Editing Cajuns (section)

===Indian and Afro-Cajuns===
[[File:Amédé Ardoin Colorized.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|[[Amédé Ardoin]], the first Black Cajun recording artist; he only spoke [[Cajun French]].]]
[[File:CrowleyCrowdListening1938Colorized.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The Cajun-Creole population of [[Crowley, Louisiana|Crowley]] enjoying a Cajun Music Concert in 1938.]]

Cajuns as an ethnic group historically included Indians and Blacks.<ref name="cajunmusicjazz">{{cite book|title=The New Grove Gospel, Blues, and Jazz, with Spirituals and Ragtime|author1=Paul Oliver|author2=Max Harrison|author3=William Bolcom|year=1986|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|location=United States of America|pages=139}}</ref> Black Louisiana Frenchmen have historically self-identified as Cajun, using the term in regards to the ethnicity of Acadiana and the language they speak: [[Amédé Ardoin]] for example spoke only [[Cajun French]] and at his height was known as the first Black Cajun recording artist;<ref name="cajunmusicreader">{{cite book|title=Accordions, Fiddles, Two Step & Swing: A Cajun Music Reader|author1=Ryan A. Brasseaux|author2=Kevin S. Fontenot|year=2006|publisher=Center for Louisiana Studies|location=United States of America|pages=102}}</ref> [[Clifton Chenier]] the King of [[Zydeco]], routinely self-identified as a Black Cajun:

{{Blockquote|"Bonjour, comment ça va monsieur?" Clifton Chenier greeted his cheering crowd at the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival. "They call me the Black Cajun Frenchman."<ref name="kingdomofzydeco">{{cite book|title=The Kingdom of Zydeco|author=Michael Tisserand|year=2016|publisher=Skyhorse|location=United States of America|pages=416}}</ref>}}

People of Acadiana have historically described what the Cajun nationality means to them; Brandon Moreau, a Cajun of [[Basile, Louisiana]], described Cajun as an "inclusive term designating region, descent, or heritage – not race."<ref name="brandonmoreau">{{cite book|title=Signifying Serpents and Mardi Gras Runners: Representing Identity in Selected Souths|last1=Ray|first1=R. Celeste|last2=Lassiter|first2=Luke E.|year=2003|publisher=University of Georgia Press|location=United States of America|pages=45}}</ref> Moreau also described an incident of where he used the term [[coonass]] with a good friend of his: "We were all talking in the hall, and I said I was a coonass. She said she was Cajun, but that she would never be a coonass. She's black and it offended her."<ref name="brandonmoreau" />

Cajun culture due to its mixed Latin-Creole nature had fostered more laissez-faire attitudes between blacks and whites in Acadiana more than anywhere else in the South.<ref name="shanekbernard">{{cite book|title=The Cajuns: Americanization of a People|last=Bernard|first=Shane K.|year=2016|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|location=United States of America|pages=35, 36, 37, 38}}</ref> [[Roman Catholicism]] actively preached tolerance and condemned racism and all hate crimes; the [[Catholic Church|Roman Church]] threatened to [[excommunication|excommunicate]] any of its members who would dare to break its laws.<ref name="shanekbernard" />

[[Anglo-Americans]] openly discriminated against Cajuns because they were Catholics, had a Latin Culture, and spoke [[Cajun French]].<ref name="shanekbernard" /> White Cajuns and White Creoles accepted advances in racial equality, and they had compassion for Black Cajuns, Black Creoles, and [[African Americans]].<ref name="shanekbernard" /> In the 1950s, twice as many blacks in Louisiana's French-Catholic parishes registered to vote compared to blacks in the Anglo-Protestant parishes.<ref name="shanekbernard" />