I found this weeks reading of Ex-Slaves and the Rise of Universal
Education particularly interesting. As we are containing through the time
periods of African American history in class, we are seeing what slaves and
ex-slaves are doing for themselves and their community. A quote from this
reading really jumped out at me:
“Each
race of men, each class in society have to shape their own destinies
themselves… The colored people are called today to mark out on a map of life
with their own hands their future course of locality in the great national body
of politic. Other hands cannot mark for them; other tongues cannot speak for
them; other eyes cannon see for them; they must see and speak for themselves
and make their own characters on the make, however crooked or illegible.” (10)
This quote is extremely true and is
still true today for all minorities. African Americans were not going to be
removed from slavery from outside sources alone, they as a collective group had
to bear the hard work to start that process. Even in society today, no one is
going to do the hard work for someone else. If a minority group is being
treated unfairly, their voice will not be heard until they fight for what they
want. This reading sheds light on how hard African Americans shaped their
destinies through education. White slave owners or citizens would never have
given slaves or free blacks a chance to go to school to become educated; it was
the drive to learn and become an educated race that pushed them in the right
direction. Education was a key factor for this race and taking matters into
their own hands is exactly what they needed. They were going to do whatever it
was to make schooling for African Americans possible, even when the Board of
Education and Freedmen’s Bureau tried to shut down the schools, they were not
going to let that happen. I think this drive to be educated was a step in the
right direction that set forth and example for the African American race that
they have to do things on their own if they want change. They cannot sit around
and wait for someone else to change their outcome for them. This is also seen
in later years during the Civil Rights Moment. Change will not come unless
there is action, and the action must come directly form the people who seek a
new destiny. This quote is now one of my new favorite quotes because regardless
of what race, gender, social status you are, your destiny is in your hands and
it is your right to fight for it; and there have been many examples in history
to show for it.
I agree that an oppressed group does have to "take matters into their own hands" and seek liberation. However, I think it is a dangerous notion with a tinge of victim-blaming that we have total control over our destinies if we just work hard enough and have enough drive to get an education, or to free ourselves. This notion is dangerous because it is not true. The oppressor, in this case, the white race, also has a role in recognizing liberation, demolishing oppressive systems, and allowing for liberation to happen. We still haven't rid our society of oppressive systems regarding race. Of course everyone can get an education today, ex-slave, never a slave, but there are still racial disparities in education and schools, and I don't think that is due to "the minority" not working hard enough, or not having control over their destinies.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that often slaves did themselves take their fate into their own hands. You mention many good examples of how slaves took matters into their own hands. However, I agree with Huntley in that these examples can only be applied to African American slaves, in a specific time and place, and in a specific situation. Slaves and other oppressed peoples cannot bear the responsibility of freeing themselves: this releases the rest of humanity from the obligation to free those oppressed peoples. If African Americans and whites were to have had the perspective you lay out, slaves may never have become free. Placing that responsibility on slaves would have freed the whites of any real responsibility or inclination to free the slaves. We still have an obligation today to our many under-represented minority populations, and I am not willing to allow majority populations to neglect their obligations to improve overall standards of things like education. I understand your perspective and the role that these populations may play in their own freedom and success, but the assumption of that role can, unfortunately, allow me as a white woman to neglect my human obligation to those populations.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Huntley and Aubrey’s comments. I think it is naïve to think about the efforts made by African Americans during the transition from slavery to freedom were based solely on their collective action. There is certainly no denying that the collective action of the African American community greatly improved the lives of newly freed slaves, but I think that what was happening in the U.S. at the time was very unique to that time and space. Slaves obviously recognized their oppression and tried running away or forming rebellions, but it was not the collective action of slaves that freed them; it ended by a war based mainly on economic and political issues surrounding slavery, rather than the morality of slavery. Today, collective action alone by those who are oppressed would not really be enough (though it is certainly crucial to anything changing). In order for oppressive actions to end like you have described here, it is not simply a matter of collective action within the oppressed community but collaboration and assistance for people within the majority population as well. I think it’s idealistic to assume that an oppressed group has total control over their situation. People from the majority group have to take responsibility and work alongside the oppressed for their situation to change.
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