The Origin, Discrimination, and Slavery of Red Headed Step Children and the Irish (Mulatto)

[simplesimon]

Note: The original link mysteriously dissappeared. These are the alternatives:

https://www.ashfordplace.org.uk/site...?itok=BfacXTcG No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/pin-su-...9067809536686/ Slave Children From New Orleans

https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/636837203530547317/ White slaves the mulattoes

https://www.history.com/news/when-am...refugee-crisis Irish Immigrants
https://eachother.org.uk/racism-1960s-britain/ In Britain
https://www.history.com/news/teen-de...-never-existed In America

Redheaded children were the result of the 11th century Viking invasions of Britain and Ireland. In the course of raping and pillaging, the Vikings left behind a few red-headed children.

The children’s red hair made them stand out from the majority. Because of their Viking heritage, the redheaded children were subject to harsh treatment by parents and discrimination by the rest of the population.




The phrase “redheaded stepchild” actually started as “redheaded nigger”. It referred to the frequently redheaded mulatto (mixed race) slave children on plantations as a result of the slave owners having sex with the slaves.

The phrase originated with the musical Annie. The red-headed Annie would be beaten by her stepmother with a hairbrush.


The phrase “red-haired stepchild” originated in the early 1800s when Irish emigrants began arriving in America. The newly arrived Irish ranked somewhere below free blacks on the social strata and lived in segregated communities.

The prejudice against the Irish was so severe signs in front of restaurants, bars or hotels used to say, “No dogs or Irish”. As young men are sometimes prone to do, young Irish men were having premarital sex.


This resulted in out of wedlock children with red Irish hair. When these young women did finally marry, usually to a young man not of Irish descent, the new husband was not particularly patient or sympathetic to the red-haired stepchild and treated them harshly.