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"“The word ‘cowboy’ itself began being used in Fort Bend County and the surrounding area in 1821,” Callies says. “It was applied to Black slaves who worked with
by lukan 3y ago
"“The word ‘cowboy’ itself began being used in Fort Bend County and the surrounding area in 1821,” Callies says. “It was applied to Black slaves who worked with cattle.” (He notes that just as an enslaved person who worked inside the mansion would be referred to as a “houseboy,” one who took care of cattle was referred to as a “cowboy.” Even decades later, the term “cowboy” remained unpopular with white cowpunchers because of its racial connotations"
So cowboy was initially a term for black slaves? And now the idea of a black cowboy seems weird.
Interesting how much of our worldview was shaped by movies ..
- defrost 3y agoWhen I grew up the vast majority of station hands were black, the majority of rodeo stars were black, most of the people crazy enough to launch off of a quarter horse onto a cleanskin bull and pull it short by the tail were black ... Not Texas, but it was the 1960s | 1970s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTW0f_eJdY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKTW0f_eJdY
- Gibbon1 3y agoI have read here and there that about a quarter of cowboys in the old west were Black. My dad mentioned that as a boy in the central valley in the 1930's a lot of the farm labor was done by Mexicans. Mexicans used to work their farms in the winter then head north to the US in the summer.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]