The Gullah Community - Essay Example

?The Gullah Community Introduction It is interesting to that despite the powerful influence of global society evolution, some cultures remain very resilient to influence of cultural dilution and change. The Gullah community is one of the communities in the world that has retained its cultural identity and heritage despite its location in the middle of very different western culture. This community is believed to have originated from Africa during the age of slave trade. The Gullah culture and history is fascinating and worthwhile reading. Clarke, in his book “Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic” has made a robust investigation of the prominent Gullah cultural figures as well as giving an insight on the origin, life and cultural identity of these unique community. Other authors have also made investigations on the community. This essay discusses the Gullah culture by investigating the history, origin, cultural identities, and other aspects of this community. Historic Origin Gullah community refers to a cultural group of people living in South Carolina and some parts of Georgia. Gullahs are mostly concentrated on the coastal region where growing of rice is more common. Geechee is a term used to refer to Gullah people and their language. It is argued that Gullah’s are the most culturally preserved people living in United States. It is believed that Gullah community originated from West Africa probably in the region between Liberia and Sierra Leone. This does not come by surprise since these regions are well known for their historical proficiency in growing rice as the main economic activity. South Carolina and Georgia region was a very viable rice-growing region and thus the whites deemed it necessary to import slaves from rice growing regions in Africa to come and work as slaves in these regions. This led to a massive importation of slaves into this region. It is interesting to note the reasons behind such a strong cultural preservation. The Gullah’s brought with them the most needed expertise and experience in rice growing. The climatic conditions of South Carolina and Georgia rice growing region was unfavorable for human survival due to prevailing harsh weather and presence of water borne diseases. Gullah’s had inherent disease resistance to these diseases and thus they were able to tolerate diseases. The whites, being vulnerable found it difficult to survive in this region. This gave the Gullah’s an undue survival advantage thereby increasing in number more than the Native Americans in this region do. Being many in number, Gullah has dominated the area and cemented their cultural values without external influence from the American community. Although the culture and origin of Gullah community is interesting, the predicaments of enslavement for these people are saddening. According to Clarke, “masters had used the weapons of the powerful and organized military, the threats of whip, auction block and gallows, the claims of superiority, and the styles of speech and dress that intimidate”1 The primary objective of the whites was to get as much work output from Gullah slaves as possible by use of these enslavement techniques. On the other hand, Gullahs were not willing to yield to such harsh treatment. They always tried their level best to ensure that the whites get the least out of them. most of the techniques used include “foot dragging and playing dumb, gossip that threatened the reputation of owners, and secret scorn for the pretentions of the masters”2. Indeed the Gullahs must have had it rough. The slave masters tried to engage them into other activities besides rice cultivation. It is believed that the whites tried to use the slaves for cotton cultivation as well as. Gullahs sometimes underwent very dehumanizing and traumatizing experiences during sale auctions. Slave auction is arguably one of the most inhumane treatments a person could experience. The Jupiter family demonstrated predicaments of slave trade well. The Jupiter family consisting of father, wife siblings and their grandchildren had to be paraded to prospective slave buyers who had to inspect them like objects or tools of trade rather than human beings. For instance, the potential buyers would look for whipping marks, strength, size, health, and presence of diseases to determine which slave to buy. Clarke remarks “But the bitter experience in which he was now plunging deeply was the common sorrow of the Gullah people”3 This prompted Gullahs to stick together and form unity groups. Additionally, the element of working as a community made them develop a strong sense of community service and self-reliance, which is one of the most dominant characteristics of Gullahs even at present. One of the most interesting aspects of interaction between the Gullah community and the whites was influence of religious values to the slave-master relationship. The slave masters believed that they had absolute authority over Gullah slaves. However, the religious views had it that family values be respected. For instance, religious values discouraged disunity between man and wife. They claimed “whatever God has brought together, no man should put asunder.” On the other hand, the slave masters believed in the “divide and rule” technique in which they would separate the men from women in order to have better control of the slaves. Although this conflict ensued for some time eventually, the Gullahs became more powerful as the power of slavery weakened. Gullah community had influential leaders whose role was to unite the community and address various slavery issues. One such person was Charles Colcock who lived between 1804 and 1863. He was arguably the most influential personality in this community. Colcock was able to unite the societal fabric of this community due to his ability to move freely within different community settlements in the region. He was a religious role model whose main role was to act as a mentor. Most of the times he would conduct prayers which would unite, strengthen and give hope to the Gullahs as they endeavored to free themselves of the reign of slavery4. The cultural values and traditions of Gullahs were seriously affected by the inhumane manipulation of family and social settings by the white slave masters. The slave masters needed more men in the working fields due to their ability to perform more tasking duties. They wittingly set the housing and settlement arrangements as well as living conditions. These conditions were further fuelled by the arbitrary actions of the whites in procuring slaves. However, the Gullahs were able to gain strength and unity and strengthen their cultural identity by increasing in number. As the number increased so did the development of Gullah cultural identity and Gullah language. After a period, it was possible for family settings to take their own course without much interference from the slave masters. For instance, “Some couples, like Andrew and Mary Ann at Maybank lived together in the same settlement and raised their children together under the same roof”5 The most trying moments for the families usually occurred when the families had to be split up during sale and auction of slaves. It was very difficult if not impossible for Gullahs to negotiate with the whites regarding family setting. This is because the slave masters did not have any respect or honor for family values and role of marriage for slaves. Christianity played a very important role in shaping the culture of Gullahs. There was a very tough conflict of interest between the slave masters, Gullahs and Christianity. Christianity promoted, advocated for Christian, and societal values that directly contradicted with the interests of the slave masters. On the other hand, the Gullah community had to yield to a new Christian culture that was not part of their culture from their African origin region. However, Christianity sought to protect the humanity interests of the slaves and thus Gullahs sided with Christianity. Charles was one of the black-American in the Gullah community to uphold and advocate for Christian values. He strongly believed that preachers administering black congregation should be well enlightened, intelligent, and educated on order to handle the challenges of handling sensitive issues of the blacks. He claimed, “It was necessary for the preacher administering to slaves to study just as profoundly, and as extensively, as he who preaches to whites”6 He was very instrumental in bridging the gap between the white preachers and Gullah black community of the liberty county. He used to prepare for sermons that directly addressed the consistent slavery issues and challenges. The Gullah culture was shaped by many centers of influence. Lack of western influence and presence of cultural conscious leaders among the Gullahs played a very big role in shaping of this unique culture. Presently, Gullahs share many characteristics with their fellow people in their place of origin. In fact, many cultural events are held in Sierra Leone as a commemoration of the well-preserved Gullah culture. Additionally, the federal government recognizes the importance and significance of Gullah culture to the American community and as such, it has allocated a sizeable proportion of money for preservation of Gullah cultural values and heritage. It can be argued that Gullah is a fighting and resilient community that will go a long way in ensuring that their cultural values are upheld. Presently, the community is fighting against the uncontrolled developments in their land. Gullah importance in the American community cannot be underestimated. Rainey Hayne Joseph born in 1832 was one of the most influential Gullah leaders. Although he might not have direct influence on the Gullah community, he was the first African-American man to be elected in the House of Representatives representing the South Carolina region7. Conclusion The Gullah community and cultural heritage has come a long way. The historic slave trade from Sierra Leone and Libya to the Southern Carolina region was instrumental in establishment of Gullah community. However, the events that followed played a very important role in shaping the culture to its present status. The prevailing weather conditions favored the blacks thus increasing their population as well as buffering the influence by the western culture. Christianity aided in promoting human values and weakening of slave culture. Although the slave masters did not uphold family and societal values, Gullah’s were able to develop and hold the social constructs together thereby developing and retaining their cultural identity. Various leaders among the Gullahs also played a role in shaping the community set up. Leaders such as preacher Charles Colcock and house of Representative Rainey Hayne were among the many leaders who influenced the culture of Gullah community. The community serves as a good example of development and preservation of cultural values despite many challenges. References Cross, Wilbur. Gullah culture in America. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. Erskine, Clarke. Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. New York: Yale University Press, 2007. Morgan, Philip, and Georgia Humanities Council. African American life in the Georgia lowcountry: the Atlantic world and the Gullah Geechee. Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2010. Read More