“Slavery was choice ... for 400 years ?! That sound like a choice ... To make myself clear, of course I know that slaves did not get shackles and put on a boat by free will ... My point is for us to have stayed in that position even though the numbers were on our side means that we were mentally enslaved” - Kanye West
***
Stop it .
Stop it right now misinformed Djangos lol .
*Takes picture with the flash on*
We good now ? Good .
Now let’s be greater
Let’s chat chit over some historical FACTS about slavery shall we
Because some of us believe that choosing between drowning and being burned alive is acceptable (and more courageous) than the 3rd choice - Survival from Extinction .
So we are all clear on the timeline
The time period of U.S. slavery is 1619-1865
That’s 246 years
Although slavery wasn't legally on the books until 1640
After John Punch was sentenced to a lifetime of servitude for running away with 2 white indentured servants
The first 20 slaves were brought in 1619
The time period of the segregated Jim Crow Era is 1865-1965
That’s 100 years
400 years is just a catch all term to make sure we didn’t leave anything out
Because talking in today's time “Oh I would have done this” perspective is quite ridiculous
Now let’s get across the Middle Passage where Killmonger's line plays emphasis and certain slaves did choose death by jumping overboard :
Over 12 million slaves in total were shipped to the west .
An estimated 2 million died at sea mostly due to disease, overcrowding, starvation, and sickness .
Yes, suicide was attempted frequently but measures were taken to make sure it stayed to a minimum through force feeding, nets on the side of the boats, and using sharks as a terror technique
In 1830 . The U.S. population was over 12.8 million people ... 2 million were slaves
In 1860 . The U.S. population was 31 million ... and 5 years before it was abolished, the slave population reached its peak at 3.9 million
There were also almost 5,000 free blacks with land and property and freedom . Not a lot, but consider them looked upon in the same way athletes are when you’re a kid “they made it .. so can I” . Most don’t make it but it’s still a lofty dream to keep you going
If you’re among the group who agrees with Killmonger’s powerful and infamous last line and would have rather jumped off that boat
AND you also find yourself believing Donda’s Son aka He Who Shall Currently Not Be Named and his “slavery was a choice that lasted 400 years” foolishness
Understand to some degree you are advocating for the mass suicide of our ancestors (and consequently... you never being born)
Because the only “choice” was work and survive or death by suicide (which includes by your own hand or someone else’s)
In regards to revolts and fighting back
(Because everyone “would have been Nat Turner if they were alive back then")
There was an estimated 250 slave revolts throughout the entire 246 year history of slavery That's basically 1 per year .
I used to think “Why is that ? There is way more slaves than masters ... how?”
But when you don’t fully understand a thing,
Especially when that thing deals with traumatic mental disorders which slavery definitely was
And you yourself never experience something traumatic every single day of your life
You can easily make the wrong assumptions about people
Like ... believing people have “choices” ...
Outside of the plantation itself,
Slaves were overwhelmingly outnumbered in every single city . Every last one .
So say you get fed up and get your Nat Turner on
Sure maybe a plantation or two would be “easy”
But you take the plantation and then what ?
You “free” the slaves and then what?
Ride off on your nag in your shiny blue onesie to the next plantation and then what?
Take that one over too
You believe you have freedom now ?
How long do you think this process would take?
Before the next plantation is waiting on your arrival?
Before the townsmen and national guard was called ?
Now you’re a shoot on site Christian killing fugitive with your name and picture on every tree with strong branches
An entire armed mob looking for the first piece of black skin they see
Even killing other slaves to make an example of what happens if they ever think of insurrection
What about your children ?
You would sacrifice them as well ? Their death is also better than bondage ?
Or do you raise them hoping they would not face slavery for long ?
There is no right or wrong answers
But these "choices" are worth consideration - especially for the larger generational picture ?
These are the very real realities we don’t think of and cast aside when certain people make uninformed statements - especially when their album is getting ready to drop
And because here in 2018 - It’s easier to talk brave in the face of post-slave safety
Slaves were far from weak or scared and there are numerous examples of subtle plantation rebellions among them
But to assume that 4 million slaves scattered across 15 states
Living every day on the brink of death and hopelessness
Could actually come together in a world of
- NO mass communication
- NO mass technology
- NO common language
- NO mass education
- NO mass knowledge of where other slaves were or even where they were on the map
But hinting at the fact that they were cowards (no, it wasn't said in such terms, but was said in such non-terms) because they should have fought for a freedom they couldn’t fully imagine is offensive to their sacrifices
The U.S. was not Haiti. American slavery was missing huge elements that the Haitian Revolution had (1791-1804):
1. Haiti had Toussaint Louverture. A free black, military general, and enlightened thinker who could speak to both slave and French elite in balancing its common goals.
2. Haitian slaves were concentrated in a much smaller area. Not scattered from Maryland to Texas
3. Haitian slaves mostly came from the same 4 countries of Africa (Nigeria, Beni, Angola, and the Congo) which kept their communication and cultures closer. American slaves came from at least 12
4. Haitians created the religion of Voodoo which outright rejected slavery. Nothing like the imposed acceptance of Christianity
5. French slave owners were not American owners ... France was not the U.S.
6. Haitian slaves had Great Britain AND Spain also fighting the French in Haiti
The thought “damn they did it so why couldn’t America” is common. The slaves in the states were definitely inspired by the revolution but, minus a few abolitionists, please know there was no one CHOOSING to help the American slave against the US colonies especially after the American Revolution (1765-1783)
Slavery was called an institution and a system for a reason . Everything was constructed to keep slavery going at all cost.
Religion . Rape . Death . Laws. Punishment . Torture . Fear . Family Separation . Desperation . Hopelessness . Fatigue. Kidnapping . Uncertainty.
All of this increased on the slave after the Haitian Revolution
Whatever choices they may have begin to feel as a collective were drained again
But again here we are safe, comfy, and free(er) in this generation
Letting wealth and celebrity privilege tell us
To love those who would choose to oppress
Support those who have chosen to ridicule
And chastise those who did not choose to be enslaved
Do you really think those first 20 slaves who were stolen by the English from a Spanish ship headed to Mexico and brought to Tsenacommacah in 1619 (later colonized and changed to Jamestown, Virginia), chose their situation?
20 strangers in a land you had no idea even existed until your boat stopped on foreign sand
Or the 100 Angolans brought 11 years later knew that this was something that would last for 246 years (1619-1865) ?
Do you think once the Republicans (not to be confused with these new ones) ratified the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865, those now “free” folk chose to have to deal with Jim Crow for 100 years ? (1865 - 1965)
Hell, did we know mass incarceration, police brutality and violence, drug wars, redlining, housing and loan denials, economic disadvantages and community struggle would last more than 53 years ? (1965 - 20??)
Quite unfair to assume they did.
We just have the luxury and privilege of looking back on history
Please don’t let Donda’s lost child have us looking foolish because some of our blackest people are also some of the wrongest.
They just have a louder microphone
Everyone that finds themselves in war doesn’t fight their way out.
Some find and pray for alternative means .
Please don’t confuse the length of slavery (“400 years”) with its effects on each individual slave (“it was a choice”).
It’s disrespectful to their sacrifices and unappreciative of our luxuries today.
Make a better choice than that .
Love. Learn . Live .