What race are Melungeons?

Question

Some call them the "Black Dutch", the decendants of the "Lost Colony" or a combo of many races that have just been here for many years found in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virgina.Many have confused them with Native Americans or just Mulattos, but they are not.

Answer 1

Well, I think they are Triracial Isolates mixed with African, Native American, French, and Spanish. My Family is mixed with all of these things so maybe we are.

Several surnames are associated with the Melungeons, including Collins, Gibson, Goins, Mullins, Bowlin. The Melungeons have historically been associated with Newman’s Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee. Newspapers and magazines have found the Melungeons a fascinating topic since the 1840s, but the Melungeons have resented most of the publicity they have received over the years. Most of the articles on the Melungeons speculated on the legends, folklore, and theories surrounding their ancestry.

Some of these legends and theories have suggested descent from Spanish or Portuguese explorers, from the “Lost Colonists” of Roanoke Island, from shipwrecked sailors or pirates of various nationalities, from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, or from ancient Phoenicians or Carthaginians. More recent theories have proposed that the Melungeons descended from Mediterranean or Middle Eastern ancestors.

None of these theories originated with the Melungeons themselves. Early accounts reflect the Melungeons’ self-description as “Indians.” Some Melungeons reportedly described themselves a “Portuguese,” or, as many pronounced it, “Portyghee.” Most of their white neighbors considered the Melungeons a mixture of black and Indian, or white, black, and Indian.


http://www.melungeons.com/articles/jan2003.htm

Answer 2

they're of mixed "race" (an outdated concept).

Answer 3

I don't know.