Category: WK5: Black Captivity

Both documents share the topic of slavery, however their depictions are different. One, “The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race and Imprisonment” by Joy James, is an analysis of the prison system and how, after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, it served as a continuation of slavery within the US. Considering the demographics within the prison system, James makes the argument that slavery is still prominent and is affecting the same people. The other, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, is a retelling of the author’s experience during the height of the slave trade. The author describes the horrors faced by people during this time.

James goes into detail on why the prison system is unethical and mirrors slavery. The mention of the demographics that make up most of the inmates in the prison system, highlights this fact. James makes mentions of phenomena such as DWB and the differences in punishment between a person of color and a white person. James also calls out the fact that white women are the main beneficiaries of affirmative action. Throughout history, people who possess whiteness have persisted in maintaining their rule, even when they roll out systems that are intended to help minority groups.

The comparison between Equiano’s life as a slave in Africa compared to Europe provides contrasts. Equiano makes it very clear that his community was not perfect, however when it came to decency, such as treating others with respect and having manners, life in Africa different greatly. On the contrary, life as a slave to Europeans was gruesome, and he mentions the lack of decency from this group of people. This contrast of experiences challenges the European justification for conquest, as Europeans were more savage than the people in Africa, just with better technology.

Both texts provide haunting details of life as a slave, one modern and the other more historical. Equiano sets the stage with his retelling of his life. I was shocked at the conditions people had to endure for the benefit of the white man. We see this continue to the modern day with James’s article. White people just can’t live with the fact that they are equal to other people. They constantly seek ways to maintain their control over those who are not white, and we see this even when countermeasures, such as affirmative action are put into place.

Joy James opens his article “The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race and Imprisonment” by defining what democracy should look like and acknowledging that the US does not meet these standards, leading to racial segregation, censorship of political views, and torture in prisons. All of which serve as a means to create divide and keep people of color, especially black people, confined to the ideals that slavery believed in. In the autobiography “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” chapter 2 focuses on how he was captured as a child and sold into slavery, documenting the culture shocks he experienced as well as his experiences with the brutality of slavery. 

Both of the articles focus on slavery or the ideals behind slavery at two different points in time. The autobiography enforces and builds upon what people usually think about when they hear slavery: the kidnapping and selling of people while the article focuses on how these ideas have evolved and found a place in modern day society with the mistreatment of prisoners today. Booth texts include insights about commonly forgotten people in this context: children and women, whose identity changes the struggles they face in society but does not exclude them from slavery or prison. 

The first article is very numbers based which restates ideas that many people should already be familiar with. Presenting these ideas with the history behind these inequalities as well as various statistics throughout the article makes it hard for people to deny stories like these and pass them off as coincidences or analogies that don’t accurately represent the situation. One of the statistics from the first text that surprised me the most was how the majority of women who were incarcerated were convicted of economic and non-violent crimes and that 80% of women had an annual income of less than $2000. This highlights that the nature of these crimes is survival and how the prisons should not condemn them to more debt and work for less than minimum wage. 

As for the second text, it was interesting to see a child’s story represented, especially when he mentioned feeling like he was adopted into one of the families that bought him. It reminds you of a child’s nativity and how that was exploited throughout the process. I hope that it attracted people’s sympathy when it was first published.

In this article, James discussed how democracy is dysfunctional for African Americans. She starts the article by analyzing segregated communities, showing how segregation exists in gated communities and prisons. These segregations disproportionately affect individuals’ access to resources and economic opportunities. This reminds me of “ghettos,” a term that describes urban neighborhoods high in crime and poverty. My roommate, who lived in a poorer community, shared with me that she saw a gun every other week. The deepest reason for ghettos to exist, as James pointed out, is the legacy of racial segregation, but they continue to exist because of the continued disparity in economic resources for minorities. As we see in the photobook, there is a huge racial diversity within these communities on Buford Highway. As James has noted, these segregated communities led to a disappearance of diversity: “while universities are becoming increasingly white, prisons black or brown.”

Then, James talked about how this class and racial inequality led to a disproportionate number of Black individuals in prison. This reminded me of the book The Hate U Give, which shows the systemic racism toward Black people. The main character, Starr, witnessed her only friend being shot by a white police officer because of a suspicion that he had a gun. This story is based on real-life events, showing how systemic racism and discrimination still perpetuate. In the narration that follows, Starr shows how the communities suffer from cycles of drugs and gangs—Black individuals in poorer communities are uneducated and have limited opportunities, so the only choice they have is to participate in the drug business. This has reinforced cycles of poverty and crime, which in turn perpetuate negative stereotypes about Black communities.

In conclusion, James’ analysis of segregation, and racial and economic disparity in communities, shows how democracy is sometimes dysfunctional for Black individuals. Her analysis allows us to critically examine the current structure and think about ways to push further to challenge this dysfunctional structure.

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. 

“The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race and Imprisonment” highlights the industrial prison complex and how the prison system perpetuates a new form of modern slavery. The article delves into how the policing system purposely profiles and unfairly arrests and harshly imprisons black citizens to place them into the prison system at higher rates than white counterparts to use them as free labor. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano describes the experience of being enslaved in the narrator’s home country and traded to then being forced into the triangular slave trade. With that in mind, both texts compliment each other because the narrative establishes the abuses experienced by black people that have now morphed into the inequalities and abuses of the prison system. While the article and narrative do not exactly establish this the slave trade and prison system were strategic in limiting the power of black people while using there strength.The narrative was quite haunting because when Olaudah did not want to eat out of depression he was abused into submission and the living conditions he was placed in were so bad people were getting sick and dying. Similarly, the article mentioned how many prisoners were abused if they refused to work out of protest and were often tied up and left in inhumane weather conditions as a form of torture. I understood that the prison systems were unjust, however, I had no idea that the majority of people in prison are people of color and they are punished harsher for crimes than their white counterparts. Reading both pieces together really connects how slavery was never truly abolished but was just legalized and institutionalized into the governmental system. Furthermore, I did some research and found that almost half a billion is invested into prison systems but they can’t pay them more than a dollar and instead of investing into rehabilitation they are deteriorating the mental health of these people and killing them off with the death penalty. Lastly, I wanted to touch on the last part of the narrative, where he began to convict those who enforce slavery yet say they are “Christian” because the abuse they are enforcing is opposite of the theology within the Bible. He really knew his readers and I think pointed out their hypocrisy and how it ruined his life.

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” is Equiano’s autobiography where he writes about essentially his entire life, from his upbringings in Africa to his life as an enslaved person to his life as a free man and anti-slavery advocate. He goes more specifically into detail about the transatlantic slave trade and the absolute horrors him and other enslaved people had to endure. In “The Dysfunctional and the Disappearing: Democracy, Race, and Imprisonment”, author Joy James constructively criticizes the American prison system from a standpoint of anti-racism, placing focus on the mass incarceration of Black Americans and the disproportionate number of Black people in American prisons.

Both authors dedicate a large portion to advocacy against the racial injustices highlighted in their respective pieces of writing. Equiano was an abolitionist and had the specific goal of putting a permanent end to transatlantic slave trade. Joy James is passionate about dismantling the racism within the prison and legal system. Both authors also use their writing to challenge the reader to rethink American societal and legal systems and aspects of the current climate of when the respective pieces of literature were released.

There are some relatively significant differences in the two stories. Equiano’s story is from the first person. It’s a personal account of his struggles through slavery and his mission after his supposed freedom. Meanwhile, James’ story is a third person view on a current issue which she wants to bring attention and awareness to in hopes of making a number of different changes in a long-term scope. While both pieces of writing are evidently about injustices for Black Americans, the extent to which both subjects are about injustice is quite different in scale between the two.

There is not necessarily anything to agree or disagree on regarding Equiano’s autobiography, as it is an objective account of his personal experience as a victim of slavery. However, while much of James’ article does include high objectivity, there are parts that are more opinionated and suggestions of what James thinks would be right or should be done. Overall, I do agree with the sentiments of James’ article and the overall goal of her writing and research. I feel that the prison and legal system in America should completely disregard race. The law, while of course being open to interpretation in essentially all instances, should not incorporate racial biases. There is no reason other than bias and forms of systemic racism as to why there is such a high disproportionate number of incarcerated Black Americans.