African Identity and Slavery - Essay Example

African Identity and Slavery African Identity and Slavery issues are broad areas that many authors have talked about. Accordingly, two articles have broadly exploited the issue of African identity and slavery: “Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass,” by Fredrick Douglas and “On being Brought from Africa to America,” by Phyllis Wheatley. To begin with, Phillis Wheatley, a black writer also a poet in the colonial period is considered bold and courageous because she used her poetry to speak about the injustices the Africans in America faced. Wheatley was a slave to the family of John Wheatley. She served as a personal maid to John’s wife, Susanna Wheatley. Interestingly, she was named after a ship called Phillis that brought her to America from West Africa; her second name, Wheatley came from the surname of her owners. After being taught by her owners how to read and write English and Latin literature, she began writing poetry. Eventually, she became the first black in American to publish an English book. Wheatley’s poem, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is very controversial since it refers Africa as a “Pagan land” and affirms that America is the land that taught her God’s Salvation and Christianity as well. Although she wrote positively about America and her stay in the country as well, one could think that Wheatley still regards herself as an African since she later in the poem she says “some see our sable race with scornful eye” she goes ahead to argue that “Their colour is a diabolic die.” To prove that Africans are human beings created by God, she asserted that “remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain may be refined and join the angelic train.” Phillis never considered blacks as Americans but argued that anyone could become a Christian. Moreover, she is seen to uses the phrase ‘sable race’ to mean blacks or Africa. Her writings never led to the notion that she thought she was an American however; she praises America to be the land that introduced her to Christianity. During the colonial period, black people were born free though lived a very quite lives. However, learned black slaves such as Wheatley earned their freedom through showing their master that they were in a position to learn quickly, and that they also possessed talents same as of any other person in the world (Wheatley, 1989). On the other hand, Fredrick Douglass one of the most prominent black icons in America says, Blacks during the colonial period had no sense Americanism since many of them were natives and vividly remembered their homeland back in Africa. He further states that the sense of being an African American would not develop maybe in the coming or later centuries. Fredrick Douglas was a very effective communicator both oral and written. Moreover, he was at one time considered as a spokesperson for the African American. In fact, he was one of the first African American who had influence in the American politics. In his autobiography, “Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” Fredrick narrates about his life to let people know that he came from slave background. Just like Wheatley, Douglass does not consider himself an African American and he even goes ahead to consider himself as an “American slave” and not as the “African in America.” His narrative does not only express the physical effects that slavery had on the black people, but also the mental aspect that it had on them. Fredrick’s Narrative depicts how the Native Americans or rather whites enforce slavery through keeping slaves ignorant. During the time Fredrick was writing, many slaves had brainwashed into believing that by virtue, slavery was a natural state of being. They were made to believe that Africans were inherently not n position to participate in civil society and as such, they were meant to be kept as slaves for whites. The story explicates the plans and strategies through which the whites gain and keep power over the innocent and ignorant blacks, right from when they are born until they die. Accordingly, slave owners try their best in keeping slaves ignorant of the basic fact concerning them. For example slaves did not know their date of birth or rather their paternity this can be shown when Douglass states, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it” (Douglass, 2003). In effect, this strategy robbed children of their natural sense of individual identity. Furthermore, as the slave children grow older, they prevented from learning how to read and write. This was because the slave owners knew that with literacy, the children could get a sense f self-sufficiency and capability. Additionally, they slave owners knew that literacy would lead to slaves questioning the write of the whites to keep slaves. Moreover, the slave owners understood that for them to maintain control over what the rest of America knows about slave, they had to keep the slaves illiterate so they could not tell their side of slavery story through writing. Fredrick asserts that, as the slave owners deprive their slaves’ knowledge, slaves must seek knowledge and education at large for them to obtain freedom. From Hugh Auld, Douglass learns that knowledge must be the only way to freedom since Auld often forbid his wife from teaching Douglass how to read and write. At one point, Auld was heard telling her wife that education ruins slaves. Indirectly, Douglass sees Auld as having unwittingly revealed the secret or rather the plan, which the whites use to keep the black people as slaves. According to Douglass Auld had unknowingly leaked the strategy that might free them. As evidence, Douglass uses his own self-education as the means through which he is able to free himself from slavery. Additionally, he also uses his education to work for the freedom of all slaves. Although Fredrick himself gets some freedom by virtue of his self-education, does not simply this connection extensively. Accordingly, Douglass affirms that knowledge indeed helps blacks to articulate the injustices that come along with slavery to others and themselves as well. In addition, knowledge helps them to recognize themselves as equal human beings just like the whites and not as slaves. However, knowledge does not offer an immediate guarantee to freedom; instead, it comes with some form of suffering at the beginning. For instance, Hugh Auld was hit with the reality that Douglass had become knowledgeable and as such put him through much suffering so that he could give up on working towards freedom. Auld realized that Douglass loathed him since he had gotten some self-education. Just like Wheatley’s poem, Douglass also talks about Christianity and outlines a clear distinction between real Christianity and false Christianity. Fredrick elucidates this point in his appendix where he refers “the Christianity of Christ as former”, whereas he refers “the Christianity of this land as the latter”. Succinctly, he means that the original meaning of Christianity has been replaced a false one. In effect, Douglass depicts that slaveholders’ Christianity is not evident in the way they carry out their activities. They act with a lot of brutality which is not what the “former” Christianity advocates for. Douglass describes the slaveholders as hypocritical since they do not practice in accordance with Christian teachings. Moreover, he points out clearly the distinction between the slaveholder’s deeds and that of the Christian teaching through giving examples. For instance, he says the slaveholders are characterized with violent and immoral actions as opposed to the charitable and peaceful tenets that Christianity advocates for. On the hand, women are often shown in Douglass’s Narrative as half characters. They do not appear as full characters but as images. They appear as images of abused bodies, for instance, Mary, Henny, Henrietta and Douglass’s Aunt, Hester appear in scenes that demonstrate them as tools of abuse by their masters. Douglass’s portrayal of women’s emaciated and mangled bodies are aimed at inciting pain as well as outrage in the reader and show the state of slavery and unnaturalness in America. Tentatively, Phillis Wheatley’s two opening line in the poem describes her transition from physically being removed from her native land to America. Phillis somehow appreciates the fact that she was brought to America when she says that it was “Mercy” that let her to come to this America. However, this assertion does mean that she approves slavery. She positively describe America from an education point of view; that it is because of America that she managed to learn how to read and write as well as get introduced to Christianity. Her use of the term “benighted” is both used to show skin colour and the ignorance associated with it. Just like Douglass’s Narrative, she depicts that ignorance was the major strategy that was used to keep slaves. However, Wheatley’s use of ignorance is more inclined to Christianity compared to the proponents of slavery who use the term ignorance in line with intelligence level. She argues that black people’s ignorance is depriving them the opportunity of being Christians and learning the great teachings of Christianity. In her latter lines, Wheatley reminds her readers all people including Africans are capable of being refined which later allows them to move to glory. At first, she is seen to show thanks of being enslaved because she found Christianity hence bringing her much joy to her life. However, in a later stage, the “second Passover,” she reveals he true tone. This is evident in the last line where she uses the word “Remember,” in telling her readers that the black people might not perfect, but neither are the slaveholders. Thus, she says those who follow Christianity should be left to live free (Wheatley, 1989). References Douglass, F. (2003). The life and times of Frederick Douglass. Courier Dover Publications Wheatley, P. (1989). The Poems of Phillis Wheatley. UNC Press Books. Read More