The abolishment of slavery in 1865 has been glorified by the U.S. education system. The white man’s narrative of how slavery impacted this country neglects the perspectives and experiences of slaves themselves. Many have argued that black women shared a similar experience with white women during slavery because they dealt with the same patriarchal oppression. However, it is important to note that enslaved women actually had more in common with enslaved men than they did with white women. This page will further discuss the array of experiences that black men and black women were subjected to as slaves, the differences in gender experiences between white women and enslaved women, and the ways in which black women have resisted and continue to resist slavery today.
The violence that was inflicted upon slaves by white men was not just reserved for the black men. Black women were subjected to violence just as frequently and were treated as property, just like enslaved men. In the book, Women, Race & Class, Angela Davis explains that women were forced to perform the same laborious work as men. Once young slaves reached a certain age, both girls and boys were sent out to the field, because as chattel, they were seen merely for their profitable labor (5). In addition, once these girls became young women, they were subjected to sexual harassment and violence by their owners, that of which enslaved men did not endure.
Enslaved women were highly valued for their fertility, but only for the reproduction of more capital and property. Under coverture, black women were not legally recognized as women. They were not granted any legal rights over their children, and under the idealized structure of motherhood they could never truly take on the role of caring for their children and be treated as housewives, unlike their white counterparts (Davis 17). Because of these laws, it made it very hard for black women to feel like “real” women and very difficult to see white women as allies in any sense.
Despite their lack of power, Black women found creative ways to resist their mistreatment. In the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs discusses how she resisted abuse and maltreatment by forming a romantic relationship with another slave owner, which worked to diminish the control that her owner had over her (71). Other women also resisted slavery by being defiant, defending themselves from violence, and even going to the extremes of committing sabotage (Davis 19). Unfortunately, this resistance did not stop even after slavery was abolished. In fact, the abolishment of slavery only created new struggles for the Black community. In the documentary, 13th, the connection between slavery and police brutality is highlighted as one of the main causes for Black resistance today. For three women, their resistance fell in in the form of the Black Lives Matter movement which has successfully brought global attention not only to anti-Black racism, but the scary reality that white supremacy is still alive and active today.
The laws and restrictions that were put into place and enforced by white men have historically worked against the Black community in many ways. Enslaved women were subjected to just as much violence as enslaved men were, and were additionally, stripped of their ability to care for their children. Even though white women faced patriarchal oppression, their white supremacy gave them power. For that reason, along with many others, black women have continuously found new ways to resist the life they were subjected to as slaves, and in turn have become some of the strongest individuals to walk the earth.
One of the first steps that should be taken in order to repair the harm of U.S. slavery is to rewrite all of the history books that discuss the beginning, middle, and end of slavery. This is important to address this because the stories have been written from only one perspective, and it greatly hinders the understanding of how slavery impacted the Black community, especially after it was abolished.
One way in which the Black community was at a disadvantage after slavery, was their inability to own land or property. One of the biggest sources of generational wealth in the United States is held within the equity of a home. Because of laws such as redlining, which denied loans in “financially risky” (predominantly Black neighborhoods), the percentage of Black homeowners has, historically, been disproportionately low.
I have always had a passion for homes which is why I knew I wanted to go into real estate. As a white woman in America, I acknowledge that my skin color has granted me the security of a safe neighborhood, and a roof over my head. Unfortunately, growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area exposed me to the harsh realities that exist among historically redlined neighborhoods. I believe that the National Association of Realtors should take accountability for their part in housing discrimination, and more importantly, mortgage lenders and banks should be brainstorming ways to compensate for the decades of financial distress. The way that I plan to personally pay reparations through my job in real estate is to put aside a certain percentage of my commission to go towards the down payments of properties that black families are looking to buy. In addition, I want to work with lenders to create special down payment assistance programs centered only towards black families. These are simply my methods of paying reparations. However, it is important that America doesn’t just talk about ways they will pay reparations, but instead, demonstrate that they are actively taking actions to repair the destruction that slavery caused to the Black community.
Davis, Angela. Women, Race & Class. New York, Random House Inc., 1981.
Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself. Cambridge & London, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009.
13TH. Directed by Spencer Averick, Kandoo Films, 2016. Netflix, www.netflix.com/title/80091741.
http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=nmah_325715&repo=DPLA Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Lives_Matter_protest_march_(23051729395).jpg
https://pixabay.com/photos/blm-black-lives-matter-protest-5267765/
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15799coll15/id/948 (loacted in "reparations" heading)