Difference between revisions of "Week 10 Questions/Comments-327 09"
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I agree with both Allison and Megan, the master/slave relationship was not simple. Not only did the masters control the work that the slaves did but dictated their lives in general. Rose Williams' is a good example of this. It is an interesting relationship because though every aspect of her life was controlled, she still felt like still owed it to her Mr. Hawkins to be with the man who he chose for her. Mr. Hawkins would be getting more slaves out of the deal, but what would Rose be getting? I guess the better question would be, what wouldn't Rose be getting? and that would be whipped. Rose states, "De nex' day de massa call me and tell me, "Woman, I's pay big money for you and I's done dat for de cause I wants yous to raise me chilllens. I's put you to life with Rufus for dat purpose. Now, if you doesn't want whippin' at de stake, yous do what I wants."" I think what stood out to me most in this reading is how Rose was treated. I realize that slaves were property, and owners could do what they wanted. But in my crazy mind, I imagined that slaves would do their work but would be able to have their own families or personal time once work was done, I didn't think that these families were forced upon women as means to get more slaves for their owners. I guess I always just assumed that slave women wanted families of their own, this definitely wasn't the case! --Erin Sanderson | I agree with both Allison and Megan, the master/slave relationship was not simple. Not only did the masters control the work that the slaves did but dictated their lives in general. Rose Williams' is a good example of this. It is an interesting relationship because though every aspect of her life was controlled, she still felt like still owed it to her Mr. Hawkins to be with the man who he chose for her. Mr. Hawkins would be getting more slaves out of the deal, but what would Rose be getting? I guess the better question would be, what wouldn't Rose be getting? and that would be whipped. Rose states, "De nex' day de massa call me and tell me, "Woman, I's pay big money for you and I's done dat for de cause I wants yous to raise me chilllens. I's put you to life with Rufus for dat purpose. Now, if you doesn't want whippin' at de stake, yous do what I wants."" I think what stood out to me most in this reading is how Rose was treated. I realize that slaves were property, and owners could do what they wanted. But in my crazy mind, I imagined that slaves would do their work but would be able to have their own families or personal time once work was done, I didn't think that these families were forced upon women as means to get more slaves for their owners. I guess I always just assumed that slave women wanted families of their own, this definitely wasn't the case! --Erin Sanderson | ||
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| + | This was a very sad story to me for several reasons. First, while she was interviewed in 1941, it was sad to read that she even referred to herself as a nigger several times. It just shows how ingrained it was into her brain and how slavery had really quite diminished her own self-worth. Additionally, at the end of the story when she speaks about how after she was forced to procreate with rufus she lost all desire to have anymore children, struck me as interesting. This is something that is often common in women who have been raped. While we may not consider the situation rape because she eventually gave in, we have to be mindful that she was basically under duress to have intercourse with a man she did not want to be with. That is RAPE. She clearly still had emotional damage. I think that as humans, regardless of how educated we may be, we know the difference between ourselves and animals---and clearly Ms. Williams was treated like an animal. -Mary Turner | ||
