Blog #2

First of all, I do want to say that this is probably the most interesting stuff to learn about. I know that most people learned about slavery and all of this in just about every history class, but it never ceases to amaze me how many different sides and perspectives there are to this topic.
As most of us thought we knew blacks were looked upon to be different from everyone, because of their skin color. But, from what we have read already it was interesting to realize that it was the culture that most people looked at and judged instead of their skin color. Connecting negative and devilish images with dark skin was something that had to be socially embedded into the whites. For whatever reason, it came to be that the whites looked at themselves as pure and innocent, while seeing the blacks as beastly cannibals that lived without a God or structural society. One of the reasons that the British turned to these thoughts were because of fear of the unknown. They had never met people that were so open about their sexuality before and they were afraid that the blacks would change them and their God good ways (Takaki p.50). So, in the beginning the British treated these blacks just like any other captive they had and made them indentured servants along with others, such as the Irish. They were bound by contract to serve their British masters in order to repay them for the expensive passage. Not only were the first blacks not slaves when they first arrived, but they also used to socialize with the other white indentured servants, knowing that they were feeling the same fear and hostility (Takaki p.53). However there came a time, when the British decided to differentiate the whites from the blacks. After Bacon’s rebellion there were no more white indentured servants, Africans began serving for life and became a form a property to be bought and sold (Takaki p. 56). In order to make this differentiation between the whites and the blacks’ permanent, the government of many states began enforcing laws to make sure that the blacks new they’re place in society. Some examples of these laws include blacks in South Carolina needing a ticket in order to leave the plantation, having their belongings searched for stolen properties, or even not allowing large numbers of them to meet for fear of rebellion. Also, in the state of North Carolina laws were made that forbade the teaching of slaves to read or write (Cooper & McCord 2, 4). While the whites were using these laws to establish their authority and weave slavery through all of society, many of whites were not completely to blame.
One could say that many of the whites had formally been brain washed into agreeing with slavery to the point where speaking out against it would be a crime even if they knew it was wrong. Pem Davidson Buck explains this by exclaiming that “given the tendency of slaves, servants, and landless free Europeans and Africans to cooperate in rebellion, the elite had to teach Whites the value of whiteness in order to divide and rule their labor force” (31). In order to do this in the beginning, they created rules and laws against interracial marriage and even friendship. Not only did this happen but also something known as white privilege was created. For the most part, this allowed more pain with harsher treatments for blacks than on whites. Some examples include, whites having the right to self defense and own live stock, while blacks couldn’t. Blacks were even denied the right to family. Not only did the elites define whites due to privilege, but they also made sure to get into the heads of the whites. They made it known psychologically that whites were and always will be the superior race and by doing this they were able to exclude blacks from certain skilled jobs. This made it possible for the whites to define blacks, by not only race, but by class as well (Rothenberg 33-35). So, who is really responsible for slavery, who exactly were these elites that brought about the psychological and physical warfare?
There are many thoughts as to what actually brought about the end to slavery. Some say that is was the American Revolution involving the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. This made it easier to produce more cotton without all of the slave hands. Others say that the Market revolution was responsible, finding a great way to try and integrate the blacks back into the American society. However, I believe that the true end came when the whites finally realized that they could not deny the blacks there humanity any longer. If blacks were true barbarians or beasts then they would not need all of these laws in order to keep them in place and under control, which in the end couldn’t even keep them from taking what was rightfully theirs (Takaki 66,75,78). Frederick Douglas had this completely right when he said that slavery was not divine, and that it was hypocrisy of America’s constitution and everything they stand for (444). Lastly, I am absolutely positive that everyone can find examples of this very social control in their own lives. I myself am still undergoing this very same racial criticism and control today. Being a person involved in an interracial relationship is hard today for both parties. For this still is not looked upon as the social norm and in many cases is seen as different or weird. Today, although I’m not being beaten like the blacks, one is judged daily for decisions like these, being controlled by the norm.