Dreams From My Father-Post 1

Before reading this book, I was not aware of how much I did not know about my President. I knew little of his background, little of his heritage. To be introduced to Obama's siblings from Kenya really sheds light on his roots, how they intertwine the United States and Kenya. This book presents Obama at an angle from which the reader may view him with a very admirable and at times sympathetic perception. Obama is out to protect the common man, to save the suffering, to rescue the impoverished. It is obvious that Obama feels connected to these people, feels that he has a part to play in their well-being. In my reading, I paid special attention to the part in which Obama and a young mother named Sadie attempt to confront a housing association about a possible asbestos problem. It is evident that the housing people do not want to spend their time or money on the issue, and try to persuade the mother and her fellow young mothers to ignore the problem. They end up hosting a rally in which they invite the director of their housing association. The spokeswoman, Linda, another young mother, publicly interviews the director. She doesn't allow him to speak, except for yes or no answers. The director does not want to comply with this method of communication and he leaves. Before Obama can intervene, the crowd erupts in an uproar. Mrs. Reece says to Obama, "See what you done! This is what happens when you try to get these young folks involved. Embarrassed the whole Gardens, on TV and everything. White folks seeing us act like a bunch of niggars! Just like they expect!" (245-246). These words are very interesting to me. Obama set out to be an "organizer," a very broad term, and a very ambitious term. He wishes to help those who are oppressed by providing them guidance to organize themselves into proactive groups, striving for some sort of chance. Obama watched as these young mothers, for the first time in their lives, took initiative to change their conditions. However, the situation proved to be a bit overwhelming for them. Their effort turned into them acting "like a bunch of niggars." In this sentence the word "niggar" has a negative connotation. It suggests that the white people will see them just messing up again, unable to take a serious attitude towards themselves. Of course this isn't true. It's sad that their efforts had to be seen as a joke.

Push Chapter 3

an Abdul (se__ of God) to see
(and Abdul (servant of God) to see)
see the i
ey see
(eye)
see me
liv
(live)

or

die
poslv
(positive)

0r

negv
(negative)
wh? why?
(why? why?)
must
I li
(lie)
to misel
(myself)
I
must
no
(know)
the truf
(truth)

How does one describe poetry? Or make sense of it, even? What is a poem? An articulation of emotion, a state of being crafted, molded, strewn in words. I find that it often difficult to relay emotion into words for what I feel has more dimensions, is far deeper, than any word could capture. A poem is a series of words that attempts to draw on so much more than meets the eye. For the character Precious, it is a method through which she begins to gain a sense of identity. The poem above conveys this through simple and yet very raw words. What's special about this poem is that it is genuine, real, and honest. It does not try to alleviate through complicated diction, nor does is try to hide behind anything. It is exactly what Precious feels. For the first time in her life, she is able to feel exactly what she is going through, and in a way by writing it down, she is able to face it and carry on. Of course, she is still bogged by the dangers and miseries of her situation, but she is able to look at the more positive side of her picture. She was never able to do this before and poetry has become some sort of means through which she can step back and view herself with outside perspective and gradually realize how special she really is.

Push Chapter 1

Invisibility is the word that highlights the first chapter of Push for me. Precious reasons her invisibility when saying "Don't nobody want me. Don't nobody need me. I know who I am. I know who they say I am"(31). She recognizes that she is human, that she is not this vampire that everyone see's her as. This is why she says she knows what THEY say she is, and this is why she believes that she is invisible. Everyone sees her as a vampire, or welfare queen. A black woman whose sole source of income is welfare, whose "intelligence" is minute, whose sexual deviance is innate, this is the vampire she is seen as. But she is not a vampire, and she knows this. So the real her must be invisible. Makes sense to me.

One thing that struck me as a little ironic is her perspective of the other boys in her math class. She is seen as disruptive at first, after refusing to open her book and openly chastising Mr. Wicher. However, she becomes the authority of the class, keeping the other boys in the class subdued. This is where my interest stems from. I am trying to understand her relationship with the other boys in the class. At the beginning of the class Mr. Wichen had the perspective that precious was loud and disruptive, stemming from the fact that Precious couldn't open the book to the page because she is illiterate. He allows her to remain in class after she affirms her intent to learn in class. However she views the boys through a similar lens that society views her. She does not say that perhaps the boys are also disruptive because of their inability to read, or other factors that can lead to improper classroom conduct. She uses words like native, coon, and nigger (6-7)that make me recognize the irony behind it all. The irony being her misunderstand of the rowdy young men in the classroom.

Precious post 1- Kayla

"My fahver don't see me really. If he did he would know I was like a white girl, a real person, inside. He would not climb on me from forever and stick his dick n' get me inside on fire, bleed, I bleed then he slap me. Can't he see I am a girl for flowers and straw legs and a place in the picture" (32).

I found it difficult to put into words how the first section of Precious, or Push, affected me. I found myself feeling physically sick at times. There were so many points to touch upon in this novel; I was overwhelmed when I sat down to write this blog. I decided to zero in on the quote above. In Precious's narrative, she often wishes she were white. Above she says a white girl is a real person. I have never before read a text towards which I became so emotionally transfixed. The raw material is jolting and coercive in the respect that I didn't want to accept it. I did not want to accept the weight and reality, the gravity of such unfathomable circumstances. And why does it make me so uncomfortable? I am a white female, grew up in a nice family, and I have had no traumatic events in my life. In writing this, I feel as if I am shifting the attention from Precious to myself, and that is not the intention. I merely want to identify why this quote made me so uncomfortable. To Precious, I am a real person. That stood out to me, and I am not sure how I should take it. It makes me feel awkward, undeserving. Why is it that I was born into cirumstances in which I did not have to be afraid, and I grew up with a sense of support and freedom. Why didn't Precious have that freedom or support? Or other girls who suffer as she does in the novel? Why do some people suffer and others do not? I realize there is no rational or concrete answer to that question. Unfortuneatly, because of the history of the country in which we live, a girl such as Precious must wish that her skin were lighter. Interestingly enough, I almost wish my skin were darker for this same reason. Perhaps then I will no longer be ignorant, spoiled, perfect, etc. Perhaps then people will not assume that I have the world at my feet. I don't mean to speak selfishly; I am merely trying to see this quote from all sides--from the perspective of the black girl and the perspective of the white girl. Even though I can stand back and say, "I'm not perfect, I'm not beautiful, life is hard for me sometimes, I am afraid of life." It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because I wasn't raped by my father. I didn't have a child at twelve, and I can read and write. My hardships are not as severe as that of Precious, or Rita, or Germaine, or any girl growing up in poverty, drugs, fatherless, motherless, fear. Does this make me a bad person? Sometimes I feel that it does. I feel that it is my fault that my life is easier than theirs. It is nothing I can help. Nothing they can help. Society, with it's rigid divides, ideals of ethnic dichotomy, scales of skin tone, society separates, breaks, ruins, hurts the heart and soul and body; leads us to believe that those who look differently are the other, people with which we cannot identify. Even myself--and I have always considered myself open to anyone--I fear a girl like Precious because I cannot grasp her reality and it is not fair to her.

We can all have a place in "the picture." I want us all to be beautiful and unique and ourselves, every distinction illuminated, in the greater picture.

Memory Believes Before Knowing Remembers

Richard Wright does a great job of depicting the trajectory of his logic and reason throughout the early years of his life. His story of lighting the curtains, and half of his house on fire at age four, is a useful analogy of Wrights quest for knowledge. From Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass' books, I learned that knowledge and the quest to understand the world for what it really is, is a crucial part in attaining ones freedom and autonomy. When reading the text, Wright attains two types of knowledge, knowledge of advise and knowledge of experience. In his story of burning the curtains, Wright tests the advise of his mother (to keep quiet and stay out of trouble) and brother (that lighting the curtains is wrong) by choosing to go forth with the experiment. He burns half of his house down, gets beat unconscious and thrown into a fever for days after, but what does he learn? I think he learns that some knowledge and the quest to achieve it, can be deadly. If the experience it takes to answer ones questions doesn't kill you, the social environment that looks down upon attaining such knowledge can surely bring one close to death as well. This is seen again when the "uncle" that Aunt Maggie was dating, kills a woman and burns down her house. Richard attains the knowledge that this man killed someone, but he was unable to share this knowledge with anyone, for fear of being lynched.

Following the growth of Wrights knowledge in these first couple chapters, I also begin to see a struggle between the knowledge that is spoken to him and the knowledge that he gains through experience. He is raised with the Christian morals of his parents and grandparents, but he has a hard time applying what he sees everyday to such standards. We see this conflict surface when he so kindly tells his grandmother to kiss his ass, oblivious to crossroads of religion and culture he just reached. This struggle is present in his experience of beating the neighborhood bullies in order to get groceries for his mother as well. Wright is sent into confusion when his mother repeatedly sends him back to deal with the bullies. Eventually he is given a stick, and he must physically break his preconceived conceptions of fighting as improper, in order to survive reality.

What becomes more and more interesting is his knowledge of race and racism. I really enjoyed reading the conversation on page 48, between Wright and his mother. He is trying to ascertain whether his grandmother is black or white, his mother, speaking quite carefully on the subject, relays the facts to him, but refrains from applying reason, emotion or sentiment to the statements she provides. Wright is left to sort out a bunch of facts without the framework of racism to apply the reasoning behind them. I cant for certain say much more on this development, but I imagine what it would be like to read a bunch of statistics based on race, without knowing the racial context of society. It would provide me with as much confusion as Wright seems to get from his conversation with his mother.

Black Boy, Chapters 1-3

How is racism "made?" I would argue first that racism is an artificial mentality that humans create within themselves, by means of socially constructed influences. But it must begin somewhere, right? Society must get the idea from somewhere within themselves. Throughout the first three chapters of "Black Boy," the author, Richard Wright, describes his early childhood in the Southern United States. While we follow this narrative, we also witness the evolution of the notion of "blacks" and "whites" and the strict separation of the two. We meet Richard as a young, four year old boy. From page one to one hundred, we watch as a child grows into a young man, gaining more and more self awareness the more we flip the pages. At one point in the story, Richard learns that a "black" boy was beat by a "white" man. It was his understanding that it was okay for the "white" man to beat the "black" boy because surely the "white" man was the boy's father. In Richard's head, it was acceptable for a parent to beat their children. Once his mother explains to him that the "white" man was not the "black" boy's father, he is puzzled. This passage demonstrates that our narrator has no connotations attached to the words "white" and "black" in regards to labeling people. This is perhaps the first time that he views the "white" person as the "other," a separate kind of people. Wright explains that after having learned of the beating, he "...stared at ["white" people], wondering what they were really like" (24). Here, we see the young Wright consider "whites" as different from himself.

Over the progression of the the next couple chapters, we see the awareness grow, and grow into a rather negative mentality. Richard develops a fear for the "white" man, and soon, a hatred. He writes,

"The hostility of the whites had become so deeply implanted in my mind and feelings that it had lost direct connection with the daily environment in which I lived; and my reactions to this hostility fed upon itself...Tension would set in at the mere mention of whites...I had never in my life been abused by whites, but I had already become as conditioned to their existence as though I had been the victim of a thousand lynchings" (74).

This is a powerful passage. Basically, Write explains that while he had never personally been mistreated by "whites," he had a hostility "deeply implanted" in his mind towards them. This was the result of social influences; in a sense he was "trained" to have hostility towards them by his peers. Slavery continued to leave it's mark, even after it was abolished. The effects of such racism rippled out and touched even a young boy without prior prejudices.

What "makes" racism? What makes one person hate another person for no rational, reasonable, justifiable reason? I have no idea, to be honest. It is a scary thing that human beings can be capable of hating without motive; or just can hate with such passion in general. Something to note in "Black Boy" thus far is how Richard becomes racist of white people and begins to separate himself from them without fully understanding why. Racism is a two way street, in some respects; if one "race" hates another, the other "race" will inevitably hate them in return. It's a vicious cycle.

Ole' Dixies Church Below

“Ole Satan’s church is here below, Up to God’s free church I hope to go.”

Jacobs religious fervor was blinding through chapter XIII to XX. She does a great job at differentiating between Christianity and what she calls “religion at the south.” (84) I think she does this in a very interesting way in chapter XIII. The comparisons and contrasts between Reverend Mr. Pike and the” very different clergyman” (82) help the reader draw the line between the two ideologies. Jacobs places Mr. Pike as the representative of the “religion at the south,” and the “very different” clergyman as the representative of true Christianity. We first learn of Reverend Mr. Pike, Jacobs satirically uses words such as gentleman and pious when describing him. He preaches of the connection between a slaves master in heaven (God) and a slaves master on earth. Mr. Pike says, “If you disobey your earthly master, you offend your heavenly master” (80). These are the beliefs that Jacobs wants us to associate with the “religion at the south.” Instead of embodying Christian morality, they are fearful, reactionary hate speeches that use the name of God in order to quell the civil unrest amongst slaves and abolitionists. The religion at the south is defined more as a tool to install fear (for whites that slaves will rise up, and for blacks that someone is always watching) and promote complacency in slavery than a doctrine of morals and religious beliefs.
When describing the different Clergyman, Jacobs actually refers to him as god or god like amongst the slaves. His wife taught her slaves to read and write, and once that was accomplished the clergyman set about helping needy slaves around him. So from the very beginning Jacobs is attaching community service and social cooperation with true forms of Christianity. I thought that the descriptions of the themes of the clergyman’s sermons were very sophisticated. I was especially happy to hear that his sermons were “adapted to their comprehension.” (82). I took this quote to mean that the clergyman understood that Christianity meant something different to slaves than to free whites. I think it shows that this preacher knew that for slaves Christianity was the word of freedom, equality lies within the lines of it. He quoted the Bible, saying that God judges a man by his heart and not the color of his skin (83). These are the characteristics that Jacobs attaches with her conception of Christianity. She calls it a “strange doctrine,” which seems ironic at a time when bible study was common in a majority of households. She wants the reader to know that if one were to use the reason behind the Bible, that one could not condone an institution such as slavery. The only thing that could justify would be “the religion at the south.”

Kayla-Jacobs, Chapters XII-XX

It is interesting to examine religion and slavery. Jacobs offers the reader a speech by the "pious" Reverend Pike:

"Hearken, ye servants! Give strict heed unto my words. You are rebellious sinners. Your hearts are filled with all manner of evil...Instead of serving your masters faithfully, which is pleasing in the sight of your heavenly Master, you are idle, and shirk your work. God sees you. You tell lies. God hears you. Instead of being engaged in worshiping him, you are hidden away somewhere, feasting on your master's substance; tossing coffee grounds with some wicked fortuneteller, or cutting cards with another old hag. Your masters may not find out, But God sees you, and will punish you" (89).

Pike goes on to condemn slaves of their superstitious beliefs, and further splatters sin across their backs, threatening that God sees their every move and will thus punish them. Even a holy man preeches the importance of staying loyal to a slave's master. He says, "...you are quarreling, and tying up little bags of roots to bury under the door steps to poison each other with. God sees you" (89). He pokes fun at their customs, and places judgment on their actions. It is interesting how religion can be used as such a powerful tool. I realize that the extent to which religion and power could be discussed is lengthy. Seemingly, throughout history, humans have used God to justify their actions, whether it be positive or negative actions. In this situation, this supposed "holy man" is literally using God as a way to control the slaves. "God is watching you...God will punish you..." Just as if a master were to take a slave and whip them into compliance, the Reverend takes the fear of God, whips with sin and guilt and leaves lashes on the mind.

Jacobs poses the question, "Are doctors of divinity blind, or are they hypocrites?" (95). She brings up the subject of missionaries and wonders how Americans can venture out to help fellow human beings, but ignore those struggling in their own country. She wonders how Northern clergyman can come to the South and honestly be convinced that slaves are content with their way of lives. Jacobs wants to know how a man of God can describe slavery as a "beautiful patriarchal institution" (96). I would like to know, as well. As far as I know, in terms of Christianity, God is the "master." People live as equals, treating each other as they would wish to be treated. I do not believe that when a master whips a slave, they are condoning that they deserve the punishment in return. The white slave owners would defy the word of God while simultaneously using God's words to justify their inhumane actions.

Harriet Jacobs! Chapters V-XI

I try to imagine the life of a slave woman, really envelope the sense of such woeful degradation, the victim of inconceivable evils. It's difficult. It's difficult to fathom my lips speaking and no one listening. I'm just a body, with curves and breasts. I am just a piece of property. I am just an object of labor, as well as lust--an inexplicably cruel lust. For the master not only wants to possess my freedom, he needs to possess my body as well, even my skin color which he despises. He still wants me. I am at the center of a convoluted world where I am hated and desired simultaneously, pushed and pulled at the same time to the point where it's painful. It's difficult to imagine such an existence. And the fact that this was Harriet Jacobs' reality is haunting to me. Harriet Jacobs was subject to disgusting behavior by her master--he never ceased to make lude comments and press his sexual attraction upon her. So, Harriet becomes pregnant, viewing it as a way to be sold. She could escape his control and distasteful behavior. However, after the deed is done, she realizes that she has lost her purity, her last control of self. She says, "But, O, ye happy women, whose purity has been sheltered from childhood, who have been free to choose the objects of your affection, whose homes are protected by law, do not judge the poor desolate slave girl too severely! If slavery had been abolished, I also, could have married the man of my choice" (69). Though she does not claim ignorance, and she acknowledges that her actions were not thoughtless, but she directs much of the blame to slavery, and rightfully so. She became desperate, overwhelmed by a sense of desolation, wrought with fear, and condemned by her circumstances to collide with moments of weakness. She writes, "I tried hard to preserve my self-respect; but I was struggling alone in the powerful grasp of demon Slavery; and the monster proved too strong for me," (71). Despite her pregnancy, despite her despair and uncertainty, I know, without further reading that this is not her downfall--and that is not only because there are several pages remaining to the book. In the few weeks that we have been studying African American Literature, I have noticed in awe the will-power, the strength of these individuals. Perhaps that is the only singular beautiful thing that emerged from slavery. These people, pushed to break, subjects to incalculable hardships, seemed to find within themselves the will to carry on, the strength to see the next day. I feel genuine admiration for these individuals. Their strength is beautiful. I hate that they needed to dig that deep, that they were forced to search so far within themselves for hope to survive. But, I think that their integrity is something to be illuminated with renowned and everlasting light.

Harriet Jacobs is a helluva woman

When reading the first chapters of Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I could not help but to compare and contrast it with the previous reading of Frederick Douglass’s narrative. One of the most apparent things both authors have in common is the use of biblical references. She uses the biblical passage “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them.” Jacobs however, hearkens more towards using the proper morality provided in the text of the bible, while Douglass uses the hypocrisy of slavery and Christianity to discredit the slaveholders religious grounds.
The strongest language I found in reading the first few chapters was Jacob’s discussions and experiences with death; particularly the idea of death being better than slavery. When her father dies, it’s her grandmother who comforts her by saying “Perhaps they have been kindly taken from the evil days to come.” (pg 16). The thought that death can be an escape from the cruelties of chattel slavery and in the eyes of a slave, the world, is incredibly powerful. The reader cannot help but be petrified by the idea that death is better than slavery, but Jacobs does a great job at evoking that thought. She does another great job of doing so when describing the death a mother and the child she gave birth to on page 20. Because she is giving birth to the child of her master, the mistress goes to unmeasured lengths of cruelty in order to get revenge. She allows the woman’s child to die, and leaves her in a room screaming in agony. Jacobs speaks beautifully when she ands the chapter with “The poor black woman had but the one child, whose eyes she saw closing in death, while she thanked god for taking her away from the greater bitterness of life.”

chapters 3 to 8

In chapters three through eight, Douglass does a great job at speaking to the several popular beliefs amongst the people of the time. He speaks to the stereotype of happy slave singing, Christian slaveholders treating their slaves well, mulatto slaves, urban vs. rural, and many other facets of slave life.
I think a very interesting part of the book is Douglass’ differentiation between overseers. I find the varying degrees of cruelty and violence used between the overseers and how they use it is a very interesting statement. I figure it like this, overseers probably refrained from allowing individual identity to flourish amongst slaves. This is why I find it so intriguing that Douglass refrains from using this perspective on overseers. Why shouldn’t he just lump together all overseers as cruel, disgusting monsters? Instead he differentiates between Gore, Severe, Covey and the others. It takes a lot of strength to speak both highly and poorly of the person that has been holding you in a violent captivity your entire life.
Chapter 8 was an incredibly powerful chapter. I was utterly appalled by the treatment of Douglass’s grandmother. It is in this chapter that Douglass reveals how far whites are willing to go for their own benefit. After having his grandmother raise the master for his entire life, they kick his grandmother to the curb in her dying days to fend for herself in a small cabin in the woods. I can do no justice to what Douglass says, but I have never felt as much anger and disgust as reading the descriptions that Douglass puts forth in that chapter.

Kayla's Blog Post 4: Chapter 11-Appendix

Douglass has finally acquired his freedom. In the final chapter and then more so in the Appendix, he makes a very interesting and poignant point to the narrative; which, interestingly enough, protects his freedom when it once denied him his freedom. I am speaking of ignorance. As outlined in chapter one of the narrative, ignorance is a main factor to the "creation" of a slave. If a slave is ignorant of freedom, then they will be compliant and not strive to obtain freedom. This is one way in which slaveholders suppressed their slaves. However, through Douglass himself, we see that when an individual collects an education, realizes the many natural freedoms endowed to all human beings, then to remain a slave is nearly impossible. In the narrative, Douglass never lets the reader know details concerning his escape. The purpose of this is rather obvious: if slaveholders knew how slaves escaped, then they would ensure that it would never happened. So, of course, Douglass cannot share that information with the general public. However, his reasoning goes beyond the obvious. Douglass also wishes to keep the slaveholders in the dark because then it is the slaveholder who is the ignorant one. If the slaveholder doesn't know how to control their slaves, then they quite simply can't. It's also interesting to notice that the narrative itself is almost payback. It is vindictive in the sense that it is a narrative explaining how he overcame the master's power and even escaped right beneath their nose. And he won't even explain how. It would be frustrating to any slaveholder. So, ignorance, the ignorance of the slaveholder, now protects Douglass; whereas before, ignorance was the tool with which the slaveholder oppressed Douglass.

Kayla's Blog Post 3: Chapters 3-8

I refer to slavery as a mystery, for I can't seem to properly understand how slavery as an ideal, as an accepted social structure, and in a sense, as a sickness, could have harnassed people so strongly. In reading Douglass' narrative, I am constantly in awe of the dehumanizing effects of slavery upon the masters. Of course, I don't mean to set the plights of the slaves in the background, I am merely interested in understanding how anyone could treat another human being the way masters would treat their slaves. I want to take this opportunity to comment on the narrative by means of examining the master mentaltiy.

Douglass enters into detail when explaing the overseer Gore. Gore is presented as a heartless individual, and it is no doubt true. Douglass writes that, "...he was just the man for such a place, and it was just the place for such a man..." (32). The plantation provided Gore with the perfect environment in which to exercise his powers. He showed no mercy, thrived in his supposed superiority, and found confounding contentment when inflicting harm upon the slaves. And, he did all of this with a calm demeanor. The following words of Douglass are tragically definitive: "[Gore's] savage barbarity was equalled only by the consummate coolness with which he committed the grossest and most savage deeds upon the slaves under his charge," (33). But I need to know why. How is it that compassion can be completely void? Am I lost in this mystery due to my own ignorance? I have never suffered oppression; I do not personally know severe physical or mental pain stemming from injustice.

Douglass goes on to account the story of Demby, a slave murdered by Gore. After suffering a whipping by Gore, Dempy fled to a creek to ease the pain. When Gore summoned Dempy from the creek, and Dempy did not respond or adhere to his demand, Gore shot Dempy. Gore was never investigated for his actions and in fact, Douglass' master, Lloyd, seemed not to care. Importantly, Douglass points out that Gore is celebrated for his talents as an overseer. It is interesting how barbarious acts were not accounted for when they are centered towards slaves, again supporting the idea that slaves were not regarded as completely human. The masters dehumanized slaves, and simultaneously dehumanized themselves.

Antoher example that centers on the master mentality which I found interesting was the case of Sophia Auld. She beings as a kind mistress, and even cofuses Douglass with her kindness. Douglass is her first slave and so she begins their relationship as a caring master, but she slowly turns hard and cruel. It is through Sophia Auld that we as readers can see the evolution of hatred for slaves by their masters. Hugh Auld, her husband, finds her teaching Douglass the alphabet one day and stops the lesson immediatly. He tells her that by teaching Douglass, she is providing him with knowledge that will one day cause him to be unhappy and restless in his socail position (of course, Auld's predictions prove true, and this very moment is the first time that education as a means of freedom is instilled in Douglass' head).

Over time, Douglass can no longer look Sophia in the eyes. She acquired a hatred for him. How did this occur? I think that power is an addiction, in a sense. Once a person learns that they can have power over another, it is hard for them to ignore, for them to sustain the urge. Slowly, Sohpia began to see Douglass as an object of use, as opposed to an equal subject. This different perception occured because she was constantly using him as such. If we practice a foreign language often enough, it will soon become second-nature. If we abuse the freedom of others enough, it will also become second-nature. Sadly, humans can brain wash themselves. If everyone else is doing it, it must be okay.

How is it that masters could lack so mcuh humanity? It is a mystery, and at the same time, completely explainable. Slavery is like a sickness. Once caught, it is absorbed into the blood stream and flows into the heart. Over time, if not cured right away, it will kill the sense of compassion, and empathy withers away into bitterness.

Blog Post 2, response to Frederick Douglass, Chapter 1

Frederick Douglass reveals three important elements required to turn a human into a slave. 1) On the very first page, Douglass begins by stating “A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood.” He further reveals that he nor most slaves, to his knowledge, know their exact age. These confessions begin to form a clear picture of a human being who has been stripped of an identity. Frederick Douglass describes a man who could barely say he had a mother, whose father is the same man that enslaves him, a man who has no history and no future. Douglass’ situation is not peculiar, slaveholders created these situations in order to keep slaves social networks in disarray. These tactics not only made it harder for slaves to organize, but as Douglass point out, cause one to feel unhappy.

Frederick Douglass makes another strong statement revealing the second key element into creating a slave. 2) Law. “Slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers.” This quote reveals exactly how crucial the law is in determining an individual as a slave. With slaves gaining lighter complexions from their sexually deviant masters, we can clearly see that people didn’t need Christianity’s Curse of Ham or a dark skin pigmentation to be labeled a slave. The law of the people deems a slave so.

The third and most despicable of the elements described by Douglass is violence. 3) There is almost nothing as catastrophic to the growth of an individual, a child in specific, as the presence of violence. In Douglass’s and millions of others case, violence was used as a way to both punish those thought to deserve it and create an atmosphere of fear among slaves. “I expected it to be my turn next.” This is the reality that Douglass faced, and as a result he was forced to live life with the fear of a beating or whipping lurking in the distant future. Nobody wants violence to be inflicted upon themselves or the ones you love. Violence was used as a way to show that nobody was safe and that the consequence of breaking the “rules” was severe pain. This and the other two elements laid out build a strong idea of how white people in the United States turned human beings into slaves.

Kayla: Response to Preface-19 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

When reading the first chapter of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, as American Slave, three elements, or methods, to “making” a slave are highlighted within the words and expressive accounts provided by the voice of Douglass himself. They are a sense of ambiguity, inferiority, and fear.

First and perhaps foremost, to “make” a slave, a person’s identity is to remain ambiguous or non-existent. If a human being feels that they lack personal self, it is, in a sense, an injury to their spirit. Douglass writes, “A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages…I was not allowed to make inquiries of my master concerning it…” (17). Even as a young child, the thought of discovering his identity was disheartening to him for he observed the freedom the white children had in knowing their day of birth and he could not fathom why he was not allowed to know his own. It is discouraging. Intimidating to the soul. Also, at a young age, as was custom, his mother was taken from him at a very young age. He was left to fend for himself, instilling a sense of harsh abandonment and loneliness. He never knew the tenderness of a mother or the guidance and protection of a father. With the absence of these quintessential figures, he was never able to identify with a family, or a background.

Second, Douglas goes on to explicate upon a sense of feeling of inferiority. It was a rumor that his master was his father, though this would never be admitted. It was common for a master to impregnate a female slave, and then disclaim connection to the infant. In fact, the master would seldom keep the child or the women, for then he “…must not only whip themselves, but must stand by and see one white son tie up the brother, of but a few shades darker and a complexion than himself and ply the gory lash to his naked back…” (19). These motives to sell his children are entirely selfish and it is examples such as this that signifies the white person’s perception of the black person: a thing, an inferior object, rather than a human being, an equal subject. This points leads into the final “method” presented by Douglas in chapter one.

To “make” a slave, and then “keep” the slave, there must be a sense of fear and threatening consequences. From a very early age, Douglass was subject to horrifying and immeasurable displays of cruelty and violence. Basically, his young mind was taught to perceive that he was under the control of another and that if he stepped out of line, violence would befall him. Douglass recounts, “It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it” (20). The “blood stained gate” locked in the African American slaves, imprisoning them in a world from which they were fearful to escape.

Ultimately, Douglass highlights three main elements that “make” a slave, that force a human being to feel ambiguous, inferior, and fearful. Douglass has never really known his own age, nor his family. His supposed father was ashamed of him, reluctant to ever admit to the fact that he conceived Douglass. And since Douglass can remember, he has witnessed frightfully severe events of brutality. Douglass, from the beginning of his life, was taught to disregard his personal identity and background, acknowledge a sense of inferiority, and live in an environment where fear and violence was utilized to contain order.

Kayla's First Post

My name is Kayla Eason, and I am a junior, Creative Writing major, at the University of Redlands, in Southern California. The purpose of this blog is to explore the facets of injustice and the quarrels of freedom by examining history and literature through texts written by African American authors. I wish to inspect the aspects of human nature that strives to control, and inversely, strives to over-come control for the betterment of the individual soul. I want to understand how inferiority dehumanizes the "lesser" as well as the "superior,"and perhaps attepmt to fathom how or why the idea of inferiority between whites and blacks became an obsessive and rigid notion in society. Also, as a writer, I am always eager to study the craft of literature. This blog project was created as an assignment for the class African American Literature 233-01, Fall 2010.

Johnny's First Post

My name is Johnny Bristol. I was born in Morganton, North Carolina where I grew up most of my life. After some years I moved to California and I loved everything about it. When I moved back to North Carolina I knew I wanted to come back to California for college. Now I attend the University of Redlands and I am also a member of the Redlands Bulldog football team. I am a Business major and i hope to use this blog to have a better understanding in class and help me maintain a good GPA

Bergen's First Post

My name is Bergen Milam and I am a University of Redlands student. It is currently my third year at school, and I am working towards a bachelor’s degree in Race and Ethnic Studies. I emphasize my studies on the intersection of race and the U.S. justice system. I am creating this blog for my African American Literature (ENG 233) course. I hope to use it as a tool to record my thoughts and reflections on the books we are assigned to read. My blog can also be used to post the questions that come to me as I read, which can hopefully become a way to better analyze the texts. I hope that this blog can be used as a tool to help me get a better understanding of what I am reading.