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I think the stories on slaverystories.org are very thought provoking, and your comment leads me to question whether you have read or listened to many of them.
by jfc 13y ago
I think the stories on slaverystories.org are very thought provoking, and your comment leads me to question whether you have read or listened to many of them.
For instance, you are incorrect that no slaves freed themselves--here's an example of a woman who sued for her freedom under the Massachusetts Constitution and won (lawsuits from other enslaved people followed--some won) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Freeman_(slave) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Freeman_(slave)
There are plenty of other stories such as this, along with numerous accounts of escaped enslaved people, many of whom were not helped by the Quakers, but by other, unexpected groups.
The tone of your comment is also at turns appallingly dismissive--you write of enslaved people as being "fed and watered" and indicate that they were cared for. But numerous narratives make clear that slaves were often not fed and clothed sufficiently, not to mention that their health and hygiene was neglected. The idea that they were provided for adequately is a foolish and unwarranted assumption. They were treated, often times, worse than animals.
Not to mention the routine sexual assaults that women and men endured--that's in some of the narratives as well. And not merely an assault only from the slave owner, but from his siblings, sons, overseers who worked for him, and the like. A particularly noteworthy account observed that slave owners would interrupt the meals of enslaved families and require the daughters or wives to leave with them to be sexually assaulted and then return the women after they were finished. These would be severe horrors to anyone who had to endure them and can't be ignored because someone doesn't like to hear about them--or thinks something else is more interesting.
These enslaved people were human beings. There is no reason to minimize the suffering portion of the narrative, especially since they lived with those horrors daily and accounted for a significant part of their experiences while enslaved. Again, if you've read some of these narratives, you would know that there are lengthy discussions of their lives after becoming free--everything isn't about their suffering.
There are certainly other perspectives from which we can look at American slavery. The corrupting influence was (and remains) staggering.
Of course people like stories that challenge the narrative of the sufferings of African enslaved people. It is more pleasant not to discuss or even acknowledge the horrors that existed, for a variety of reasons. But these things did happen, and sites like slaverystories.org do a good job of illuminating not only the horrors that existed, but also the variegations of life and humanity.
- bilbo0s 13y agoI could be wrong... but I believe Theodores was talking about UK slavery... which may not have had the sort of "chopped off limbs", "lacerated backs" and "bordello plantations" abuses that slavery in the US had. I really don't think he meant to imply that indentured servants suffer in the same way as sex slaves who take regular beatings with whips. You're taking offense... but my suspicion is that you MAY be talking about two different things.
- Theodores 13y agoWe could take any period of history, find the suffering, focus on the untold human interest stories and look at just that, in isolation. For instance, right now we have The War Against Terror. We could put together the stories of those murdered by drone strikes, waterboarded in Guantanamo, raped by soldiers and so on. Yet the canvas is far larger, there are the stories of the soldiers and the perplexing question as to why we all let it go on. Everyone paid their taxes to pay for the war machine and everyone voted for a politician that voted for The War Against Terror (or would have voted for it had they been elected). I know this because, in October 2001, those willing to protest against the war amounted to me and a very small handful of others. Clearly by 2003, and the invasion of Iraq, there were millions more wanting to protest against the conduct of the war, however, October 2001 is where the uncomfortable truth is. By merely focusing on the 'human interest stories', be it in New York or Afghanistan, we avoid this uncomfortable truth aspect of the bigger narrative. Regarding Elizabeth Freeman, she did not make it to the courtroom on her own. Her male, white lawyer said a few words for her there. His story is interesting because he did own slaves and, once Elizabeth Freeman was free, she became his servant. So how free would she have been without his efforts and, as a servant, how free was she anyway? As for being 'fed and watered', the thing about owning a slave is that a slave did have to be cared for to a certain extent rather than just worked to death. Meanwhile, an 'indentured servant' could be worked to death' as there was no obligation or expectation to care for them into old age. Regarding 'routine sexual assaults', I am sure that goes on and has gone on since the beginning of time, regardless of race. Women were property too up until recent times, passed on from father to husband, with surname changing according to ownership. Yet, I like to believe that my great-grand-fathers did more than see their other halves as property, there 24/7 for their sexual gratification. Not everything need be painted as a wall of horror. Is everyone with some mixed-race ancestry the bastard spawn of some horrific rape? Or, amongst the tide of misery were there some instances where genuine love was able to flourish between Master and his concubine(s)? What about the white lady of the house and the gardener? Did love sometimes flourish there too? Again, the more in depth narrative fascinates whereas your 'it was just beatings and rape' version of the story is a tad trite for me. The danger of painting the story as 'black and white' with whites evil and persons of colour whiter-than-white is that by understanding the story that way you may come into a situation where you insult someone from a different background to yourself by assuming too much about their heritage.