At a time when black women were thought to be either enslaved or impoverished, them having

money and status was unheard of.

So leave it to white people to come up with a lie so ridiculous, some historians still

believe it today.

This is Two Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school.

Plugage or Quadruon Balls were a part of New Orleans culture that served two purposes.

One was to give white men access to the black women they wanted to engage with romantically.

The other was to give black women financial status.

There's just one problem with this scenario.

These balls were nothing more than a myth.

This is true that New Orleans was one of the few places where white men and black women

were free to marry.

And it's true many light-skinned free black women who married white men did gain money

and status.

But there's something else that's also true.

Black women didn't need these balls to get lovers, money, or social status.

In New Orleans, even when some black people were enslaved, many light-skinned black women

were already wealthy.

To make matters worse, this lie overlooks another important fact.

Black women were considered some of the most pious women in the city.

Selling themselves to white men was just unnecessary.

They obtained their wealth by organizing themselves and demanding high wages for their labor.

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