Blog #68 – Dehumanization of slavery
Dehumanization and slavery have gone hand in hand ever since slavery had been invented. Using Frederick Douglass’ autobiography was done to show you how horrible slavery can be and also to settle any questions that racist white people had back then who didn’t believe that he could have been a slave (because he was so smart and eloquent).
One of the first ways that dehumanization occurred must begin with the constant rape and physical abuse of female slaves. Frederick’s father was white, most like his mother’s slave master, and surely not a willing participant. The creation of many mixed children was more common than Southerners would like to admit. Women were used for men’s pleasure, little else. Afterwards, Frederick was separated from his mother and raised by an elderly woman, much like animals are weaned from their mothers when they are young. His mother had to sneak away in the middle of the night to come and visit her son.
Frederick also describes vividly how the slaves were fed: “It was put into a large wooden tray or trough, and set down upon the ground. The children were then called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush; some with oyster-shells, others with pieces of shingle, some with naked hands, and none with spoons. He that ate fastest got most; he that was strongest secured the best place; and few left the trough satisfied” (Douglass 12) Douglass intentionally used the word “pigs” and “trough” to give you an amazingly vivid image of children fighting over their food like animals. Slaves didn’t need utensils. And when the slave owners don’t see their slaves as human, it becomes easier to treat them in a violent manner (like kicking a dog or much worse).
After Frederick tried to escape and was caught, he was thrown in jail. “Douglass portrays the slave traders and agents for slave traders as men auctioning for cattle instead of human beings. The slave traders and agents for slave traders at no point stop to think what they are doing is wrong, instead it is business as usual and they are eager to acquire misbehaved slaves at steep discounts, much the same as farmers will bid pennies on the dollar for underweight farm animals.” In this instance, slaves were a commodity, something to be bought or sold, instead of human beings who have thoughts, emotions, and feelings.
Lastly, the dehumanization crosses the color line to affect the white owners like Mrs. Auld. Though she started out as a kindly owner with the best of intentions “she had been in a good degree preserved from the blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery” (Douglass 14). Mrs. Auld accepted Frederick as a human being first, teaching him his most important skill (in retrospect b/c they helped him escape) of reading a few words. She eventually turns cruel and mean as she is put in charge of slaves and is dehumanized herself.
My question for you:
Does slavery bring on the dehumanization of a person or do you need to dehumanize a person in order to enslave them? Yes, this does sound a lot like the slavery / racism question we discussed back in first tri, and in some ways, dehumanizing =racism, but dig deeper and comment on how the dehumanization boomerangs back on the slave owners and envelops them as well. By dehumanizing others, we do it to ourselves. Why?
200 words. Due Monday, Dec. 8 by class.
Sources:
http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/greatworks540spring2013/2013/03/19/frederick-douglass-and-the-dehumanization-of-slavery/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Frederick_Douglass,_an_American_Slave#Publication_history
I believe that in order for slavery to occur, the slave must be dehumanized first. I believe that the dehumanizing of future slaves allows for the slave holders to more easily demand more and tolerate less from the slaves. Believing that a slave is simply a piece of property, something that can be yelled at, kicked, hit, and abused without consequence because its sole purpose in the universe is to serve makes it so much easier to do all of those things. Think of a computer for example. When it crashes, some people are prone to yelling at the screen, clicking repeatedly, and hitting the monitor and computer. When video game consoles crash, some gamers are prone to throw controllers and hit the system. People do this because they see a piece of equipment that is not doing what they want, and nothing more. People do not see a soul in these machines, and less guilty when they hit and yell at it. Most people would not react like this if it was a human that was not doing the proper work. This is why slave holders dehumanize future slaves. They want to be able to yell and hit and abuse them the way they see fit, and most people would not be able to sleep at night if they felt they were doing that to a real person with real feelings. This in turn begins to dehumanize the slave holder. In order to lower a human being to a status where they are no longer considered a person but an object to use as they see fit, a person must leave behind some of the basic morals which makes them a wholehearted human being with a soul.
Today a slave auction is taking place in the local square. Slaves are sold beside and often with farm animals; potential customers keep a watchful eye over the slaves, closely assessing their physical appearance and age. Prices are determined, families are separated, and documents officiated. But this is just the surface of a slave auction. When examined closer, the awful parts of Slavery are found. Slaves are classified by color, gender, height, capabilities, intelligence, and several other measures. To increase the value of a slave, they are painted with a raw oil to look shiny and presentable to buyers. Handcuffs, metals shackles, large cages, and barely any clothing or feeding is probably the best example of the dehumanization altogether. As described in Frederick Douglass’ book, and as seen above, they are treated as property, mindless, and alien creatures. The white slave holders and sellers don’t recognize them as humans, and use their different skin color and origin to justify this.
My introduction above is piece of evidence supporting my answer that slaves need to be dehumanized first, and then will be able to be made a slave. If it weren’t for their dehumanization, slave owners would view them as humans, or at least partially humans, and would actually feel bad instead and probably not enslave them or act as harsh. Instead the slave holders are more comfortable with slavery as they feel they’re not enslaving actual human beings. This was the main selling point of slavery, the reason it began in the United States and Europe, and one of the main reasons (after profit, of course) that it lasted to darn long. It was like enslaving an animal to them, which is quite awful.
Slavery brings on the dehumanization of a person. After someone is enslaved, they lose all their freedoms, and are forced to follow rules that they are given. The cruel treatment of slaves is the main reason that slaves are dehumanized. They are treated like animals instead of the people that they are. Slaves are constantly beaten down, emotionally and physically, caused them to not even feel like people anymore. They are referred to as property, and if being referred to as property is dehumanizing, I don’t know what is. What gave the white Americans the right to enslave the African Americans? They felt it was their right to enslave innocent people, and to treat them like animals and dehumanize them, which is not right in any sense. The slave owners are also dehumanized because of slavery. They must put away all moral feelings when having slaves, because if not there’s no way the people would have the conscience to do what they do to the slaves. Just like in Frederick Douglass, Mrs. Auld was a first very nice and thoughtful, but as she acquired more slaves, she became mean and nasty. Having slaves changes people because they’re in charge of people but they look at them as animals. It’s a whole different mindset, being a slave owner, you must be stricter and it in turn changes people’s personalities. The reason that when we dehumanize others, we do it to ourselves is because it’s a cycle. In order to be in charge of slaves, the people had to be harsh in order for the slaves to listen. It’s not humanly right to enslave people, so by enslaving blacks, they are dehumanizing themselves.
I believe that slavery leads to dehumanization. This is seen in Mrs. Auld’s case because before she was put in charge of the slaves she treated Douglass and the others with respect. She taught them how to read and had sympathy for them as (hopefully) most human beings would, at least nowadays. Then, once the slaves “belonged” to her and she was more involved, she started to lose these appealing characteristics and become mean. The traits she showed are not valued now so I’m sure I can assume they weren’t then either. If I knew Mrs. Auld then, she would not be the type of person I would want to encounter often because she was changed and dehumanized by slavery.
I believe that slavery brings on the dehumanization of a person because when blacks were brought to America from Africa, they were just normal people trying to live their life when they were captured. When they are brought to America, they are treated horribly and have to work for these white slave owners who see black people so far beneath them. Slave owners obviously see their selves superior to black slaves just because of skin color and because of the skin color. Slaves are innocent people brought over to work for white men who don’t care about their well-being or care about anything relating to this person. They are brought over and tortured for not picking enough cotton, or not obeying their master. They are even killed for such things. If slaves weren’t brought to America, they would be living the life they had before, but when captured these people were stripped of their identity, literally. Many times slaves would even be given new names. Slaves are not given any rights and are treated like animals. In Frederick Douglas’s writing, he clearly mentions how they were treated like animals and how slave masters basically had no care in the world about the slaves. Overall, I believe that slavery brings on the dehumanization because without slavery, these people would not have been treated like animals or beaten for such little acts.
I believe that the statements above could go both ways but I think slavery needs to occur first for the dehumanization of a person. The reason I believe this is because we had indentured servants but viewed them as human beings. They were fed, sheltered, and given money unlike African Americans. I think the fact that they were able to enslave African Americans gave the colonists a sense of power, and they liked it. That’s what caused the dehumanization. The fact that colonists had complete control over the slaves and they could do whatever they want to them. The colonists went overboard with this power, and started to see themselves as superior. They saw themselves as superior to their slaves, like humans are superior over dogs. They were caught up in the power and started to dehumanize their slaves to make themselves gain more superiority. They used the differences of skin color to belittle the Africans, and raped African American women to feel more powerful. Too much power can ruin a person, and that’s how by dehumanizing others, you dehumanize yourself. You’ll turn from a caring owner to a cruel and violent one to feel the surge of superiority. Only then will you be able to treat the slave however you want without feeling guilty. You think of them less as a human being and they are nothing but a profit making machine that will do everything you ask. No matter the order, the outcome will end the same and will never end well.
I believe that slavery dehumanizes both the slave owner and the slave alike. In order for the slave owner to treat someone like a slave so brutally and cruelly, then there’s no way the owner sees the slave as anything that resembles a human being. The slave becomes disheartened after a long period of being beaten down and suppressed like a slave, and therefore slowly gets to the point where they believe they might deserve no better than what they get. Not all slaves are dehumanized though. Some slaves, like Frederick Douglass, always seem to believe in a way out of slavery. These optimistic slaves don’t believe they deserve how they’re being treated either, so they still see themselves as a human being. These slaves would have relationships and would care for the kids they would have, whether it be the slave owners or not. They still acted like humans and weren’t always completely dehumanized to the point of becoming an animal to others. The process of becoming a slave owner on the other hand, would have to cause some kind of dehumanization to the owner. To be able to see an African American as something less than human, and treat them as that, had to be the cause of inhumane thinking.
Slavery bring dehumanization all around. I think to enslave someone you do need to dehumanize them. To have dominance over someone you are enslaving you would need to view them as less than you, less than human. Slaves were fed, beaten, viewed and treated like animals. Also I think that it does come back to the slave owners, they in turn lose some of their humanity. I feel in the case of Mrs. Auld, the reason she became so cruel, is that she completely dehumanized him, to save herself from compunction. I think this became a downward spiral, that once she dehumanized him she became overwhelmed with power. She loses some of her morals which dehumanizing herself. The slave owners where desperately trying to hold on to their morals, some tricked themselves into thinking they were doing what was best. Slaves were viewed as property. Slaves where forced against their will at the whim of their masters. Kids where raised to look at black people as less than human. Another way slave owners tried to save their humanity was they pretended slavery was not as bad as it really was, that is one of the reasons why the Fredrick Douglass book was so controversial. Slave is just wrong in all lights.
While both statements of slavery bringing on the dehumanization of both the enslaved and the enslaver, along with the need to dehumanize a person in order to justify enslaving them are accurate, the one that would seem more applicable is the latter. For the southern slave owners to justify morally that what they were doing was right, they had to convince themselves and, more importantly, the others around them that the people that they were enslaving were not actually people. The idea was that slaves were inferior to their masters in every conceivable way, which in the eyes of slave owners gave them the right to treat their slaves essentially like animals. If we look into Fredrick Douglas’ autobiography, it is clear that slaveowners had no humanity or morality when dealing with their slaves. Douglas talks about being fed from troughs like pigs. His comparison to a farm animal is quite intentional, as he wants to draw attention to how the owners would not see slaves as any better than animals. Another major point that showed how the owners tried to dehumanize the slaves was that male slave owners would consistently turn to female slaves for sexual favors, which the slaves were forced to oblige. Fredrick Douglas could again attest to this, as his father was white, and his mother had made it clear to him that she had not given any sort of consent. By dehumanizing the slaves, the slaveowners were also dehumanizing themselves. They were creating a god complex, the idea that they were superior in every way to another human. The idea of all men are created equal was what the Untied States was founded on, but to the slave owning population, clearly that was not the case, as they were better than every other type of man.
In retrospect, I believe that slavery does bring on the dehumanization of a person. For example, when Fredrick Douglass goes to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, Mrs. Auld is a very kind and endearing person. She even taught Fredrick the basics of reading, which led him to learn how to write. But, over time, Mrs. Auld became a slave master like the rest of them: mean, harsh, and relentless. Slavery doesn’t only effect the well-being of a slave, but also the well-being of a slave master. White men and women are just as impacted by slavery than slaves themselves. This is because slaves had no choice, while slave owners did. African Americans were forced to do labor all day and they had no power in making their own decisions. Slave owners, on the other hand, did. They had the choice on whether or not to whip, assault, or even own a slave. Psychologically, having the choice to dehumanize a person did more damage to themselves that to the person. It causes them to become cruel and to do things a normal person would never do. Slavery was just as degrading for slaves as it was for their slave owners. They were brutally beaten. Women were sexually assaulted. The children didn’t have enough to eat. Fredrick talks about how the food was put out in a trough and people had to fight for it like animals. The strongest got the best spot and the fastest left satisfied. By being treated like animals, slaves were stripped of their freedom and dignity. Slavery had the same effect on the slaves as it did on the slave owners.
You need dehumanize a person in order to enslave them. Examples of dehumanization are present throughout the process. From the beginning of the slave’s life to the end.Countless slaves were hunted down and captured. Compressed into ships like sardines in a can. Then brought to America in chains in relation to a dog on a leash. Sold as if they were nothing more than cattle. Slaves that were born in America were separated from their mothers after the first year, if the masters were merciful, and the dehumanization continued on from their. A slaves mind was governed by what their master’s chose to expose to them.In order for masters to make slaves loyal they justified their actions against them. There is a passage in the book that backs this up: “God cursed Ham, and therefore slavery is right,” (22). Masters used religion to teach slaves why they were slaves and that going against a greater power was detrimental because that’s what He created you for. Leading them to believe that they were nothing more than property, living objects whose value depended on the white race,“They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters was transferable to themselves,” (36). Slavery corrupted the minds of both master and slave. The effects of slavery were different for the parties though. Masters and mistresses let the power of owning someone go to their head. “Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me…Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities,” in this passage Frederick talks about how his mistress went from a pious warm-hearted woman to a cruel oppressor (51-52). Dehumanization was one-sided in slavery, but the ruinous effects were present for the slaves and slaves owners- morally.
I primarily think slavery causes dehumanization of the owner, yet you also need to dehumanize a person in order to make them a slave. For example, Mrs. Auld, Frederick Douglass’ former owner, she started out as caring and began to teach him. Later, when she oversaw more slaves, she became much crueler. Therefore, her experience with slavery dehumanized her. People have to see other human beings as property and animals, not a living, thinking person. This causes the people in charge to lose their humanity because they have to do away with some of their original morals, in order to be okay with enslaving an entire population. This fact leads to the point that in order to make someone a slave, you must bring them to the level of existence of an animal. They need to think of themselves as vastly different from their masters, so that slavery can exist long-term. According to Douglass, “’The children were called, like so many pigs, and like so many pigs they would come and devour the mush…’” This quote explains that slaves were treated like animals and they would eventually come to act like animals. This is a key component to slavery working. Keeping slaves in such an existence prevents them from wondering about their place in society or doing anything other than surviving.
Blog #68
Dylan Sutton
3rd Hour
12/8/14
I believe that a person must be dehumanized at least in the smallest way in order to become a slave. If a person is not dehumanized and a plantation owner buys them as a slave and wants them to work as a slave he will have problems. When someone is a normal person and in the right state of mind they have spirit. They have the will to live. This is what slavery is all about. Breaking down a human being so much that they eventually believe that they are a piece of property and belong to someone. They must obey in order because they are a piece of property.
In order for a persons will to change they must be dehumanized. The owner wants and must have this in order for his plantation to be successful. Often in the business world today boss’s say to their workers to buy into his/her system (System meaning how they run the workplace). If a person buys into the system they will be a more efficient worker and produce more. The only difference between these people and slaves is that the people today do it willingly rather to being tortured and harmed for them to buy into the system. They buy into the system by believing whatever name they are given at an auction, believing that they are someone’s property, etc. This is why a person must be dehumanized in order to be a slave.
This is a very hard question to answer but I truly believe the white masters had to dehumanize the slave blacks before they were slaves and while they were slaves. When the whites would dehumanize the slaves, it would change the aspect of living in which the blacks were inferior to the whites. This way of living made the whites contain more power and authority over other nationalities. For example, when some blacks were first captures they were treated like animals, wearing mussels, trapped in cages, beaten if they didn’t obey their “master,” and etc. The dehumanization also must stay in the slaves lives throughout their life. In the Franklin Douglas narrative, the slaves were fed like pigs and the proportions for eating were relating to the animal kingdom in which the strong survive and the weak die. If the dehumanizing stopped during the blacks enslavement era, there would have been many physical revolts. The masters also kept their slaves from learning how to read and write (example of dehumanization) because revolts would have came mentally. Fredrick Douglas is a prime example why the masters needed more dehumanization to keep to their ways. I would say that as people dehumanize others, they make themselves appear more than man, rather than dehumanizing themselves. They have control over other humans when all humans need to have equal rights.
I believe that slavery dehumanizes a man or a woman. Saying that you must dehumanize a man first to make him a slave makes no sense. A man is man and women are women you can’t dehumanize. Taking a person in and making that person you own personal slave that is what dehumanizes someone. I also believe that slavery is an abomination and shouldn’t be practiced in any part of the country. Holding slaves means taking some man with a life and that person who is free you ripping away everything of his. His pride, life, hope and worst of all freedom and completely dehumanizing him. By taking away someone’s life it only reflects back on you can you really be human if you can live with conscious. You holding people against their wills. It is not humane to be a slave holder it is un forgivable. This controversial topic comes down to rather you believe if you are trying to make yourself feel better about slavery. If you believe in any way that slavery is okay then you may think that you have to first to be dehumanized to be in slaved. IT gives people a feeling that there is a reason for in slaving. But slavery is the reason dehumanization
I believe that the slavery is an enveloping cancer that eats away at our human characteristics and devolutionizes people in the process. When people are in the position that they have ability to control practically every action of another human being they become mad with power. Slavery is a doubled edged sword in the way that it makes the slaveholder of overseer convinced that he actually is superior to another human being. As a right as people we have the right to think for ourselves and operate according to no one else’s will but our own, we have our own opinion and because of that we are given the opportunity to evolve and advance as a race. But what slavery does is that it prohibits thinking for yourself and in turn keeps the human race from evolving and changing for the better. Since the creation of innovation people have been working on making life easier for the human race, we have proven by nature that we are at the top of the food chain. But when we support and put resources and thought into developing slavery and imprisoning man for our own comfort, we start to become no better that the animals of nature that use violence to get their way.
I believe that slavery leads to the dehumanization of a person. When someone says that you have to dehumanize for some else to enslaves you only shows one side of the story, and the wrong one in fact. Slavery leads to the dehumanization of those who are enslaving people, not the other way around. Slave Masters turn into more monsters than they are human. The moral and ethics of one who takes control of another person is so far from those of people who respect the African Americans of the time. Slavery makes the white man dehumanized in the fact that it makes them think that it’s ok the beat down and tare people apart. The masters physically attack the slaves and told them that they were almost like dogs so it planted the idea that now that they were slaves they went human. I think that saying you have to dehumanize a person to enslave them is been proven false in the fact that people would go in a take African Americans out of their normal lives without a second thought and put them to work. The common thread being though, that slavery is a dehumanized white man and it end ups dehumanizing their slaves.
I think that with the practice of slavery, comes dehumanization. You can enslave a person but it takes effort on the other part to truly dehumanize (by definition). Let’s start from the beginning, when an African American is captured and forced into slavery, the white person is dehumanizing them by treating them as prey rather than as a person. But the white predator (most likely male) has more previous experience with capturing and torturing slaves. Then the now captured slave in dragged along the streets like a dog on a leash. That act alone takes any little spirit he has left, the African American now sees himself in this low perspective. That is true dehumanization when the spirit is broken to no turning back. Then we get to the actual slave owners, even though they don’t think they are, they are also dehumanizing themselves as well as dehumanizing others. Slave owners have brought themselves so low as to enslave other human beings, rip apart families, and beat those people senseless. And when they look at those people with, bloody backs, broken spirits, and all, they just think, how I can break them further.
Looking back on Frederick Douglass’ life and other events in slavery we have learned about in class, I have come to the conclusion that slavery dehumanizes not only the slaves, but everyone involved in it. The slaves are dehumanized in obvious ways. White people back then truly believed the slaves were less of a human being than them (seen in the 3/5 compromise). Also, many were not taught how to read or write or most any skills that were not related to their work. As Douglass explains, they were treated like pigs. Yet, the slaves weren’t the only ones changed in this horrible system. The slaveholders were also dehumanized themselves in the way they treated the slaves. For example, Mrs. Auld was a nice lady to Fredrick to begin with but when she was tasked with actually “owning” the slaves she became mean. All slave owners were dehumanized in this way because it was believed they had to use harsh methods to control the slaves and act as their master. This is not a natural way of life in today’s society and it is definitely not accepted to treat anyone the way slaves were treated, despite social status. It is very unusual to me that people could stand by for that long and watch or even bring themselves to do something as horrible as whipping another human being for punishment. Something big must have changed in a slaveholders mind to carry out those actions so obviously; they were also changed in dehumanized in the process of dehumanizing another person.
I believe that for slavery to occur you must first dehumanize the slave. I think this because the slaves are treated horribly and as Douglas says, like pigs. Humans, more specifically white males, would never enslave another human. You must first be able to say that slaves are not human and dehumanize them which gives you the ability to treat them like animals. And because they are animals and dehumanized you have the ability to whip them and feed them mesh as if they are animals. Slaves are seen as lower than animal sometimes they are seen as equipment which is completely dehumanizing them because now you can not only can you now beat them but you can use them to do all your work which is what slaves were used for in America. Slave-owners dehumanize the slaves to make it easier to make them do labor because if they aren’t human and can be controlled. Also if they are dehumanized then they have no rights as humans do, such as the constitution and almost every law made protecting us, which means that no one can stop the slave-owners. If they aren’t considered human they no one will fight for their rights and they then become property. This dehumanizes humans or slaveowners because they are doing horrible things to good people. I think about WW2 and how one soldier in the German army is asked how he kills and he replied saying, “You have to resist the urge to be human.” I feel this is what the slave-owners must do because when they beat and whip the slaves it is not a human like thing to do which means that they are resisting the urge to be human. Slave-owners must first dehumanize the slaves then their next actions cause them to dehumanize themselves.
Colin J.
This question of whether slavery brings on the dehumanization of a person or do you need to dehumanize a person in order to enslave them is a very deep and insightful question. I really think that it could work both ways and that slavery and dehumanization work hand-in-hand. Slavery, in my mind, definitely does bring on the dehumanization of a person. Slaves did extreme amounts of hard work for the reward of next to nothing. Slaves also were treated like objects made to do work, not like people, and were neglected, disrespected, and beaten. Having no rights and being treated like this naturally forces the person to dehumanize overtime, up to the point of where the slave accepts this lifestyle and has given up hope on anything better. I do not think you have to dehumanize a person in order to enslave them. What was a person to do when they were forced to become a slave and work for the slave master? It’s not like they could fight it without being severely beaten or even killed. There was nothing they could do if they wanted to continue living. By dehumanizing others, we do it to ourselves by us losing the sense of value for human life.
I believe that dehumanization is brought out in a person, once you have enslaved them. I don’t believe that it happens suddenly, or before being enslaved, but rather in a gradual effect on a human being’s behavior and attitude. It’s the same effect a cattle rancher has on a mustang; the mustang fighting for it’s freedom and won’t let the whip crack it’s spirit. I believe dehumanization manifests inside of you, caused by the things you’ve watched, experienced, and realize. Ignorance is bliss, and slavery is anything but ignorance. Whether you are the slave owner, the slave, or even having a friend associated with owning a person: you are exposed to the crushing of a human soul. Slavery reached disgusting, vile, unjust places. The idea of separating a slave’s family for the purpose of profit, punishing a slave until there are; tears, blood, scars, etc., calling an entire race 3/5’s human… You don’t see life the same way. You are crushed by the constant fight to claim rights, recognition, be seen as more than just property. “Dehumanization is the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.” Slave owners had no remorse. No mercy for an entire race of human beings. They treated dogs better than they treated slaves. They knew the moment they stepped onto the continent of Africa, that they were already “lesser than white people.” That’s why I believe that dehumanization happens after a person is enslaved.