I did some research into haint blue, because I had no idea what you guys were talking about.
From Wikipedia:
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Originally, haint blue was thought by the Gullah to ward haints, or ghosts, away from the home. The tactic was intended either to mimic the appearance of the sky, tricking the ghost into passing through, or to mimic the appearance of water, which ghosts traditionally could not cross. The Gullah would paint not only the porch, but also doors, window frames, and shutters
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Kind of interesting how traditions (or whatever you want to call this) earn their origins. Looks like it started as some Hoodoo kind of stuff, but then spread to the mainstream culture as they mingled with the whites.
Big ****ing oof here though:
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But while enslaved Africans of the Lowcountry and their descendants believed in the protective power of haint blue, the cultivation of indigo to produce the dye energized the 18th-century transatlantic slave trade, thereby increasing the enslavement of Africans.
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