Do you think you could have done it? (Not for the sensitive....Trust me!

AKA2D '91 · #1 10-10-2002, 10:49 PM

Earlier today, my assistant and I were talking about the Colin Powell/Harry Belafonte "issue" (See DST forum for details).
Anyway, we got on the subject of slaves. (Can we talk about this?)

We both talked about what our ancestors had to endure. So, I'm going to ask you all what I asked her.

Do you think you could have handled being a slave (house or field)? Have you ever thought about it? This isn't a joke. I'm serious.

I know I could have NEVER, EVER, EVER been anyone's slave. Those women were sooooooo strong. If you are going to call me weak, you can call me that NOW! Heck, I'll admit it! I AM WEAK...lol. I could NEVER have done what they did. I know that was all they could become, but I'm sorry, I just couldn't. I couldn't even see myself being my grandmother...cleaning other people's homes and such. Ohhhhh no!

Does this suggest that I am not strong because I was not a slave?

Something to think about.

Rae1 · #2 10-10-2002, 11:47 PM

AKA2D'91

I agree with you 100%

God new exactly what HE was doing when HE planned my birth. It is a blessing to know that HE knew my strengths and weaknesses even before the Creation. I certainly believe that enduring slavery was a burden too huge for me to bear.

nikki1920 · #3 10-11-2002, 09:35 AM

Interesting topic.

Hard to say b/c we have been exposed to things that our ancestors were never aware of. If those were my only options, then so be it.

Interesting.....

Bamboozled · #4 10-11-2002, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by nikki1920
If those were my only options, then so be it.

I agree, nikki1920. The beauty of our lives today is that we have a CHOICE to say that we would have never been able to be a slave. I'm sure if any of our ancestors had been interviewed beforehand and asked if they would be able to handle being chained together and forced on a slave ship with inhumane conditions, being sold as property and torn apart from their families, being forced to toil under extreme weather conditions for no pay, being beaten and raped/sodomized at the drop of a dime, and all the other horrors that occurred, they all would have answered with a resounding, HELL NO! The point is that you never know what you can do until are put in a situation where you don't have a choice. The only choice they had was to be a slave, be beaten to death for insubordination or risk escaping, which would result in death or beating 99.99% of the time. So, could I have been a slave? Yes, because there was no other option besides death.

korkscru · #5 10-11-2002, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by nikki1920
Interesting topic.

Hard to say b/c we have been exposed to things that our ancestors were never aware of. If those were my only options, then so be it.

Interesting.....

I agree also with Nikki1920. This is a hard question to answer and it really makes one think. But I see it like this. Our ancestors did not have the rights and priviledges that we have today. The majority of their mentalities were like the exact opposite of what ours are today. They were ignorant (for lack of a better word) to many things. So it's really hard to say. It's one thing to HEAR about something. It's totally different when you actually EXPERIENCE it.

Of course, I've always JOKINGLY said that I could not have been a slave. But, in all fairness and REALITY, I just don't know. So many things would have to be considered. Now I WILL say that I PROBABLY would have been one of the slaves who had the same deep passion and determination to be free as Koonta or Harriet Tubman. I think that I would have been subject to a LOT of backlashes or whoopings because I would have been a very DEFIANT slave. I also think that I probably would have been one of the few slaves who learned how to read. And I definitely would have been a great actress (meaning that I would have been great at making sure that the masters were not suspicious of anything that I was doing).

This was a great topic. It just makes me realize how truly BLESSED I am.

AKA2D '91 · #6 10-11-2002, 04:34 PM

You all are correct. I guess I can say, "nooo, I would not do thus and so" because I do not HAVE to. I've come along during a time where we have the right and FREEDOM to do basically whatever.

So, as a person who was born FREE in 1972, no, I could not have been a slave. I guess in 1872, I would have been a cotton-picking, clothes cleaning, house cleaning, child rearing SLAVE.

I'm sure I would have gotten my fair share of whoopins' too.

You are so correct, it does make you reflect and see how blessed and you are. It also shows you what COURAGE,STRENGTH, and ENDURANCE really is.

southernelle25 · #7 09-27-2005, 03:41 PM

^^^ I agree here, but I think we are too quickly bypassing another option - the option to seek freedom.

One of my ancestors escaped slavery along with her brother who died in the process. These were Africans, straight off the boat, people who had not yet suffered the generations of brain-washing others were forced to endure. They were proud, strong, and their only option, as they saw it, was to regain their freedom or die trying. She instilled in her children (and they in theirs and so on) a tradition of never submitting to anyone (for better or worse lol). To this day, that lineage of my family is the most stubborn, honorable, entrepreneurial people I have ever known. Had I been born during that time, I hope that I would have had the courage to do what they did.

Sistermadly · #8 09-27-2005, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
I guess in 1872, I would have been a cotton-picking, clothes cleaning, house cleaning, child rearing SLAVE.

Technically, no. Slavery was abolished in 1863, but I get your point.

It's interesting to look at things through our lenses of (relatively) modern privilege, but like other folks have said, I think it's important to remember that our ancestors didn't have a choice over whether they would be slaves. But I think it's also important to remember that even though times were hard, all of us didn't just "lay down and take it".

Some historians are starting to question the perception that enslaved Africans were passive about their fate. Some believe (I can't think of any names now, sorry) that a number of Africans committed suicide during the Middle Passage out of sheer desperation. It's not a positive choice, but it's a choice all the same.

In addition, let's not forget the large and small acts of rebellion that our enslaved ancestors performed, from staging huge rebellions that involved hundreds, to poisoning slaveowners and breaking tools to create work stoppages.

Sistermadly · #9 09-27-2005, 07:07 PM

And another thing, to piggyback off something AKA2D said: while it might be true that some of our ancestors were resigned to their fate, I'm kind of thankful for that, because it means that I'm a descendant of folks who could survive that hardship. It means I came from some mighty resillient people, and despite how they got here or what their ultimate fate might have been, I'm thankful for their strength. I just hope I possess a fraction of that strength myself.

AKA2D '91 · #10 09-27-2005, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sistermadly
Technically, no. Slavery was abolished in 1863, but I get your point.

No. You didn't get my point. I was born in 1972 and only used 1872 to signify 100 years prior to my birth! I didn't say when slavery was abolished. Even when slavery was abolished, folks were STILL picking cotton. Ask my mother about it... she's only 64.

GodlyAspiringDr · #11 09-27-2005, 10:32 PM

southernelle25 - your perspective is interesting... because I've been known to say to family/friends that if I were born a slave I would probably have been the individual attempting to spark a revolt or beaten to death by the overseer in an attempt to coerce the others into not revolting/trying to escape...

I think I could have been born a slave but I don't think I could have lived with accepting that fact...

But who knows - this is all just me speculating...

Sistermadly · #12 09-28-2005, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
No. You didn't get my point. I was born in 1972 and only used 1872 to signify 100 years prior to my birth! I didn't say when slavery was abolished. Even when slavery was abolished, folks were STILL picking cotton. Ask my mother about it... she's only 64.

I could also ask my mother (73) or my grandmother (except she's dead). They both grew up sharecroppers - heck, both my parents did. But I'm not here to show who has a more credible history when it comes to enslaved ancestors, because in my opinion, that really doesn't matter.

All I was pointing out was that just because someone was picking cotton, it doesn't mean that person was a slave, because in 1872 there was no slavery. That's all I was saying. Jeez.

Now, if you want to talk about de facto versus de jure slavery, then yeah - the systems were similar. Very similar. As I said, I got your point.

Sorry for the hijack ladies. I'll return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

Little32 · #13 09-28-2005, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sistermadly
All I was pointing out was that just because someone was picking cotton, it doesn't mean that person was a slave, because in 1872 there was no slavery.

Actually, that's just semantics. Sure, there was no "slavery," but the political, economic and social conditions hadn't really changed all that much.

I always say that I probably wouldn't last long in slavery, if I were the same person that I am now. I don't know that I would have escaped, but I don't think that I would have lasted very long.

Gyrl7 · #14 09-28-2005, 10:08 AM

I'm still trying to figure out how AKA2D's example of 1972 to 1872 get turned into all of this. Her point was clear and as Little32 said, "Sure, there was no "slavery," but the political, economic and social conditions hadn't really changed all that much."

But getting back to the original question,

"Do you think you could have handled being a slave (house or field)? Have you ever thought about it? This isn't a joke. I'm serious."

I've thought about it many times and I know that if I were born during slavery time, no matter where it existed I probably wouldn't have had a choice because unfortunatuly I would have been forced into.........HOWEVER, in terms of how I would have been able to handle it, I honestly don't know, I'm sure I would have been trying to read and write, I'm sure I would have gotten my share of whippings just because. As Bamboozled said, thankfully we have a choice in the matter. And we are able to reflect back and think would I or woudn't I??? Our dearly departed ancestors weren't so fortunate. I just thank the ALMIGHTY FATHER that I was born in 1969.

Professor · #15 09-28-2005, 01:30 PM

Hell no - I can't go 24 hours without an air conditioner during summer months. While we may have more educational opportunities and freedoms, we certainly don't have the endurance of slaves.