Oh, Freedom
Today is Saturday, 21 August 2010.
The rebellion of slaves and free Blacks led by Nat “Turner” began in southeastern Virginia on this date in 1831; it was suppressed two days later. Turner was judicially murdered on 11 November 1831. At least 250 other Blacks were murdered state-wide in retaliation. (It isn’t known if “Turner” was his actual last name. Slavers commonly assigned their own surnames to their slaves.)
The whites in the ante-bellum American South who administered and/or endorsed the criminal conspiracy of enslaving Blacks cowered behind the same tired and empty rationalization that is a hallmark of every slave society: that the slaves are inherently inferior, sub-human, and therefore may be exploited like any other animal, wild or domesticated. Two realities always reveal that no slaver ever actually believes this.
The first reality is fear of slave rebellions. Do humans live in fear of chicken, pig, cattle, or deer rebellions? Of course not, because only humans have the cognitive capacity to organize socially on such a level, and the physical capability to carry out plans created by social organizations.
The second reality is that, always and everywhere, male slavers rape slaves (overwhelmingly female) on an industrial scale. Such widespread raping would never occur if the male slavers truly believed female slaves were animals, for it would constitute bestiality as a common social practice, something unknown to history.
There are those who would argue that some of the rapes must surely have been consensual, as in the case of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. However, property can no more give consent than can twelve year olds.
The Founding Fathers knew that raping slaves was the frequent practice at the South, but their god was greed and profit, and so they legalized slavery and rape. They knew full well that rape is never about “sex”, but always and everywhere about control through violence.
There are those who condemn Turner and associates for killing women and children. The actual responsibility for their deaths lies with the male slavers who controlled Southern society, and endangered the lives of their associated women and children by making them complicit in the crime of slavery.
The rebellion of slaves and free Blacks led by Nat “Turner” began in southeastern Virginia on this date in 1831; it was suppressed two days later. Turner was judicially murdered on 11 November 1831. At least 250 other Blacks were murdered state-wide in retaliation. (It isn’t known if “Turner” was his actual last name. Slavers commonly assigned their own surnames to their slaves.)
The whites in the ante-bellum American South who administered and/or endorsed the criminal conspiracy of enslaving Blacks cowered behind the same tired and empty rationalization that is a hallmark of every slave society: that the slaves are inherently inferior, sub-human, and therefore may be exploited like any other animal, wild or domesticated. Two realities always reveal that no slaver ever actually believes this.
The first reality is fear of slave rebellions. Do humans live in fear of chicken, pig, cattle, or deer rebellions? Of course not, because only humans have the cognitive capacity to organize socially on such a level, and the physical capability to carry out plans created by social organizations.
The second reality is that, always and everywhere, male slavers rape slaves (overwhelmingly female) on an industrial scale. Such widespread raping would never occur if the male slavers truly believed female slaves were animals, for it would constitute bestiality as a common social practice, something unknown to history.
There are those who would argue that some of the rapes must surely have been consensual, as in the case of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings. However, property can no more give consent than can twelve year olds.
The Founding Fathers knew that raping slaves was the frequent practice at the South, but their god was greed and profit, and so they legalized slavery and rape. They knew full well that rape is never about “sex”, but always and everywhere about control through violence.
There are those who condemn Turner and associates for killing women and children. The actual responsibility for their deaths lies with the male slavers who controlled Southern society, and endangered the lives of their associated women and children by making them complicit in the crime of slavery.
posted by HH at 4:31 AM
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