Chaotic Times from the Perspective of a Newly Freed Black Person

                Rural farm life has always had its own defining features and city life too has always had its own. Much of what we have talked about thus far in class has been about the rural farm life of a slave and we’re just now getting into the transition periods in which we will eventually see a greater black population in cities. For now, we have just started talking about this period immediately after abolition when blacks are beginning to be able to venture out and explore this country they too call home as they search for their family and the meaning of their existence in this world. We talked about how this period is marked by chaos because an institution has been uprooted (slavery) that has been in place for many, many years and people don’t know how to/ don’t care to learn how to live in a nation without its existence. The bulk of our discussion has been about the chaos that ensued or in other words (basically) how the whites have received the blacks into “their” city. This seeming disorder, from the perspective of the whites, I bet, was received quite differently in the eyes of the black. So, my question is, as the blacks entered the “whites’” city life, were they at all ever deterred by the unwelcoming sentiments to not press forward and continue to try to merge the once separate black rural and white city lives or to at least establish themselves as just as deserving of the city life offerings? The defining characteristics of the city are changing and this means something completely different in the eyes of a white person and those of a black person.

                City life at this time was teeming with successful white businesses and families who were able to spend their day with their equal white counterparts and thrive off of the dirty work handled by the black folk. So, when the slaves were declared free and able to roam into the parts of the city that they really had never been able to go to, I could see, from the perspective of the white population, how it would be a bit confusing. To one day see a black lady through a window preparing dinner for a family and then the next day having her sit next to you on the bus, to work, yes, I could see how that may be different. However, what is the black lady thinking at this time? Although she has recently been freed, I would imagine many more distressing thoughts passing through her head as she sees a land from a completely different perspective. This woman has no idea how city life, outside of her previous owner’s home, works. Moreover, this woman could be all alone as she searches for her family, means of survival, and the meaning of her existence in this huge nation. Can you imagine what it must feel like to be in a completely unfamiliar place with very little welcome and support? Some of us probably can for various reasons and I don’t imagine it being too comfortable.

                Clearly, the once defining features of a city are changing and it’s important to look at it from all perspectives. What does is mean for a black person who is able to mingle freely among the city dwellers or a white rural farmer who now has to either pick his own cotton or make an effort to find help that he’s actually going to have to pay (at least until sharecropping comes into play). These black folk know nothing about the new land they finally get to explore, and I simply cannot fathom what that must be like. To be able to not only explore a new place, but to completely explore it as a free person. The fear, the excitement, the sense of urgency, the response to the unwelcoming white folk, what must this be like? What must it be like to know that you are now a direct contributor to “city life,” not someone who has to maintain the life of the whites who feel that they “make the city what it is?” I can’t imagine the strength that must’ve endured in the black population to push through the animosity and to establish themselves in their land.