I apologize

Reflections On “Linda Brent, Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl (1861)”
By Marlene L. Johnson

Virginia has done it. Now Maryland is about to do it--apologize for participating in the enslavement of blacks. For those who might think the apology is frivolous or unnecessary, I offer my personal reflections about a book I read recently entitled, “Linda Brent, Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl (1861),” which represents a true account of her experiences as a slave, and may offer sound reasons why the apologies are in order.
Reading the account of Linda Brent’s life had an impact on me similar to what happened when I visited Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar, and the Door of No Return in 1971. I was so overcome with emotions that I had my Senegalese guide take me through alone rather than joining with a group of Europeans there to visit the point of departure of Africans bound for America and enslavement. My reaction wasn’t unique. I witnessed a similar reaction from Gus, a black aviator who flew to the South Pole alone, and was partnering in the Amazing Race TV show with his daughter. He too was emotionally overcome when he stepped on the ancestral sacred ground. About three years ago, when I visited a plantation near Charleston, S.C., I had similar emotions after touring the kitchen where slaves cooked the meals, and walking in the courtyard. I had to step away from the group as tears poured down my face. In the same way, I often had to step away from this book by Brent.

I believe the experiences of our ancestors as they departed from the Motherland voyaged through the Middle Passage to enslavement in this country is imprinted in our bones and spirits and still causes African Americans all manner of emotions and behaviors. For example, just as some of the male slaves in Brent’s story helped with the defilement of their wives and daughters hoping to be spared from the master’s lash, some of our brothers and sisters deceive us and try to curry favor with white bosses on our jobs.

This significant story paints a dismal, but realistic picture of the institution of slavery and raises a number of important themes. Miscegenation, slaves as property, lust and rape, the relationship between the mistresses and slave women, the strong love of black slave mothers, injustice and the courage of slave women. These issues are discussed against the backdrop of the quest for freedom and justice, and the Christian beliefs held both by the slaveholders and those who were enslaved. The latter notion may seem like a contradictory reality, but because the Bible is subject to different interpretations, those who seek to do evil can find passages to support their beliefs and agendas.

Many of these issues are still evident in today’s society when it comes to relationships between the races. There is the still brewing controversy of skin tone and “good hair” versus nappy hair, although that is dissipating somewhat with the advent of dreadlocks, thanks to Bob Marley and the Rastafarians. But many of our prominent black men still pursue lighter skinned women in social relationships, even though some of our sisters of darker hue may have the same qualities, education, manners, and characteristics. Still, they often are overlooked by available suitors who are only interested in white-looking “trophy” wives.

Relationships between black women and white women haven’t progressed much since Brent’s time. Most white women tend to be civil, but stay away from having real friendships with black women wherein they socialize together, visit each other’s homes and go places together. I can count on one hand the number of white women whom I consider to be real friends who will come to my home, go out socially with me, call me just to laugh and talk and with whom I can share problems and vice versa. One case in point is a staunch Christian I was able to tell that I stopped attending a Christian Journalist meeting after a white female speaker used the “N” word in recounting an incident. And there I was the only black person among some 40 people in the room. Not one of those white Christians rose to object to the insulting racial slur, and I left the meeting soon afterward. Had I spoken up I would have been seen as “an angry black women.” The woman I spoke to in confidence about the matter is still my friend and has tried to get me to return to the meetings. Someday I might.

In the employment arena, most blacks are still undervalued, underestimated and marginalized by their bosses and some of their coworkers. They either provide too much information about simple tasks, or offer no explanation at all, leaving us to figure out how things work, a technique that programs many of us to fail. Some whites tend to disbelieve African Americans are capable or qualified to do a job for which they’ve been hired and question their abilities even when assignments are carried out successfully. This kind of treatment keeps many blacks moving from one position to another in hopes of finding one where their work will be recognized and they will be rewarded appropriately for their achievements. We often have skills and education to surpass that of our bosses and work hard, but still are treated much like our enslaved ancestors were treated.

Lust and rape continue to be a problem for black women and all women. The advent of the MTV videos and the inappropriate deportment of some of our young black women on camera is just another form of sexual enslavement. Although the way a woman dresses is no excuse for rape, allowing up the skirt camera shots of their backsides sends the message that they are open to any sexual advance made by anybody. Many young women are in bondage to their sexuality and find themselves caught in a cycle of “hooking up” and living with first one man and then another, being dumped, becoming depressed and doing it all over again. Morality is off the charts on a downward slope. Hopefully the pendulum will swing the other way and our young black women will grow tired of exposing naked midriffs and as much of their bodies as they can get away with on television.

Brent and the women in her family were courageous. They were willing to do anything to keep their family together and spare their children from the degradation of slavery. Most black men and women are courageous today, even those who have given up on life and have succumbed to drugs and alcohol. Every day we put on our emotional armor and go out to face what is mostly a hostile world. Honest, hardworking black men are insulted by cab drivers, both American born and immigrant, who pass them up believing they are a threat. White women still cling tightly to their purses when passing groups of black males on the streets. Black men still can’t protect their families in the same way white men can. And there are still some ignorant whites who think blacks are lazy, just as they did during slavery days when white overseers stood around waiting for the slightest infraction by blacks who were doing the work. They meted out cruel treatment and whipped the blacks they didn’t think were working hard enough or fast enough. And whites had the nerve to call blacks lazy. Blacks carried this nation on their backs.
There were a number of instances in this book where you can really see who was lazy. Imagine having a slave woman lie on the floor outside your door in case you wanted a drink of water during the night. How lazy is that? Or a black mother having to stop weaning her baby so she could provide nourishment from her body for a white infant. With all of this intimacy going on, including the rape of black slave women, why does white hatred of blacks run so deep and why is it still so pervasive?

One of the most ludicrous incidents in the book was the preacher using the pulpit to castigate slaves, calling them “rebellious sinners” whose hearts were filled with evil, as a means of extracting loyalty from them for their masters. What could be more evil than the institution of slavery, than one human being owning other human beings? What could be more evil than a cruel slave master lashing slaves nearly to death or raping slave women and selling the children that resulted from this lustful, sexual abuse? Imagine, selling your own children.

Another evil was the method slaveholders used to get rid of elderly slaves by selling them for little or nothing. This society still doesn’t revere its elderly. President Bush wants to push older persons into poverty by removing the Social Security safety net under the guise of saving for future generations. Some older Americans are barely surviving on Social Security because their wages weren’t high enough when they were working. The same situation exists today and younger workers aren’t making sufficient income to put aside any of their earnings in private accounts, as has been proposed. Many Americans are living pay check to pay check, working hard, and barely making enough to take care of their needs, while the fat cats make multimillion dollar salaries to keep the masses down through sleight of hand economics.

Future generation may find themselves standing in line at soup kitchens if they invest in private accounts tied to the stock exchange. When the stock market drops, away go all your savings, never to return. The stock market crash of 1929 and the steep decline of the market a few years ago ought to be a lesson to Mr. Bush and everyone else who thinks that plan is a good idea. People who can save already are doing so through the 401K plans. The working poor can’t afford to join one and must rely on Social Security as a base .

Finally, on the question of faith, many black men and women are still sustained by their faith in God. The church is an important aspect of life in the black community. It’s a place where blacks can find solace and joy, release pent up emotions and achieve spiritual rejuvenation, which allows us to face the world where we’re “invisible” and too often mistreated. Just as blacks face injustices every day, Brent’s story is replete with instances of injustice. Enslavement of one human being by another is an injustice in itself and everything that flows from that dastardly circumstance is an injustice.

© Marlene L. Johnson 2007