French Fathers and Their “Indigenous Children”: Interracial Families in Colonial Senegal, 1900–1915

Posted in Africa, Articles, Family/Parenting, History, Media Archive on 2017-06-26 22:59Z by Steven

French Fathers and Their “Indigenous Children”: Interracial Families in Colonial Senegal, 1900–1915

Journal of Family History
Volume 42, Issue 3, July 2017
pages 308–325
DOI: 10.1177/0363199017711212

Kelly Duke Bryant, Associate Professor of History
Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey

This article focuses on interracial families in early twentieth-century Senegal, exploring how relationships between French fathers and their racially mixed children simultaneously challenged and reflected colonial racism. Relying on applications for scholarships and related correspondence, it offers detailed case studies of two such families and a discussion of wider trends. The article argues that despite the duty and love that they felt toward their mixed-race children, French fathers continued to see themselves as colonists and to accept some of the ideas about race and power that this entailed.

Read or purchase the article here.

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