In 1863, Abraham Lincoln outlawed slavery with the
Emancipation Proclamation. There are many issues that went along with the
institution of slavery that are still in place in our society today. An issue
that most people do not think of is the rape culture that was deeply engrained
in the institution of slavery. White males tortured their slaves by making them
work in the field all day and then they would have their way with the female
slaves. Female slaves had to obey their master at all costs. The rape culture
that was a part of the institution of slavery is still part of our culture
today. Men still think of women as property and put their sexual desire over a
woman’s personal agency.
The website, Boundless.com, wrote
an article about the rape culture and stated, “By the nineteenth century,
popular writing in the South characterized female slaves as lustful and
promiscuous ‘Jezebels’ who shamelessly tempted white owners into sexual
relations”. Their comment brings up an interesting point. White men had to lie
and say that the female slaves were tempting them. It seems unreasonable that a
female slave would try to seduce the man torturing her.
Some slaveholders forced their own
slaves to have sex with each other. This was the way that slaveholders could
increase their slave population without spending more money buying property.
Slaveholders would only keep the baby if it resulted from two slaves. If a
female slave became pregnant with the child of a slaveholder, then the child
would be called a mulatto and set to another plantation. The father could not
torture his son as a slave but would not accept him into his white family. I
found this point to be very interesting because it made the white men question
the institution of slavery. A child that was 50% the same genetics as them was
deemed unworthy of living a “white” life and was made a slave. This child did
nothing wrong. It is a result from an unhealthy institution. Slaveholders chose
which children they would acknowledge as their own and which they would
sentence to a life of torture. They got to choose which women they wanted to
sleep with and when. They had all of the power. Now that slavery has been
abolished, men are still trying to gain this dominance over women. We have
solved the issue of slavery in our country. Now it is time to solve the issue
of rape.
Sources:
https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/slavery-and-reform-1820-1840-16/slavery-in-the-u-s-122/women-and-slavery-657-9221/
I am in complete agreement with Medora when she highlights how the institution of slavery has created negative implications in the current system of American society. While the practice of slavery is now illegal, many people seem to overlook the present inferiority of African Americans in the United States, which ultimately was instilled by racial ideas structured by most disciplines in the past. The patriarchy and rape – found within slavery – are both still very prominent factors in America’s society today. Men (more specifically white men) are considered the dominant group in the United States – they make more money, have higher levels of education, and are considered the head of their family. Two points really stuck out to me while reading this entry. The first was the lack of control slave women had over their own bodies in regards to the rape culture found within slavery. The second was that in a sense it took rape to get white males/masters to confront and grapple with the morality of slavery.
ReplyDeleteI think this post does an excellent job of highlighting the struggles that female enslaved persons faced. I feel that often the struggles of female enslaved persons get overlooked when the subject of slavery is taught; however, I think it is so important to highlight their intersectionality and how it caused life on the plantation to be harder for them.
ReplyDeleteAs Medora mentions, female enslaved persons are completely left at the mercy of their masters. Not only were female enslaved persons expected to perform at the same capacity as male enslaved persons, but they were also abused sexually. This terrible abuse and entrapment between an object of hate and lust can be clearly seen in Harriet Jacobs' The Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and in Solomon Northup's 12 Years a Slave in the character of Patsy.
For female enslaved persons, not only did their white master own their body for means of physical labor, but they also had power over them sexually, which resulted in them having power over any children that came out of the rapes that occurred. Again, as Medora mentions, one reason for this was to ensure the creation of more slaves since by law the child always followed the condition of the mother.