Study the Masters by Lucille Clifton
like my aunt timmie.
it was her iron,
or one like hers,
that smoothed the sheets
the master poet slept on.
home or hotel, what matters is
he lay himself down on her handiwork
and dreamed. she dreamed too, words;
some cherokee, some masai and some
huge and particular as hope.
if you had heard her
chanting as she ironed
you would understand form and line
and discipline and order and
america.
Greetings, Class.
In this course, we are exploring the ways gender and intersectional identity may have impacted the experiences of enslaved people. This poem by Lucille Clifton may help us to unpack some of the complexities associated with gender in slave communities.
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| from http://clclt.com/charlotte/not-just-black-history-america-i-am/Content?oid=2774133 |
Yours truly,
Dr. Hill
Throughout the discussion it made me reflect on today's time of "light skin vs. dark skin" debates and how they have came into play into society. Depending on the color of your skin, basically kind of depicted what type of job you were expected to do. The skin complexion difference made me think of this movie I watched as a child called, Queen, which starred Halle Berry. Being light skin and as the daughter of her master, it impacted her life and how she would be out in public comparing herself to white women. Due to her being light skin she was inside the house more rather than other slaves with a darker complexion.
ReplyDeleteThe Box set of brushes and grooming supplies for women that also included a whipped bothered me. As a woman, hopefully of some sort of intellect can not think owning someone and being allowed to whip them as acceptable. Then it makes me sad because it makes me reflect on how low of character and how much Americans have truly made a mockery of "democracy" which is the very thing we were founded upon
ReplyDeleteWhen I look deeper into this, I start to wonder how the way people think has changed over the generations. I wonder how at that time such a thing like the whip coming along in a multiple accessory kit like that would have been considered normal. That the wives of the plantation owners probably tried to buy better, more decorated whips to show off to other women (You can probably imagine what I am talking about). This is something I found particularly interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhen discussing light skin verse dark skin it made me think about a documentary on Netflix called "Dark Girls" where they also talk about the paper bag test. It is interesting to see where all of the colorism starts and how a persons beauty can be defined by the shade of a paper bag. To me, this concept is very similar to the word "Nigga". Instead of trying to eliminate the negative concepts slavery has brought on our race we have embraced it attempted to redefine it, and let it control our thought and opinions of ourselves an those around us.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the trailer for "Dark Girls" if anyone is interested in watching it. I thought it was eye-opening.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rnCRh9zM6U
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ReplyDeleteI had previous knowledge of wet nurses but I thought the women would just feed the masters children and not all the children on the plantation . I also didn't know that from all the feeding that the women's calcium levels would be so low that she would lose all her teeth at such a young age
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the wives of the slave owners knew about the mistresses living in the house and did not say or do anything about it is interesting to me
ReplyDeleteGender affected women's roles in slavery in that in Africa, a woman having a child was seen as a right of passage whereas it was seen as an economica advantage for slave masters.
ReplyDeleteBefore I assumed that most of the children that were born during slavery where when the mother was already pregnant with her child or they were either raped by the slave master. But not once did i assume that african american women were used to breed multiple throughout their life for the benefit of the slave master.
Before our discussion of the situation regarding commonality of mistress living in the plantation house, I did not know why the man's wife appeared to not care about his cheating. I now know how big of a factor inheritance played in the family dynamic of plantation houses during the era of slavery.
ReplyDeleteMen usually were out in the fields doing hard labor. Women usually stayed in the plantation homes doing more domestic activities. There were women whose lives were dedicated to birthing and nursing children. That is a very sad way to live life.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the life of an enslaved man was one of many trials and tribulations. I feel that men were expected to work hard and extenuating hours, nearly working to death. Men could be snatched from their family all because of the talent they possess. Also they could have lovers and wives that were used as a mistress to the slave owner. That had to be a definitive hard point for men all throughout slavery. As class has progressed I've learned more about the actual struggles of men and women. From birth rights, to value of commodified bodies, to things that masters did. Gender was definitely something that had it's own problems.
ReplyDeleteI think most of the information confirmed my thoughts about how black women were treated in enslaved communities. From previously seeing movies about commodified bodies I knew that there was a lot of miscegenation occuring so that didn't surprise me. However I wasn't aware of how often it happened and how intertwined blacks were with whites.
ReplyDeleteWhen people think of slavery, they often think about working on plantations. However there was more to slavery than people know, and often times your gender played a role in the position you were given. African American women especially were given more responsibilities, such constant as child birth, being a wet nurse, maid, and picking up the slack of African American men.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that really amazed me was the way the whip just seems like another accessory. You have your brush, mirror, and then your tool to oppress a race of people and remind them that they are less then you. It's just another reminder of how sickening slavery was and how people can really be taught to treat others horribly and not think twice about it.
ReplyDeleteI learned that the wives actually received whips as another accessory for their "jewelry boxes". I always knew they were in reach but I did not know they carried them as if it were a watch. I feel as if they were rarely used because they would leave that job to their husband. Also, the slaves in the house were most likely his children so the wife can take more advantage of the slave rather than injuring her.
ReplyDeleteWhen discussing the topic of gender impact in the enslaved community it makes me think of the movie "42" and how Jackie Robinson was treated by being the first negro Major League Baseball player. When looking at this topic it hurts as an African American to think that people treated blacks like they did in the past. This situation is so bad back then that now in the present it is still a problem.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that this was a set for woman. Just like the set of fake food we receive as a child or our first set of makeup as a girl. I've never really given much thought to the white woman in this time period. When I think about it I've never talked about them in any history class that I've had. We never talk about how they might have dealt with the mistresses or any of the other affairs of the master. I would think that the woman of the house who had this set might use the whip on the woman who was sleeping with her husband.
ReplyDeleteI find it disturbing for the women to have a whip as a part of their grooming kit. The life of women as a slave was brutal they either had to cook, clean, boar children and often times work out in the fields. Light skin and dark skin is still a problem now today. As well as the strengths of women what they are able to do and what they are not able to do. Women of color are still being stereotyped and discriminated against
ReplyDeleteBefore this discussion I watched this video about black women and it explained different scenarios with things today. It really made me think about society today and how black women deal with almost the same thing now. This discussion has really confirmed the things I learned.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link
Http://youtu.be/6f5ywkAR_Eo
I found it interesting that the "newest fashion" for white people was the whip. Having the lightest, most convenient and easily disguised was the it thing back then. I thought slavery and the oppression of black people was already low but this information takes things into even deeper depths. The fact that people were conditioned for this type of behavior is mind boggling to me. The thought that racism in the modern day could even be over is an unreachable thought because that mindset has survived the "natural selection" process and has seemed to become, in my opinion, something needed for survival for some people in the white community. What about the black race is so intimidating?
ReplyDeleteA lot here lately I've been thinking about how it must of felt to have everything that made you unique completely stripped away from you. Your name, culture, etc. to actually be broken to the point you have zero fight left in you so cooperation is the only thing you're left with. The black man was used for his talents and his work against his will but today we are still used as bread winners in the entertainment world but get a small piece of change compared to what is made for the owner of a team or label company.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the identity of being a slave and being a child. From the moment of birth the children would know that it was their parents that loved them, but it was the overseers and white people in general who pulled the strings.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to compare the rights of black women and white women. Although white women obviously had more privilege they were still tied to their husbands no matter what and without a wealthy husband they had no rights or means to survive. I also think it's interesting to think about how the wives of the plantation owners treated their husbands illigitimate children, and how they felt about the future of their own children.
ReplyDelete