"Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin and "The Sheriff's Children" by Charles W. Chesnutt

This week we bring you two more stories in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth Kate Chopin is not African American. But I feel this particular story is appropriate here, because this week we reflect on “mixed-race”, as is Chesnutt. Charles W. Chesnutt was born of parents who were free persons-of-color and his grandfather was a slave owner. He was considered a “quadroon” - 25% black. A “mulatto” was understood to be 50% black. Assigning terminology to describe a “degree of blackness”. Thankfully, we have moved passed this. Haven’t we? Chesnutt had a wealth of personal experience to write about the complexities of mixed-race social status in the South.