Three-quarters of colonial-era classified Europeans had partial native origin

Evidence

Statistics collected during the 1930 Indies census estimated that three-quarters of those classified as European were of partial native origin. But this still does not speak to the destitution into which many people fell, or to the numbers of European men that completely cut their ties to their own children and companions who were swept back into the native quarters and bore no legally recognized European connection or trace. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 896

Categorization

• QUESTION: This census figure raises the question of how colonial authorities’ racial classification categories themselves shaped what ‘European’ meant across censuses over time.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 896
• XREF: connects to: Colonial ethnic labels measured threat level rather than actual ethnicity — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1100; Colonial race was judged by conduct and affiliation rather than appearance; Colonial ethnic categories broke down under acts both personal and political (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Inconsistencies in colonial racial categories reveal latent distinctions rather than errors #exemplifies (0.75)
• Colonial ethnic labels measured threat level rather than actual ethnicity #complicates (0.70) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1100
• Colonial race was judged by conduct and affiliation rather than appearance #corroborates (0.60)
• Colonial ethnic categories broke down under acts both personal and political #expands (0.60)
• Settlers often integrated with the native population instead of exterminating them #corroborates (0.55) — Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking…, 107
• Colonial administrators were certain about racial character but uncertain how to name the population #complicates (0.55)
• Colonial moral epithets encoded specific class and racial transgressions #expands (0.50)