accent, turning heads was a regular occurrence.
What is the whitest Caribbean country?
Barbados has the largest white population but it never participated in Indian indentureship, so the black African-descent population dominance established during enslavement continues undisturbed (CARICOM Capacity Development Programme, 2009: 30).
What race is Caribbean?
Modern Caribbean people usually further identify by their own specific ethnic ancestry, therefore constituting various subgroups, of which are: Afro-Caribbean (largely descendants of bonded African slaves) White Caribbean (largely descendants of European colonizers and some indentured workers) and Indo-Caribbean (
Who were the Jayhawkers after the Civil War?
Jayhawkers is a term that came into use just before the American Civil War in Bleeding Kansas. It was adopted by militant bands of Free-Staters. These bands, known as “Jayhawkers”, were guerrilla fighters who often clashed with pro-slavery groups from Missouri known at the time as “Border Ruffians”.
What does Rock Chalk mean at KU?
Bailey. At first, their version was “Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU” repeated three times. Later, in place of the rahs, an English professor suggested “Rock Chalk,” a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.
