Knowledge of who we are helps to define our humanity.
Language, culture, and ancestry are crucial in understanding what it means to
be a human, especially in the context of history. When someone is denied an
identity, they are not only subject to the psychological impacts of not knowing
who they are, but denied their very humanity. As Africans were torn from their
homes, leaving behind their families and lives, they were subjugated to this
erasure of identity, a total detachment from what it meant to be themselves. As
the slave ships pushed closer to the New World, white slavers attempted
continuously to erase any African identity.
Though the horrific conditions aboard the slave ships surely
helped in the removal of African humanity, the loss of identity on the trip to
the New World were just as detrimental. Bodies were thrown overboard, given no
burial ceremony, a final insult to the identities of the Africans who placed a
great importance on religious ceremonies. Slaves were given new names, forcing
them to conform to the society they were unfamiliar with. However, what
Africans brought with them to the Americas was crucial to creating a new
identity. The culture, memories, and artifacts they brought along could not be
taken from them.
Through generations of enslavement, white slave owners made
sure that no history or traceable legacy existed for their black slaves.
Records were destroyed, and few slaves were given last names, meaning that no
recorded lineage exists. This insult to the humanity of the black individuals
who helped to build this country is an indication of how the white slave owners
ensured that no identity was granted to those they owned. Yet a rich black
culture was forged in the face of continued adversity. A culture created on
survival helped to establish an identity when society denied their very
humanity. This culture defines American culture, just as slavery defined the
bedrock of this country.
While writing about identity, it is impossible for me not to
wonder about what it means to have a white identity. From the past, it is clear
that white identity has been built upon centuries of oppression and an
insistence on superiority. In Between the
World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, “‘White America’ is a syndicate
arrayed to protest its exclusive power to dominate and control [black] bodies.”
Whiteness has been defined through dominance, oppression, and the seizure of
other’s humanity. I wonder whether this is an identity worth having, whether
such a hateful identity really helps to create a history worth writing. White
Americans have work to do. We must work to recreate an identity, one that is
not built on hate and intolerance.
Word count: 447
Pledged: Zach Thornton
Word count: 447
Pledged: Zach Thornton
Zach, I cannot imagine the psychological effects of such a journey to the New World. Nowadays, reading back over this history, it may seem so easy to empathize with the Africans. We read accounts they have written, but we will never truly know what it was like to face such a gruesome journey that took months to reach point B from point A. The white Europeans did not see Africans as human. If that one idea had been different from the beginning: Africans are human, how do you think history would have been written? Would the white peoples have still been the winners? Maybe not. But can we truly tell? At any point throughout history, there has always been a superior group. Unfortunately, it happened to be the oppressive, destructive whites. The white perspective was obviously closed. They didn’t try to put themselves in the African slaves’ position. The slave owners who did were among the few. It is crazy to think about the extent people will go to for wealth and prosperity. This brings me to a quote I’ve found by Rusty Eric, “As long as greed is stronger than compassion, there will always be suffering.” Think about all those Africans struggling to hold onto their identity, where was the compassion and sensitivity?
ReplyDeleteWC: 214 Kendall Gasner
As you pointed out, stripping of identity was a primary tactic of slave owners to ensure that slaves did/could not communicate, organize, rebel or sustain their humanity. One idea about identity raised in reading that really struck me, was the point that shared traits, language, etc. does not equal community—just because two people can communicate, does not mean they want to communicate, or are even remotely similar people with similar ideas. This often made assumption is dehumanizing, as it presumes that slaves lacked preferences and personalities. However, as you acknowledged, the one thing all slaves shared was oppression and subjugation which did create certain aspects of African American culture and a sense of shared identity. I think your point about recreating white identity is interesting…While I agree that we should stop holding onto ideals and practices that are rooted in our past of intolerance and hate, I don’t know that we should spend time attempting to build a new identity for ourselves. Instead, I think we should recognize that whiteness could/would not exist without oppression of other groups, and find ways to work toward social justice for all.
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