This week’s readings centered on Black captivity, first through The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, a first person account of slavery in the Americas and England, and second through “The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race, and Imprisonment,” an article describing how policing, incarceration, and capital punishment continue the legacy of slavery in modern times.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano tells the story of Olaudah Equiano’s childhood, kidnapping, many years of enslavement, spiritual transformation, and path to freedom. Equiano captures the distinctly cruel nature of the institution of slavery as it existed in the US, contrasting these experiences with those of his enslavement in Africa. He captures the horrors of the middle passage. He captures the vulnerability of having one’s safety entirely dependent on the whims of a particular master. He captures the inability to be truly free even as a free man since he could be returned to slavery at any time. Equiano’s narrative is fundamental to our understanding of the experiences of enslaved people. His story is incredibly moving. I was intrigued by Equiano’s rhetorical choices, especially the choice to begin the narrative with a prologue that essentially diminishes the quality of his own work and asks his audience for forgiveness. It seems like this was necessary to win credibility in the eyes of a white audience that was empathetic to his cause but prejudiced nonetheless.
When we read historical documents like Equiano’s, it is easy to conclude that slavery happened a long time ago and that the world looks very different today. “The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race, and Imprisonment” demonstrates how we are not as far removed from the legacy of slavery as we may feel. The article reveals how through the thirteenth amendment, involuntary servitude continues, affecting Black men enormously. Policing and sentencing continue the legacy of Black captivity in what is known as neoslavery. Mass incarceration of Black and Brown people creates a new form of segregation which is “self-perpetuating.” This article captures the complex dynamics of mass incarceration very succinctly, and I would like to read about this in more detail.
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