A play on the phrase that allowed segregation in the United States in the 1950's
In this context, separate and unequal describes the differences between the treatment and experiences of black and white women during slavery. While it may be thought of that white and black women would have much in common because of their shared oppressor, the white man, that is not the case. Despite being of the same gender, black women do not have many common experiences with white women but have more shared experiences of oppression with black men also in slavery. The experiences black women felt during slavery was unique to them, with few common experiences with black men and white women, with black men and women still feeling the repercussions of slavery despite it being abolished almost 200 years ago.
“Because overseers were tracking everyone’s haul if you fell short of that quota, you were often beat… But if you overshot, that brought another terror, too, because the overseers might increase your quota for the next day” (“The Economy that Slavery Built”).
Black men and women were both treated unfairly under the system of slavery, but it is arguable that black women had it much worse than black men in terms of their treatment as a slave. Two ways that black men and women were treated the same were that they were both treated like property instead of human beings, and they were punished similarly when they did not meet their productivity quota for the day.
In treating both black men and women as legal property instead of human beings, their humanity and gender-specific roles were taken away from them. However, after slavery was abolished, many black men adopted a form of masculinity and patriarchy that paralleled the white man’s masculinity and authority, possibly to make up for the years that black men were not allowed to exhibit traits of their gender.
Because productivity was the main reason why slaves were so important to the South, each slave had a productivity quota they had to reach each day and were punished if they did not meet that quota (“The Economy that Slavery Built”). The commonality in this case between black men and women was that black women were worked just as hard as black men and were punished just as much when they did not meet their daily quota. According to the 1619 podcast, slave owners made divots in the dirt for pregnant women to put their bellies in while they got whipped. The care for a woman’s pregnant belly ties an experience that is unique to enslaved black women. Because slave importation was made illegal in 1807 (“The Abolition of Slavery,” Slide 4), slave owners could no longer buy more slaves to keep up with the production demand. However, due to other laws in place, such as the more slaves could be produced through enslaved women giving birth to them, leading to enslaved black women and girls being subject to harassment and sexual violence by their slave owners in hopes of creating more slaves. This is the context behind which Harriet Jacobs began to be sexually harassed by her slave owner from a very young age.
White women were also treated poorly by white men like black women, but this did not make black and white women allies of each other during the time of slavery despite being oppressed by the same group. This may be due to the different experiences of oppression that black and white women faced during this time. Both white and black women were seen as property of the white man, but their roles on the plantation and in the system were very different from each other. White women were bound to the ‘cult of domesticity,’ a system form that idealized motherhood and wifehood for females and essentially shrank their social spheres to their homes. This is a form of white privilege, as black women were not allowed the luxury of staying at home and taking care of the family because they were not seen as women. Because of their very different realities, white women would have had a difficult time recognizing black women as allies. Another factor in this dilemma is that black women were victims of sexual harassment and domestic violence by their masters as a means to create more slaves after the abolition of the slave trade, but it can have a very different meaning to the slave owners’ wives, who only know what they see, which is that their husbands favor the slave girls and women over them. This preference of their husbands to prefer a slave girl or female may be a large factor in difficulties of black and white women to see each other as allies against a common oppressor, as black people were seen as inferior and it most likely did not bode well with the wives of the household to be a second choice to a person that was seen as inferior at the time. The stigma and differing experiences between black and white women during the era of slavery made it difficult for black and white women to be allies to each other against a common oppressor.
White women were bound to the ‘cult of domesticity,’ a system form that idealized motherhood and wifehood for females and essentially shrank their social spheres to their homes. This is a form of white privilege, as black women were not allowed the luxury of staying at home and taking care of the family because they were not seen as women. Because of their very different realities, white women would have had a difficult time recognizing black women as allies.
Another factor in this dilemma is that black women were victims of sexual harassment and domestic violence by their masters as a means to create more slaves after the abolition of the slvae trade, but it can have a very different meaning to the slave owners’ wives, who only know what they see, which is that their husbands favor the slave girls and women over them. This preference of their husbands to prefer a slave girl or female may be a large factor in difficulties of black and white women to see each other as allies against a common oppressor, as black people were seen as inferior and it most likely did not bode well with the wives of the household to be a second choice to a person that was seen as inferior at the time. The stigma and differing experiences between black and white women during the era of slavery made it difficult for black and white women to be allies to each other against a common oppressor.
Economically, black people are usually residents in the ghettos or low income areas without resources or help to get them out of the bad environments. To make matters worse, black people are also exploited by companies to make bad financial decisions despite being economically unstable to begin with (“The Economy that Slavery Built”). Slavery has severely negatively impacted the black community, but there is little, if anything, being done to remedy it.
Historically, black women have resisted slavery, and their efforts continue into the present day with movements to resist anti-Black racism. The most obvious example of a Black women resisting slavery is Harriet Jacobs and her experience, but there are many other Black women, such as Harriet Tubman, that have resisted slavery in their own way. Harriet Jacobs resisted slavery by not allowing herself to be taken advantage of by her white owner, and choosing how she lived her life, from choosing her own partner to illegally learning how to read and write to buying back her own children from safety (Jacobs). Harriet Jacobs also quite literally escaped from slavery by hiding in an attic for seven years, a very impressive feat. Harriet Jacobs’ grandmother can also be seen resisting slavery by becoming a free woman and earning her own living despite all the hardships being thrown at her (Jacobs). Much like Harriet Jacobs herself, Harriet Jacobs’ grandmother tried her best to earn as much money as possible to buy back her children from slavery and was successful a few times, making her a role model for Jacobs’ actions later on in life. Some other ways that black women have resisted slavery were by “escap[ing], defend[ing] themselves from violence, were defiant, engag[ing] in work stoppages, engag[ing] in sabotage, and illegally [teaching] themselves to read and write” (“A Black Feminist Analysis,” Slide 8).
Black women have historically had a very unique experience in terms of their mistreatment. They are a part of more fights for rights and equality than most other people living in the Americas because of their gender and color and being a part of two different oppressed groups. Despite all of these hardships, black and women rights have come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to be done regarding stereotypes and stigma surrounding black people.
As a child of immigrants from Hong Kong, it is difficult to see and think about my role in reparations for black people that were affected by slavery because neither I nor my ancestors in Hong Kong and China played a role in the slave trade or benefitted from it. Despite this, there are still many things a person like me, with no connection to the slave trade, can do to help black people gain some reparations from the people that did have a connection to the slave trade and/or benefitted from it. For example, after slavery was abolished, many former slaves were left without a home or a way to make a living and were essentially forced out of their homes. These former slaves were not given any land or a way to start their new lives, which has led to a continued struggle for black people to rise up socioeconomically. Some ideas of reparations for this issue are to create more programs to help black and colored people economically and give them the resources they need to succeed in life, whether it be money, education, or financial education. Whether the resources should be taken from white families that have roots in slavery or the United States government is up for debate, but as a person of Asian descent, I can advocate for it when a similar proposal is proposed.
Something that I can uniquely do as an Asian person is advocate for black people and help destigmatize them in the eyes of my community. Black people, whether it be African American or Indian, have always been seen as somewhat inferior in the eyes of many traditional Chinese, and I’m assuming most traditional Southeast Asian, people. A somewhat common phrase that can be heard from my parents, aunts, and uncles to my cousins and I is that they wouldn’t know what to do if one of us brought home someone that was black or Indian as a significant other. Having friends that are black or Indian is okay, but we are greatly discouraged from dating someone of black or Indian descent. Because this stigma has been prevalent, Asian Americans like me have to be the voice for black and Indian people in our communities to combat the stigma and hopefully change the worldviews of our traditional relatives in hopes of it leading to change on a larger scale.
There are also groups such as the Asian Solidarity Collective in San Diego that are helping to advocate for movements like the Black Lives Matter movement that can advocate for black rights in a way that reaches different audiences. Groups like this are important in advocacy because they have the resources and reach to communicate with many different types of people for important human rights matters as well as expanding on the struggles that our community is going through and making them heard.
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State Archives of Florida. Kingsley's home on Fort George Island. n.d. JPG file.
Whatcott, Jess. “‘A Black Feminist Anaylsis of U.S. History,’ Week 11.” Women Studies 341A, 3 November 2020, Online. Lecture.
Whatcott, Jess. “‘Constructing Race, Constructing Gender,’ Week Nine.” Women Studies 341A, 20 October 2020, Online. Lecture.
Whatcott, Jess. “‘The Abolition of Slavery in the U.S. and the Post-War Racial Order,’ Week Twelve.” Women Studies 341A, 10 November 2020, Online. Lecture.
Whatcott, Jess. “‘The Prison Industrial Complex and Abolition,’ Week Thirteen.” Women Studies 341A, 17 November 2020, Online. Lecture.
“Episode 2: The Economy that Slavery Built” 1619 from the New York Times, 30 August 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/podcasts/1619-slavery-cotton-capitalism. html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar®ion=header&pgtype=Article.