Narratives of the Enslaved: A Tool in Achieving an Insular Historical Perspective
The Vitality of Allowing the Victims to Share Their Trauma
The Caribbean-English American transplant, Zadie Smith, argues that narratives are essential to understanding one’s identity, past, and future. Moreover, Smith writes that “every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.” The history of the slave experience has predominantly been told by those from the outside and such a circumstance has shaped society’s view upon the horrific institution. Consequently, there has been a great indifference made towards the “soul-value” of the African-Americans in bondage. Only recently has there been a historiographical approach to, as Zadie Smith argues, view the inside history of American slavery. When studying history and observing America’s long shadow of oppression, slave narratives are of the highest necessity; for it reveals the humanity of those held in slavery. Slave narratives create a space in which the public can respect the soul value of the enslaved and transform society. Most importantly, oral history allows slaves to tell their stories as it was for themselves.
Through the narratives, their hopes, their lovers, and their turmoils showcase the atrocity that America committed itself to for centuries. Zadie Smith’s assertion was absolutely correct and it is the responsibility of the American citizenry to engage these oral histories. Many of the slave narratives were conducted by the WPA, Work Projects Administration, in which African Americans were asked to recall their time in bondage. Dr. Berry in her tremendous historical book, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation, argues that “enslaved people represented an exchangeable commodity in the eyes of traders, enslavers, and doctors.” Furthermore, our historical consciousness tends to focus on what the enslaved person had to endure rather than what they thought, felt, or believed. Sadly, their “soul-value”, coined by Dr. Berry, is dismissed. Again, historical memory hyper-focused upon the outside history of slavery rather than the inside experience. This produces a chasm between slavery as an institution and those who were enslaved. Thus, the narratives of these ex-slaves are paramount to understanding their plights, joys, and ultimately, their individual lives. Dr. Berry asserts that “we still have much more to learn about this history, and the thoughts, comments, and feelings of the enslaved on this subject are an important resource.” The narrative of Felix Haywood is the perfect lens through which America could access the inside history of the enslaved.
Felix Haywood was ninety-two years old in 1936 and was living in San Antonio, Texas. He was blind and was interviewed by a white man. The interviewing process reveals some of the flaws pertaining to these narratives. One of the reasons why this interview was limiting was due to the Jim Crow social codes African Americans and white Americans had to follow. Felix understood this very well and his first question when approached was “Are you black?” In the tone of the questioning, Felix seemed hesitant. There could have been horrific consequences for violating the norms of the Jim Crow South. Furthermore, Felix was asked to remember his life seventy years prior and was mixing up his memory with distracting jokes.
Yet, his commentary and reflections are startlingly vital to understanding the past. Felix remarked, “the war [Civil War] wasn’t so great as folks suppose… the war didn’t change nothing.” Evidently, Felix did not believe in the Northern savior complex. Therefore, he did not seem to buy the historical narrative that the Civil War ended slavery in the United States. Evidence for such a claim was reflected by all he had to endure his entire life as a Black man. Yet, within the interview, there were moments of adherence to Jim Crow codes and minimizing an angry tone. Felix seemed to change his attitude after criticizing the South’s abuse of his family by saying, “we would get lickings… we were happy.” Presumably, Felix was worried about retaliation or harassment for criticizing his treatment. Although the WPA narratives did not take into consideration the fear, disability, and age of Felix, they revealed the atrocities of slavery and the Jim Crow South of 1936. Even though the narratives were flawed with respect to how the interviews were lead, they are a rare gem. They, limitedly, accessed the souls of once enslaved people.
Such narratives of enslaved African Americans provide the present with insights that otherwise would never have been imagined. For once, the history of slavery is being told by the slave himself not through economic trends, the slave owner, nor the historian. Rather than the outside history being told, it is being dictated by the inside. Although the narratives have their problems and complexities, they produce the history of the individual. In Felix’s situation, it also reveals the greater societal complexities of that current time period. Growing tired, Felix ended the conversation with a few photographs that he was immensely proud of, revealing his soul value.
References:
Berry, Daina Ramey. The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation. Boston, MA: Random House Inc, 2018.
Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 16, Texas, Part 2, Easter-King. 1936. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn162/.
Smith, Zadie. White Teeth. New York, NY: Vintage Publishing, 2001.
Artwork: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Art and Artifacts Division, The New York Public Library. “South” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed August 5, 2021. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/8e297db0-d56d-0131-dd72-58d385a7bbd0
Special thanks to Pace University, Professor Donny Brazile, Dr. Daina Ramey Berry, and the Gilder Lehrman Historical Society.
