Vision Circle

Bennett, Cosby, and Barnes Pt. 2 WHAT MAKES A SLAVE

In writing about Cosby and black people, Steven Barnes has this to say about black life:

I take the position that massive damage was done to black America by slavery (by the way--slavery also gave the descendants of those slaves some kick-ass opportunities, so I'm not looking for guilt here). If that damage was done, you will find the evidence of it in either "software" or "hardware". I'm betting "software." How do you get an elephant to remain tied to a rail he can pluck up with a shake of his head? You start when he is a baby elephant, and the conditioning will last. How do you create a slave? You impose helplessness upon them, make them dependant, in essence change a wolf into a dog, begging for scraps at the master's table.

Ever been to the circus? If you have you'll note that they don't really use much in the way of security to prevent an elephant from fleeing. Just one little rope tied around the ankle. No extra security guards. No electrified fences. Nothing.

Contrast this with the way that enslaved Africans were treated in the south.

An entire series of laws were designed to keep them from congregating, traveling, and learning. Enslaved Africans couldn't worship without the presence of whites. They were forbidden from reading. They were forbidden from traveling without a pass. They were forbidden from having funeral services. They were forbidden from using weapons. They were forbidden from using drums.

Then on top of that there were a series of very invasive laws designed to actually track down runaways. All types of white southerners were able to make a good living off of becoming bounty hunters.

And then on top of THAT there was the actual maintenance of plantations. A complex series of overseers were required to regulate African life...and punish them for violating various codes.

Now let's go back to that elephant comparison.

If indeed black people were slaves, in the way that Barnes thinks...why exactly did whites need to spend all these resources keeping "slaves" in check? Why couldn't they just go with the single thin rope, like the one the elephants have?

Enslaved Africans fought tooth and nail from the moment they were put inside the slave castles, to the last day of the Civil War.

(quick question--would "slaves" have fled the south to fight against their masters in such large numbers?)

Helplessness? Read Foner's work on Reconstruction when you get the chance. There is a passage there in which Foner talks about a young white southerner. She was asked about life after slavery. Because enslaved Africans cooked for her, cleaned for her, and combed her hair, she was distraught. She now had no one to do those things for her...and she did not know how to do them herself!. Being enslaved in the American context meant that Africans were chattel. They were brutalized, beaten, raped, neutered, and had their lives brutally mangled. But as I write next, enslaved Africans and their descendants are largely responsible for whatever weak level of democracy we've ascended to, and the most powerful aspects of American culture come from black bodies as well.

Someone's hardware and software has been badly damaged. But to the degree that we are comparing here, I say that that someone doesn't look or sound like me. I'd take a look at the girl who doesn't know how to comb her own hair.