Black Lives & Native Lands: Rewriting the History of New England
David Guzman May 5, 2020, Black Perspectives
The study of slavery in New England has experienced something of a
revival in the last decade. Given that New England is often treated as a
hub of liberty after the American Revolution, colonial America
scholar Jared Ross Hardesty joins a number of historians
in dissociating the region from the parochialism and exceptionalism
given to it in earlier studies. In his book, **Black Lives, Native
Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England, Hardesty
convincingly argues that New England should be a part
of a wider story of slavery and colonization in the Americas. Meant as a
synthetic history, Hardesty treads the same path as Lorenzo Johnston
Greene did in his 1942 work,
The Negro in Colonial New England, 1620-1776. Updated with the
latest scholarship on the subject, Hardesty’s work offers a brief and
concise history of slavery in New England.
Utilizing a settler-colonial framework of analysis for much of his work,
Hardesty organizes his chapters chronologically and thematically, first
outlining the origins of sixteenth-century England’s involvement
in slavery and ending with the problems associated
with emancipation in New England. Weaved throughout his narrative are
the themes of oppression, exploitation, enslavement, resistance,
and assertions of humanity. Drawing from newspapers, account books,
letters, autobiographies, and legal documents, Hardesty’s inclusion
of enslaved peoples’ lives greatly enriches and humanizes the narrative
crafted from his rich source of secondary literature. It also reflects
his keen ability to construct the lives, experiences, and pasts
of enslaved men and women even among a scarcity of
documentary evidence.
continue
Think so?
absolute power depends on absolute control over knowledge, which in turn necessitates absolute corruption
Think about this
“Politicians, Priests, and psychiatrists often face the same problem: how to find the most rapid and permanent means of changing a man’s belief…The problem of the doctor and his nervously ill patient, and that of the religious leader who sets out to gain and hold new converts, has now become the problem of whole groups of nations, who wish not only to confirm certain political beliefs within their boundaries, but to proselytize the outside world.”
– William Sargant “Battle of the Mind”
Popular posts from this blog
In the two years leading up to the riot, bombs were thrown at two dozen homes of black Chicagoans. The police solved none of these crimes. A 6-year-old girl named Garnetta Ellis died in one explosion. And early in the summer of 1919, several attacks on blacks by white mobs were reported on the South Side. “It looks very much like Chicago is trying to rival the South in its race hatred against the Negro,” the renowned black journalist Ida B. Wells wrote in a letter published by the Tribune on July 7, 1919. “Will no action be taken to prevent these lawbreakers until further disaster has occurred?” Twenty days later, her words would prove prophetic. Source: In Their Own Words: The 1919 Race Riot
The truth about Jackson’s savagery was just as disturbing as the fake news. After a particularly bloody battle in 1814, Andrew Jackson’s men counted the dead Indians by cutting off their noses. They collected 557 noses. and... (this comment) Jackson ran an ad in the Nashville Gazette, in October, 1804, for the capture of a runaway slave, which stated that in addition to the reward, he would pay an extra $10 per 100 lashes (up to 300), to anyone who willing to inflict them upon his miscreant property. He was known to hold a vengeful lifetime grudge against anyone whom he felt had slighted him, regardless of how minor the supposed offense. His betrayal the Choctow tribe, whom he persuaded to become American allies over the British during the war of 1812, culminated in the “Indian Removal Act” (Trail of Tears), of which he took personal responsiblity to see implemented, resulted in the death of thousands of men, women and children. It’s no surprise that the current occupant of the Wh
Press "Sam Pollard’s sobering and essential documentary recounts the government’s efforts to blackmail, discredit, and otherwise disempower Martin Luther King, Jr. during the height of the Civil Rights movement..." —INDIEWIRE "This film seems like one of the most urgent titles on the festival beat this year." —VANITY FAIR "Sam Pollard is back with a new documentary, and it may be the best of this year’s very impressive slate." —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY "Pollard's 'MLK/FBI' is more than an eye-opening look at an icon...it’s a critical chapter that should be imprinted inside every white American’s heart." —THE PLAYLIST "Director Sam Pollard's illuminating and infuriating documentary focuses on how dirty tricks were used to undermine the work and influence of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr." —USA TODAY
Comments