Birds of a feather (and other clues to racial identity)

“Some States have allowed facts other than physical characteristics to be presumptive of race. Thus, it has been held in North Carolina that, if one was a slave in 1865 , it is to be presumed that he was a Negro.

“The fact that one usually associates with Negroes has been held in the same State proper evidence to go to the jury tending to show that he is a Negro….”

— From “Race Distinctions in American Law” by Gilbert Thomas Stephenson (1910)