Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Humanity
It seems interesting that Prince was able to live relatively well for the first years of her life. Unlike many of her counterparts she started her life working in homes that were better to them than what most in her situation experienced. These are the slave owners that we don't hear much about, likely because they seemed to be very few and far between. It is in these women that we see a glimpse of humanity, of compassion. While, in some ways, this could be called luck, it quite possibly made it even harder to deal with such a drastic change when she is sold to one cruel person after another. The people she is owned by later on are perfect examples of the typical slave owner. Cruel, compassionless, and hardened to the plights of slaves. In Mary's words, "...slavery hardens white people's hearts towards the blacks; and many of them were not slow to make their remarks upon us aloud, without regard to our grief..." (590).
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I think that even in the instances where Prince was treated well in her early life there is the idea of the horrific aspect of slavery even if the slaves are treated humanely. Even as Prince seems to think fondly on her early life and even loved some of her owners, there's always the facts of slavery and ownership there: like how she "was made quite a pet" of Betsey Williams, and what Betsey called her, and the fact that even though these people loved Prince she was still sold off like an animal. I got the same feeling in these instances as I did when reading Cowper's poem; Prince is apparently grateful for the kindness she was shown but what she is actually saying is really horrible and the contrast between tone and what is said is disturbing to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I was just looking at it relative to the way things could have been.
DeleteThe entire white community, including those who were not directly involved in the slave trade were hardened to the situations of slaves... that was evident during the transfer of Prince and her sisters from their mother. The people didn't see them as entirely human. I think that in some cases, the "scene" created by their grief either annoyed them or made them feel uncomfortable. I think the society (and any slave-holding one) has to become entrenched in denial in order to carry on that way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jessica's response. Even though she was well-treated by owners earlier on in life, they still sold her off to the next family. This emphasizes the idea that they still viewed her as property, not as human, which is really interesting when you compare Prince's "loving" feelings towards some owners. It is true that, "...slavery hardens white people's hearts towards blacks..." but then what does it do (when considering those "loving" feelings) to black people's hearts? I think this is great example of how racism is culturally ingrained into American society. Regardless of treatment, Prince has a price tag; she's a product of economic prosperity through slavery. Again, when considering her feelings, I have to wonder just how deeply racism and trade has morphed her understanding of love.
ReplyDeletePrince's account is a series of brutality. It could be argued that if there were moments of relative goodness (lulls in this brutality), they would not be appropriate to her account. The nature of her narrative is propagandistic, and thus must serve the purpose of swaying the consciences of readers. The only white figures that show any kindness towards her are Quakers or abolitionists, people working for or sympathetic to the cause. It's interesting to consider then the way its propagandistic nature influences what might be said and what might be left out. If there were an episode in her life in which a slave owner acted relatively humane (or as humane as a person aligned with slavery can be), then there would probably be no reason to chronicle this.
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