Editing George Herriman (section)

==Race and identity==

{{wide image
|1   = Musical Mose 1902-02-16 "Impussanates" a Scotchman, with Sad Results.jpg
|2   = 600px
|3   = Though Herriman had mixed ethnicity, he partook in the ethnic humor that was typical at the time. (''Musical Mose'', February 16, 1902)
|alt = In a six-panel comic strip titled "Musical Mose 'Impussanates' a Scotchman, with Sad Results", a caricatured black man wearing a kilt impersonates a Scotsman and plays his bagpipes. When his disguise is foiled, two white women beat him with an ax and jump on him. He expresses his regret for the stunt in the final panel.}}

[[File:George Herriman, 1902.png|thumb|upright|alt=A black and white photograph showing an early middle-aged man with short, uncovered Afro-textured hair posing in a suit.|Herriman, who was of mixed heritage, kept his "[[Afro-textured hair|kinky hair]]" under a hat (1902).]]

Herriman was born to mixed-race parents,{{sfn|Heer|2005}} and his birth certificate lists Herriman as "colored".{{sfn|Boxer|2007}} In the post–''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' U.S., in which "[[separate but equal]]" racial segregation was enshrined, people of mixed race had to choose to identify themselves as either black or white. Herriman seems to have identified himself as white. According to comics academic [[Jeet Heer]], his early work is "replete with black caricatures", such as ''Musical Mose'', in which the lead character, an African-American musician, wishes his "color would fade".{{sfn|Heer|2005}} Racial ambivalence crept into ''Krazy Kat'', such as on two occasions where Krazy's black fur was dyed white. Ignatz falls in love with the whitened Krazy, only to return to hatred and brick-throwing when the truth is revealed. Similarly, in an oft-repeated joke, Ignatz would accidentally become covered with coal dust and would be spurned by the normally love-struck Krazy. In one such episode, a brick thrown by the blackened Ignatz hits Krazy, who declares, "A lil Eetiopium Mice, black like a month from midnights. Fuwi!"{{efn|"A little Ethiopian Mouse, black like a month of midnights. Phooey!"}} Once Ignatz reverts to his white self, Krazy loves him again.{{sfn|Stern|2008}}

Herriman's ethnic heritage was unknown to his colleagues. Fellow cartoonist Tad Dorgan nicknamed him "the Greek", a label which stuck and was taken up by his biographers and the press, who called him the son of a Greek baker.{{sfn|Heer|2005}} At other times, he was identified as French, Irish, and Turkish.{{sfn|Heer|2011}} He told a friend that he was Creole, and speculated that he may have "Negro blood" in him, as he had "[[Afro-textured hair|kinky hair]]".{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}} The friend said that Herriman wore a hat to hide his hair,{{sfn|Heer|2005}} which may have been an attempt to [[Passing (racial identity)|pass as white]].{{sfn|Amiran|2000|p=56}} Herriman said that he dreamed of being reborn a Navajo.{{sfn|Heer|2011}} On his death certificate, he was listed as "Caucasian",{{sfnm|1a1=Elam|1y=2011|1p=79|2a1=Heer|2y=2005}} and his daughter Mabel had his father's birthplace listed as [[Paris]] and his mother's as [[Alsace-Lorraine]].{{sfn|McDonnell|O'Connell|Havenon|1986|p=30}}

Sociologist [[Arthur Asa Berger]] made Herriman's mixed-race heritage known in 1971. While researching for Herriman's entry for the ''[[Dictionary of American Biography]]'', Berger discovered the cartoonist's race was listed as "colored" on his birth certificate obtained from the New Orleans Board of Health. The 1880 census for New Orleans listed his parents as "mulatto".{{sfn|Inge|1996|pp=2–3}} On reading this, African-American poet [[Ishmael Reed]] dedicated his 1972 novel ''[[Mumbo Jumbo (novel)|Mumbo Jumbo]]'' to "George Herriman, Afro-American, who created Krazy Kat". Herriman came to be identified as Black or Creole in comics literature, including his first book-length biography, ''Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman'' (1986),{{sfn|Inge|1996|p=4}} while the "Greek" label stuck with some biographers, and was used by [[Bill Blackbeard]] in his introductions to the ''Krazy and Ignatz'' volumes in the early 2000s.{{sfn|Harvey|2003|p=60}} Later research at the [[New Orleans Public Library]] by cartoonist Brian Nelson showed that Herriman's maternal grandmother was born in Havana, Cuba, that all his relatives were listed as "mulatto" on the 1890 census, and that Herriman may also have had Spanish or Native American ancestry.{{sfn|Stern|2008}}