We learned about how colonizers stole the land the U.S resides on from Indigenous people. Following that, those colonizers needed to develop that stolen land. Thus, was born the institution of slavery: the system that would dehumanize and take advantage of black people for their labor for 245 years directly and 156 years indirectly. As described in the literary works of Angela Davis and Harriet Jacobs, slavery redefined the social hierarchy. The Eurocentric social hierarchy that was once dependent on biological gender and wealth had begun to include race. Therefore, black people in the United States became a demographic that faced unprecedented suffering under the new power shift. The following writing will now explore the new power dynamics that were introduced by the system of slavery, and how this shift intensely favored white people.
Black women, men and children of working age were rendered alike under the system of slavery. Angela Davis referred to women during slavery as “genderless” and “no less than men” (9) to emphasize that their labor was assigned to the same severity as black men. As Davis describes, wherever work and punishment were concerned, biological gender constructs that would protect white women did not do the same for black women. Instead, they were treated identical to black men by their owners (9). Black women only differed from black men on a sexual and reproductive scale. Davis explained how black women were treated like men only when it was profitable and convenient. But “when they could be exploited, punished and repressed in ways suited only for women” slave owners and white society would not object. This exploitation primarily consisted of sexual violence as an extra form of punishment and assigning value to black women based on how much and how often they could reproduce. Black women were essentially responsible for creating the upcoming generations of slaves (10).
Typically, intensive field labor would be exclusive to men under the patriarchy, but Black women did not “enjoy” the patriarchy the same way white women did. As mentioned previously, the white patriarchy would never allow for white women to do field labor to the extent that black women were working. White women were homemakers and mothers of the next generation of slave owners while black women were field hands and breeders of the next generation of slaves. (Davis 13). If they were mothers, their children would not be taken away from them and used elsewhere for their labor. This exact inequality is likely why black and white women did not see each other as allies. This holds especially true when taking into consideration how black women were raped and impregnated by their owners. This was a prominent example in Harriet Jacob’s essay “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” where she was accused of having sex with her slave owner by the slave owners wife who would then proceed to harshly act on that jealousy, when in reality Harriet Jacobs was being raped.
Slavery continues to impact black lives to this day. One example of this is through the prison industrial complex. The 13th amendment states how slavery is illegal “except as a punishment for a crime.” This loophole, as explained in the documentary “13th” allows for the prison system to take advantage of black people and POC’s during their incarceration period and force them into free or ridiculously cheap labor, sometimes as low as 50 cents an hour. This is why it is commonly believed that slavery was never truly abolished, it was merely just reinvented. Racism was permanently written into the constitution and black people suffer its consequences to this very day, as the legal systems in this country has appropriated its disregard for black life.
Progress does not come from silence. Black women historically resisted slavery and anti-black sentiments despite the dire consequences of being specifically targeted by the oppressive social hierarchy that treated them like animals. Some forms of this resistance include but are not limited to learning how to read and write, escaping from their owners, developing relationships with their owners or other white men or just simply doing as much as raising a finger to an unjust law. Harriett Jacobs and Angela Davis’s essays on their own were acts of resistance because literary works exposing the injustices black people constantly face were and still are taboo, and often resulted in punishment. Harriet Jacobs story in particularly described her experience being subject to her owners both passive and direct aggression for learning to read and write and developing a romantic relationship with a white man. Jacobs, Davis and infinite other remarkable black women risked their lives and the safety of their children to expose the system and push for a better life for upcoming generations.
In summary, the game is rigged for black people in America. To this day, black people must work infinitely harder to get half as far as white people because the system will not allow for the playing field to be leveled. This concept is historical, dating back to slavery. Black people were even excluded from the patriarchy, a system that allows for men to move up in the social and financial ladder. The social hierarchy did not even want men, the allegedly stronger and wiser of the biological genders, to have opportunity. What did that make black women? Simply tools used to create more slaves. The pedestal offered to white men was not offered to black men. The “homemaker” responsibilities offered to white women were not offered to black women. This adopted logic has lasted the U.S to 2020, where black people are still targets of injustice and have no choice but to fight for their own lives since their government will not fight for them. The works of Angela Davis and Harriet Jacobs were two of many examples of resistance to the system—the more the system is exposed and exploited, the more the nation progresses towards its promise of equality for all. Thankfully, the momentum of social progress has picked up and is seemingly headed in a better direction, but it must be through the work of ALL Americans to hold policy makers and government officials accountable so there can finally be justice, peace, and coexistence.
The more colors I see, the more I want to go outside
How can people with a gift like sight close their eyes?
Perhaps they have never realized how freeing it can be
To look around and see love instead of their own creed
I am truly no poet
But I do know this
I am tired of a world that thinks ignorance is bliss
Our friends need help
Access to education
Federal grants, cash payments, an overall stronger foundation!
Our friends need love
But we have made them scared to join our hands
How can we expect trust when we let their enemies win when they take the stands?
Police held unaccountable
Murderers walking free
But a man who allegedly committed forgery died by a cop’s knee
They are blamed for fighting back
Even when they are beaten, raped or killed
Sitting behind bars when it was someone else who was ill-willed
Should the roles be reversed, white people would never settle
For a rapist to walk free while someone innocent stands behind bars of metal
But the roles are not reversed, and they have not been since 1619
Black people started out as slaves and have still not been freed
They stand behind bars for crimes they did not commit
Working tirelessly for no money until their spirits’ plummet
The only way for this to change is ACTION
Action through money, education, health care and emotional and physical support
And to believe them when they say “I did not do it” in court
But we must stop the anger and the blaming
We cannot blame those who have not opened their eyes
Most times they were glued shut by their social environment’s lies
It is also in those people we must invest
Education, time, perhaps a test
Because it could be them who become our teachers or police
Polluting the minds of upcoming generations until there will never be peace
There is much work to do and we cannot quit
To a broken system we must not submit
We must not let anyone say they cannot see color
Through education we must show that this world is only beautiful because there are so many
In the freedom of the mind lies the benefit of the plenty
Works Cited:
Davis, Angela Y. Women, Class, & Race. New York, Vintage Books, 1983
DuVernay, Ava, director. 13th, Netflix, 2016.
Jacobs, Harriet. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.” Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, 2009