7 Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves The paucity of lieraxure [in 1971] on the black woman, is outrageous on its face. But we must also contend with the fact that too many of these rare studies must eIg diqsuone|ar anbqun at Inge ap Ax ang ‘2oueis}sou pu uw ¥DeIQ AIP INOge Pres Wo9q Sey [eap 3208 VY “29TE -sjsaz Jo son2ead pus ssousnorsuoo om Sunowiord jo wos 2x7 PaUsIsse ‘em uum YoEIQ 9tp ‘SaouTEIsUINOAID Jo 5105 [eINIG ayp. jo amUA AQ eH psy ‘suonnginuos Suypueisino asout Jay saransMeD 20H PIP 39 ayy “ealams jeowsiyd 20} so/8EnuNs pus wud z94 INL 10m spa0p 19y ‘SIOU Ou uO PY YS 1 UDAg “parsertoD 3d s04] Jo [BaLAINS axp amsu> 02 suOYD 2]gesuDdePUT {DY eats jo Aaruntaraos otp ur ajor wwe yrsts ow paseld axosouaKp ys EHR [pengzul 2¢ lou pinoys a1ang “ueUIOM axes ¥ORIQ tp 62 a|qeo%{dde 2 saptIaZ tou pinom idsou0> ypsretneu om Jo oRIMNsUOD ws9pEOIg Bp LA ssal9uUr onwouo9 {aorepard pue UDyfe 02 BuLIeAq-PIYD 194 JOpUDuAIs o2 ey aus Uoys peouonadxe ancy asnuy ueWoM yo"Iq aq seuEN punozord 1p seioust ar aenes9g [o> st 4] “SOMME aals\oop sosloxEKD soInOUT amp oR uRpe soumanuns diysuny ojqers soyduyy ar asne99q OWOUSI 8 St 3] s_WOUSTUE [onuD & Sf YOIUMEUE P Se UEWIOA ETA aX JO LOEUISOp ax, ‘peniojdxo 2 prnos oy songs mou poakox9 sworn ons eq ua agp 0 pie Suoya dquo sisuao-aams tp payatog un SaaS 1 se Squiey aneys oxp Jo 2oueuoueyy “IDIseUE-anNS 3M poxyottag Hog {uo aso 01 panstanod pue pomepno sew NUD feuORDKm ese ATI SLL ‘xse1D BUSH uyoL Jo spuom aqp UL soARTE-PIyD Ayppeay jo zoqamUr ‘ummureur 21p Suronpord jo we a1A ype Usu0M pur tou Paydnoo 47q!105 {sew Sty PYM UF BAIR sMOUEA skp aquDHep O1 UO WHOM DAES SH ‘cc UM Ban woOIg # s940 dumm “pouumur nok uo, :donmue}d uo uo poirew 3um98 Jo pos sey anus-xo uy woreAsur peuosod wo sme wayo PUP Aosnks S| PIED worn ques oxy 2m poreuruop s9UKO-aKeIs ay Jo PUY SuOS 2H, “prowy-anes Suppsosayord ‘snojueae ue Jo susisop ox BuIAS suonFoUqRy feUIN ‘ured rsour ay soy ‘orm AOU “oausIA o1 pamomfe sum SONNE) 9YAL seat] exp Uo posodust Xpusjora os -reprostp atp Funstsax 103 aqdoad youIq Jo sede a1quyzeuIDT axp o2 SSO arog wontredas poou900 artdsap paisisiod soumusyo Yor sioquatis Stroy arerpourun usomiag spuog jeuosied Suons aq. 23118 ¥ pur soxpou B our 01 sem ays, :Aes Ja12] PInom ay woYM Jo GaxoMpUEAS sky Jo SuM.IMP 3¢p wopuege 0: pooi03 sea 94 “9A Jo oBe aU 18 “IoAoALOYY "SUOISEDI0 918 ELT S200 Ig fo Grumuawory 241 t Ry Somos ¥2EI AHR Uo suoKDeyfogE Ayeuianxe uo uatp pus ~ rayoU sty u9s SutseY porfesay sanBea suo 3—T “spqpgy shi Jo uond2xjooaz ou pey ‘ouRisur 405 “SseFBNOG YoUNpaNT “PooTa, ‘yBnonp porejarun uoyo azam Joos WOUUICD P JPEN Padtl OYA 280K,L, “Auamewd 01 1¢ spin 01 pomrauiad uao sem ays wey ‘uvour asoyozorp 10U pup ,PIYD 194 Jo 1ussed sreumBoy Ayuo up, sea TOGLOU aun Wey, “saxo sTaWP ON pox9A>s SpLONbay pue popuesg aio% ‘98e jo ‘aureaeq fayp uoyA “uDsplyp ‘poresedos Ajyeinig aroa\ SIOUIe} PUR SIOMOW {/20UDIS~K9 snorssuos puE 2aNr>q}0> & 28:0) ayer aqdoad youIq TERIA ‘urs semaonins ers0s fenUDIOd ype 9quosoxd on pen Ese ast “9p ATES UE UuoneztueBiostp poyrpiBu & presmo1 axons pur ~ 101 Ip uioasAs sagis om ‘osuds jeuouepuny IsoU! ayn UL "RN dy WON A9HRINY 2g pros SumpoNy “roreroqeTO9 se sseP> TuIpIoy-aaeis amp 01 poreyos weMON emp souas9pur sno1> ‘uDyo sMONOLOU 3H, 8 sz¥oqn20} [BuIA] IM0 JO TUDUND PUL Jo wonow aq speouag BuUSeUry ‘uoneumuop §.29pIo4-240I5 “Aroneys 02 paruasse Af uoyodsun ue $1 yore 2p 01 sosuodsas ‘syo194 uoyo srstoun 3>UT9 WL) “ParOpUOsUD ‘Atpasoddns 3 ,4Bojorped Jo a7Su, ap Jo wUaWUApaMOU|EP uoAd st 239KN ‘qwoosse209 ‘parstunoaua 2q js Wes aeysreuneU ayp 1 sagUaLagEN yet ~nuoqun ‘ojdood yoejq Suowre ose pub ‘smiezedde joxoqoopr pousqgeisa ‘3p apisino wos2 1A Tuoxedée suIOs9q ACY PIMOYS UOISS oASPUE adoud pur ruotue> snounds su esoxdde jo dues s,uowSaryse9 sus Uses ssp porecosuen uoday uequsoyy 2up wou, “Genes jo sposd-6q [05 3ip Jo uo se payoaur Aypawadax us9q seu Ueulom y>2Iq feuPTEUNCW 3, “uate Y7RI9 TP 40f 990] ssappUneA 5H fo UoNSsUdxD LD sO “uoLodue Konto puo “oqo mg “Kinp Keouoxnjoacs stones yBnaays seajesuinyy aie 25.4 ao1a fo puo wowom 300}9 moge suondeou0rszu 180d sy fo anbuua muensks © 2080 2us1 aos pouspne Apoayn poy 2y 3s01 v paysyduoase Geans aay pron 2y ‘poysmSupxa Ka8oavs pun Apnondisaud 0: 1299 Jou poy 24 maseides o1 Stauodend sins saxromusop pu anssogp fo stumuuae 9 woul usta pur Swsory-auy Susremyy zu‘The bondsman’s existence as a natural condition of production is, ‘complemented and reinforced, according to Marx, by his membership in a social grouping which he perceives to be an extension of nature. Enmeshed in what appears to be a natural state of affairs, the attitude of the slave, to 2 greater or lesser degree, would be an acquiescence in his subjugation. Friedrich Engels points out that in Athens, the state could depend on @ ly of slaves." of American slavery differed significantly from ancient slavery True, black people were forced to act as if they were tions of production. For slavery was “personality swallowed up in the sordid idea of property - manhood lost in chartelhood.”” But there were no pre-existent social structures or cultural dictates which might induce reconciliation to the circumstances of their bondage. On the con- way Afcaa hed been uprooted fom thelr manealenoemeny ve surroundings and flourish, for, in all likelihood, they jemands of sla harmony and equilibrium in the ery was enclosed in a society otherwise Black men and women could always ly free status of white working people. ‘This was quite literally true in such cases where, like Frederick Douglass, they were contracted out as wage-laborers. Unlike the “free” white men alongside whom they worked, they had no right to the meager wages they. eared. Such were some of the many contradictions unloosed by the effort carly stages of American capitalism. ally superseded slave-labor system based ly on race and the drive to stip black people of all their ral bonds would create a fateful ruprure at the heart of the ly adopt fatalistic attitudes towards the conditions surrounding and ensnaring their lives. They were a people who had been violently chrust into a patently “unnatural” subjuga- tion. If the slave-holders had ied an absolute monopoly of y on large numbers of their fellow class a5 well a misled working people inations, slavery would have been far less feasible than it actually proved ‘The magnitude and effects of slavery has not yet been fully docu Reflections om the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves 115 ‘more than ample evidence that they consistently refused to succumb to the all-encompassing dehumanization objectively demanded by the slave sys- tem, Comparatively recent studies have demonstrated that the few slave tacular to be relegated to oblivion by the racism of isolated occurrences, as the lieve. The reality, we know now, was that these open lions erupted with such a frequency that they were as much a part of the texture of slavery as the conditions of servitude themselves. And these revolts were only the tip of an iceberg: resistance expresse grand modes and also in the seemingly trivial forms of fei studied indolence. Af resistance wes an organic ingredient of slave life, it had to be directly ‘nurtured by the social organization which the slaves themselves improvised. ‘The consciousness of their oppression, the conscious thrust towards its abolition could not have been sustained without impetus from the commu nity they pulled together through the sheer force of their own strength. Of necessity, this community would revolve around the realm which was furthermost removed from the immediate arena of domination. It could ‘only be located in and around the living quarters, the area where the basic needs of physical life were met. In the area of production, the slaves ~ pressed into the mold of beasts of burden - were forcibly deprived of their humanity. (And a human being thoroughly dehumanized has no desire for freedom.) But the community sravitating around the domestic quarters might possibly permit a retrieval ofthe man and the woman in their fundamental humanity. We can assume that in a very real material sense, it was only in domestic life - away from the eyes and whip of the overseer ~ that the slaves could attempt to assert the modicum of freedom they stil retained, it was only there that they ‘ight be inspired to project techniques of expanding it further by leveling what few weapons they had against the slave-holding class whose unmiti- sated drive for profit was the source of their misery. Via this path, we retum to the African slave woman: in the living uarters, the major responsibilities “naturally fell to her. It was the woman ‘who was charged with keeping the “home in order.” This role was dictated bby the male supremacist ideology of white society in Americas it was also. ‘woven into the patriarchal traditions of Africa. As her biological destiny, the ‘woman bore the fruits of procreation; as her social destiny, she cooked, sewed, washed, cleaned house, raised the children, Traditionally the labor of females, domestic work is supposed to complement and confirm their inferiority. wve woman, there is a strange twist of affairs: in the ing to the needs of the men and children around her (who were not necessarily members of her immediate family), she wasWorm aeioges Jo sive sours atp Aq porewrue sep sem ing “oudstansu ‘ur paidnua ]qesqeosun syStey aaatyse prod 2]oym e se Aarunurtuo> aces axp “otIOM 3peIg SuoNs Jo song am ALA "gouenstsaz 30 ssousnorosuos Buivsam jo aiqede> wop Jo souruLio}rod anissed v pasemoous mys seu9n suruTUNDy sanened ayp Jo padding “opox ayeusay 9 ABOHONSTY 2Yp 01 feoMUEpY aq tou pfnoo AjuMErED aae|s ay ‘ur aJou s,uewiows DEIq aun Sosasnoy 394 PoLLOzIOd ays se UR “UAL I94, ‘01 aygessaaoe arom tori aouTrstsar Jo sfenay aUURS 2up 01 puadse O1 paredard 9q Pino ays “swOY aq oF PauyuOS uEWOM e Jo ssauarEMe partmUs ax '9q 104 pjnows 3 “2ouatzadxa éqrep 3o sonyjear fensog aup ut pauoy sem ajdood 224 dq parayns uorssarddo om Jo sssuso;ssuoD s,uewOM 3PEIG ILL jodurai stata ‘sBunp jo aoueueunrodun axp sauasoudon a Sony Surceys ‘Suu ain st s0qey, 204 sump wwroysuen 01 Age 394 Jo Jooad ssaporpzoAaH set a1 nseur at Jo qu uN or pareuTprOgNS Sjoya sem AARNE aan, -onpoud 394 aj emp aztfeax pmnoo ays oun sures ayy “osu stp spat ‘apps xp wep adour sey axes amp spaou Jaxse 24p 30} 3944 Wo aouapUDdap soun ssossoiddo axa Jo ssouazeme jeonseid & UHENe pinoo 24s “sossouddo sp] Jo TuSuTYUGD otp 305 soge] ajqesuadsIpur SuIpusdygy “woUTOM ADEIQ aH juoiod asuaUumUut ue sseuseY Pnos Yoru suIEyE Jo ans & ‘Si qeLOKOUT jeroqyjapun sub pa8roj sea AayeNb> pouUIO}PP sIkp Jo Ino Ng ‘worssaxddo yenbs jo Suyenbs paunojap ax ut pareys aus, ‘uoneuejdxs soxpmy ou soumbos uous Yooig axp ype AafoNba ov poat0y sean Uuewio y>e1q atp Sqaxaya ssa.0sd Surjoay st Jo AGpaTUD PayPUGUR 34, "PIsTIq B SOUIOD ayoms £1909 28 1 sojoy sey yon “oppped © yum 1¥9q 30 “Ayes 9% aasoy st pur \dioo s24 2aroaar 01 apeur 3194 ® 1940 WAROP 21, Uuewiom 4o81q at 20} paatosox yuouryTUNT yanoooe te yim WoRUDSop sty sonumueD ‘OARYs-x9 “Spires SOsoyy oe 9OIQ MT (ak otf pure poo|g 2up eK os apry aves Yas wHOKT 109q, seq [ sspuRy 13th aay 10U plnoo 210;219%0, Burg swear oup SyUH Jo qIRy BuIHODNq suse|Iq BEIT s UDP Su|INs ey oy UDWOM, (9 S14 Jo ane IB] 2asfs 2uO Sy “eur JOY URI AurDARS 69] Ou YEN PUE O'S sduroo so1vax8 ou yptm paren sem WeULOM yo8Iq ax - HoNeIOpE [eon day 205 oIsead0 auf asENITAO — poowsoxfow jo aumsod auf Ur aA 9 OUI atp se syser oures o4p uopIad puP WOU ‘qn se Aypeors se yz0m snus UouroM arp pue ‘oqI3Bo1 es UDUIOM pu Uo “Apeos 198 01 anoy ue sey aaey Ka\A pu” BuywuoUr atp UH YDO}9,0.zn0} 1e SHUN 5 roy posure toy LUT 20015 fo Gpumuauor ayn us 20 scot Ym aH uo suoRDeyfoge 1qe4L., peg yp sarseur op 20} ,2prs0s ‘our A1a4a Jo somtoedeo aananpoxd aun wodn 1uaSunuoo seo seo8 o:su at Buowe s9praoid Apres, 219 se “woo 30 , Sify, aq UPI soLDdNs ps saree 241], “EUIOM HIG 3 eur Jeqq aun uodn seyu09 ger pu ousaiu 242 UL pappoquia sjds9p suH099q 10 pino> souaniNs asroeUTDAG as 2[@ur “Ploypsnoy ayp Jo JoxeIOD se jor s,ueMION axp Sudoo%G upur 294 01 jena 124 poxapuog sBum Jo 20305 sous 2tLL, “Aeporezayy aqeur aus xp z9pun diyspyes jo oouers jeouorsiy, [224] UF UDUTOM se “ IeMT “UeUION sv payinauE 2q 01 ey WEWON yO"IG axN “anojs se wonsuny 03 opu0 Uy ,4 IP wodn isn Aysmondur2MU09 Wope2I} ey 3peIg ur uotom ano, “tog Aq “g “ZA JO spuom oe UY -AquTETUTAY 4 uur oop Jo suteqp tp toy paspayar ag 01 pry weUIOM 3DUIQ BM ~ s9AeIS ‘np Jo soqey axp woay snydms apqyss0d 1sowwax8 yp oe o1 ~ feo oxorens sa qppoudde 01 s9ps0 ut Ato rasoudns 21p Jo 90 SEA STULL ‘umop-uns 03 da-tins ‘wroyy ysey axp sopun Bumox ‘upur aun aprssuoye “spjay up UT axotp osye seat yg ,c2tOY,, 2 apisino Suxpfoyun souans1x9 305 af8nuns arerodsop =xp oF “snorarqo wEews22 10U PloM as >I0Id 10 poxDyfo4s TOU sem ag “124 OY nusoe 10U pip Aigurutuiss Jo KZojo0p! 9% 0 sIyoUSG PoE atp 9A OM, ployssnoy ZusperSsp op prnoys oqe] jeorsdyd pur yeruaw 20} AGyoedyo austunp 294 aus apusoN ayn A(uO eI UUs oY Jo wanDK B sem OY eK ‘xajdusoa auowu 393 au099q 98 woIssouddo 304 jo Suemp euros Y>eI9 9xp JO Pl!s sq 01 SUIEUIAE LOU Yon (BBs Jo saan 2454 ‘ujsynbasaud au) Sea “I9A0310Ut 51598 Jo LO} B Sa4jastAnKA 3304: ‘suowoapjsaza panyaans avy 2[d0od 1° 0N,“Aarunuruso9 aun Jo yoatauns 242 02 renuseso ‘oxepasomn ‘seme ays “ATU ‘2p Jo s91u99 auf o1uT s20URs samonp jo 20203 21. 6q asnUIA see ays SJeUIDZ se uoKssaxddo onbrun 19y, Jopum Batiags sea 94s Se UDAg{“UoUE Z9y PEE JOSI94 1OF YTOg “SurOUOINE {go sailop aios 30} wonepumo} am A>] ot disy plnos suyeys ur ueWOM YoeIq axp “uSUOM Jo AAHTOHARE PauoMIpuos AIeIDS axA 50 UL entao v wo9q Soy Sey Yat ISepnap sx FuHOIOd ysNomN (0m so1p 303 ed 9uN08 P: suopenais yeuondaoxs amp 2iqHsifdout “uo saps amp 03 20qR1 [Bt up a0y asodind [ryasn ou po. fu sei axayy “JOssouddo 2 9q 204 plnos Yor Arrunur0 9: sugars pre muy tes yy onls Marsism, Anti-Racism, and Feminism 10 end. Had the black woman failed to rise t0 res could not have fully developed in this ‘have to deal with the black woman as the harasted the slaves the ocason th community o Secon: Teds om tustodian ofa houte of esiance. “The oppression of lack women using the era fslvery, therefore, had wo be butesped by 2 level of overruling repression, Her routine Spprssion had to aosume an nconcaled dimension of otiht counter inogeney. aay thatthe oppreton of blak sive women neces pees na icy is not as extravagant as it might a will be considered towards the end of black women in the overt and rocked the slave system must be va of the magnitude of her role as caretaker of household of resistance ~ ofthe degree to which she could concretely encourage those around her to Kep thst eyes on freedom, Iwi ‘also confirm the objective ciscumstances to which the slave-master’s counter-insurgency was a response With the sole exceptions of Harri women of the slave era remain mor oman and Sojourner Truth lack shrouded in unzevealed ven Gener! Tubman? ed. She was far pester crave agains avery than i suggested by the prevalent misconepton thet heen oustanding soncsbuton wa fo make ninetesn ips int the South, bringing over 300 saves to tei edo. (ka ad fe tis Sen Depa Seth Metae ae cai ‘she did in the Department of the ee = tool nd the Se worth flow pa Gert Smt and herders he Ear ageless egal Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves 119 ‘The sketch which follows is based in is entirety on the works of Herbert Aptheker, the only resources a tO me at the time of this writing."* ‘These facts, gleaned from Aptheker’s works on slave revolts and other forms of resistance, should signal the urgency to undertake 2 thorough study of the black woman as anti-slavery rebel Aptheker's research has disclosed the widespread existence of communi tics of blacks who were neither free nor in bondage. Throughout the South Gin South and North Carolina, Virginia, Louisians, Florida, Georgia, ‘Mississippi and Alabama), maroon communities consisting of fugitive slaves and their descendants were “an ever present feature” ~ from 1642 to 1864 - of slavery. They provided “havens for fugitives, served as bases for ‘marauding expeditions against nearby plantations and, at times, supplied leadership to planned uprisings.” Every detail of these communities was invariably determined by and steeped in resistance, for their raison d’étre emanated from their perpetval assault on slavery. Only in a fighting stance could the maroons hope to secure their constantly imperiled freedom. As a matter of necessity, the women of those communities were compelled to define themselves ~ no less ‘than the men ~ through their many acts of resistance. Hence, throughout this brief survey the counter-attacks and heroic efforts at defense assisted by ‘maroon women will be a recurring motif, As it will be seen, black women often poisoned the food and set fie to the houses of their masters, For those who were also employed as domestics these particular overt forms of resistance were especially available ‘The vast majority of the incidents to be selated involve either tactical ‘unsuccessful assaults or eventually thwarted attempts at defense. In likelihood, numerous successes were achieved, even against the formidabl obstacles posed by the slave system. Many of these were probably unpublicized even at the time of their occurrence, lest they provide encour. agement to the rebellious proclvities of other slaves and, for other slave- holders, an occasion for fear and despair. Dusing the early years of the slave era (1708) a rebellion broke out in ‘New York. Among its participants were surely mam with three men, was executed in retaliation for the 1, for one, along ig of seven Whites, with their guns, knives, killed members of the slave-holding clase and managed to wound others, While some of the insurgents ~ among them a pregnant woman ‘were captured, others ~ including a woman ~ committed suicide rather than surrender.” “In New Orleans one day in 1730 a woman slave received ‘a violent blow from a French soldier for refusing to obey him’ and in her anger shoutedDP Cogueous tayo 200 Dear w Pafamp 2 uoyyy st ‘yom Uy 294 pakeld wowom youiq 3e ado axp jo may € Ing Jo Sans [ede] SILL, iat paumeatn Aqjentuaa ‘Karp wera 20u3[0%4 Irysomod azour, jun pinoo ous ‘sionsind aU, .'91618 293 8 40 3n0 12S puE sun aorta Pu sqny> “SAME, qu SoAPPSMIATA Poue poy “xUMO ARQ! moj Jo “uoMOM pue UauT “aaeys AAT noge,, “MOssTA Jo 2381S -tulooau ap adoso saves zopsog 2tn (too JOKPION ,"paIewISEESEE Os Sea taew yoeiq Y ‘siotno om Burpunom pu MeUIOM auo Sumey ‘suoozeUH Jo SAL x09 © PoysngUIE souO-9As Jo ass0d v OPE Ur : 249 Sonsep 01 suonsnnsur YL ‘uowiom ‘Usur ~ S947I8 padeoso pospuny s2xip jo {arumumo> & 1etp paxsA0ssHp sem I OTET Uf ec PPsINO00 Sum 2u1 A9ye wy Seren ‘nem pa8reqp 1309 109 ZI8T Ue Jordunsten arp jo semis pair, ay us aoa 050g 242 Jo Ciosspy Ktomueuunsogy Sao4oraey ICL 201g fo Grumuawor ays us oxy suomagy YON 242 wo suORZeYR qPamades arom ~ suo “pany azom ona “Gumuru09 ax [pasjosas azois pe soameye 2540} es 01 2 ‘pouodas sisdedsmou [e007 “2ss0d Sumo1eo-aae[s e pue Ajunuiue> woosett 'e up9auoq WOREIUOUOD BJO FURS D1 Sem FUNLOIED THON TT vc BHUMBICA Ut UOSsE Jo posnooe azom TEU B pur UDWOs Om “OTST UL ‘eae patuang sea oun WeUrOM © Sem aU "S9AEIS aay 40 IMOy YO WORNAAT in Aq YoU Sem (BUNfOIeD) ON Jo TowIAGE 242 or JaNaT ® pres) ,9uE Dyqernadsar mo Jo,, jor9A98 Jo Auuosiod Aq doneattmyp yayssa0oNs Y Joma tog ~ om Pu papUnom (© /pUnos8 pM puEIS oD rq pry, sioquou suey ressaos apeu So, vase otf jo sue -ngequr oerg 2tp ‘2}dood anys omt wostod o1 Sunduranie Jo P1s1AI09 seas Aoqperg BuNsreVy ‘EOBT Jo SuuOUE Ase ax BMP “ODM swung Sq204 ur panidsuan Yorum w9prour ae eIg ® Pa ‘sojod uo pagedsyp Ajonqnd speoy stoup ‘aumasad aeaes pauraeyd Jo ss9peaq122 Marxism, Am Racism, and Feminism however, the maroons were of the many women helped to ‘The oppression of slave worsen had to assume dimensions of open ‘counter-insurgency. Against the background of the facts presented above, it would be difficult indeed to refute this contention, As for those who engaged in open battle, they were no less ruthlessly punished than slave many cases they may have suffered than those meted out fo the men. On ie women were burned alive. If such practices were widespread, their logic would be clear. They would be Terrorist methods designed to dissuade other black women from following ss, Ifall black women rose up alongside their men, the institution of slavery would be in difficult strait, Its the backdrop of her role as fighter that the routine oppres- sion of the slave woman must be explored once more. If she was bumed, hanged, broken on the wheel, her head paraded on poles before her op- pressed brothers and sisters, she must have also felt the edge of this ‘counter-insurgency as a fact of her daly existence. The slave system would. victors and it may well have been that some which were more excess the examples of their fightin ‘attempts (escapes ro maroon country!) and all the various forms of sabotage within the system. Feigning illness was also resistance, as were work slow- downs and actions destructive ro the crops. The more extensive these acts, the more the slave-holder’s profits would tend to diminish, While a detailed study of the myriad modes in which this counter- insurgency was manifested can and should be conducted, the following reflections will focus on a single as the slave women’s oppression particularly prominent in its bruality ‘Much has been said about the sexual abuses to which the black woman ‘was forced to submit. They are generally explained as an outgrowth of the ‘male supremacy of Southern culture: the purity of white womanhood could not be violated by the aggressive sexual activity desired by the white male. His instinctual urges would find expression in his relationships with his property ~ the black slave woman, who would have to become his unwilling concubine. No doubt there is an element of truth in these statements, but important to unearth the meaning of these sexual abuses from point of the woman who was assaulted, In keeping with the theme of these reflections, it will be submitted that the slave-master’s sexual domination of the black woman contained an unveiled element of counter-insurgency. To understand the basis for this assertion, the dialectical moments ofthe slave woman’s oppression must be restated and their movement recaptured. The prime factor, it has been said, Reflections om the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves 123 ‘was the total and violent expropriation of her labor with no compensation save the pittance necessary for bare existence. Secondly, as female, she was the housekeeper of the this sense, she was already doubly oppressed. How ing quarters. In 5 having been \wreited from passive, “feminine” existence by the sheer force of things — literally by forced labor ~ confining domestic tasks were incommensurable ‘with what she had become. That isto say, by virtue of her participation in production, she would not act the part of the passive female, but could ‘experience the same need as her men to challenge the conditions of her subjugation. As the center of domestic life, the only life at all removed froma the arena of exploitation, and thus as an important source of survival, the lay a pivotal role in nurturing the thrust towards freedom, ‘The slave-master would attempt to thwart this process. He knew that as female, this slave woman could be particularly vulnerable in her sexual existence. Although he would not pet her and deck her out in frills, the white master could endeavor to re-establish her femaleness by reducing hher to the level of her biological being. Aspiring with his sexual assaults th her as a female animal, he would be striving to destroy het ions of animals, taken at ict biological level (and notin terms of their quite different social potential for human bi imone de Beauvoir says the following: It is unquestionably the male who taker the female ~ she is taken. Often the word applies literally, for whether by means of special organs or chrough superior strength che male seizes her and holds her in place; he performs the copulatory movements; end, am ceurates,... Her body becomes a sects birds, and mammals, he pen- sce to be broken through...” ‘The act of copulation, reduced by the white man to an animal-like act, ‘would be symbolic of the effort to conquer the resistance the black woman could unloose. In confronting the black woman as adversary in a sexual contest, the master would be subjecting her to the most elemental form ism ai ly suited for the female: rape. Given the already terroristic texture of plantation life, it would be as potential victim of rape that the slave woman would be most unguarded. 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But in practice, she could work up a fresh content formed equality by inspiring and participating in acts of resistance of every form and color. She could tum the weapon of equality in struggle agai the avaticious slave system which had engendered the mere caricature of equality in oppression. The black woman's activities increased the total ce of anti-slavery assaults. But most important, without consciously rebellious black women, the theme of resistance could nor have become 50 potential for did not end wi the impact of racism, the black inject herself into the desperate struggle for existence, She ~ like her man ~ hhas been compelled to work for wages, providing for her family as she was struggles against the racism and the dehumanizing e organized society. In fact, it would appear that the tance historically maintained by black people and thus the historical func- tion of the black liberation struggle as harbinger of change throughout the society are due in part to the greater objective equality between the black ‘man and the black woman. Du Bois pur it this way: “In the great rank and. file of our five million women, we have the up-working of new rev ideals, which must in time have vast influence on the thought and ac this land," Oficial and unofficial attempts to blunt the effects of the egalitarian tendencies as between the black man and woman should come as no surprise, The matriarch concept, embracing the clichéd “female castrator,” is, in the last instance, an open weapon of ideological warfare, Black men and women alike remain its poten 1s ~ men unconsciously lunging ‘equating her with the myth, women sinking back into the shadows, lest an aggressive po: the myth in themselves, ‘The myth must be consciously sd as myth and the black woman in her true historical contours must be resucrected. We, the black women of Reftections om the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves 127 today, must accept the full weight of 2 legacy wrought in blood by our ‘mothers in chains. Our fight, while identical in spirit, reflects different conditions and thus implies different paths of struggle, But as heirs t0 a tradition of supreme perseverance and heroic resistance, we must hasten to take our place wherever our people are forging on towards freedom. Nores 1 is interesting to note a parallel in Navi Germany: with alts ranting and raving about motherhood and the family, Hitlers regime made a conscious attempt to stp the family of vs to # biological uni and 0 force its members o relate in an unmediated fashion to the fase Clearly the Nazis endeavored 0 crash the could not become a center from which oppesitional activity might origin Herbert Aptheker, ed., A Documentary History of te Negro People inthe United States (New York: Citadel Press, 1969), 207 Friedrich Engels, Origin ofthe Family, Private Property and the State (New York International Publishers, 1942), 107 Frederick Douglass, Life and Timer of Frederick Douglass (New York: Collier Books, 1962), 96 85 Darkwater, Voices fom Within the Veil (New York: AMS: 185, the Revolution (Boston, 1846, The Negro Family inthe United Sea 1966) ‘Moses Grandy, Narrarve ofthe Life of Moses Grands Late @ Slave in the United ‘States of Amorca (Bos go: Universiy of » Chicago: University of Chicago Pe Marx, Grondrissy 266 Earl Conrad, “I Bring You General Tubman,” The Black Scholar, vol. 1, m0. 3- 4 January-February 1970, 4 1m February 1949, Herbert Aptheker published an essay in Masses and Main stream entitled “The Negro Woman.” Herbert Aptheker, “Slave Guerrilla Warfare,” in To Be Free, Studies in fegro History (New York: Ine al Publishers, 1969 [Ist edn,7b jo tonpoud yemew e rou axe ades 30} soannioutaxp ‘pay soino aMp uo 31 ‘edou yo sourway® suo noxp se suosud pus ‘sumoo “onod amp prear 07 aoxoj 9q satis [98 UouOm ~ pandue axcy sasto9tp satpo PUE 29 eens se — uous aren 2sned0q odes vous ae ‘okmo9 o ona, ‘wst[eudeo Jo suonsjas esos ayn pu sadex jondeuOD otp st POULYUOD aq 02 “pearsut jour jeraounsur axp ur oq dea 03 28m o¢p 30 ‘341 20tp susuasow ades-nue ay uw UoRdumsse peaxdsopim e SOIp ~enuoo sqpIog satmunoo asteroos uy des Jo souaxan900 wWoNbasyUT 944, {x PHom asyeros amp ur 2uaéqe Terns sit qnym paioenuoo st soununos asyedeD =x uF aoUsTOIN [eNOS Jo 20u3 'S PaNUN Sp wae eno ous BuO 54 gBnomry “epor sostunco laps wt Amqnyemoome Rurue pos Ssouparseated si st ao st req ost adex moge aigu Zunnou st 194, “Aia108 0 Kop-iuoseid HumiBeyd wa[qoud snows © se Buiouro st a5u>qors jenxos Sqm pooejdsr pur uagMs ‘ouas yo sae UY ‘U}od ut ase # 1 adey “uonnyos Ajop 01 seadde Katp verp suonsodord oruapids yons paumsse aaey Aotp uays suo suza}gozd sno1Ias se p>8poq “mounpe oie uoneiOHoIap [0s Jo suroiduxds wueaBey AOU 31p Jo aWwOy sulneg isteudeg ay pur ‘usioey ‘odey 8 oF & ” 169 L6co1 ‘Asiana, ioBeony) sms pom myo us Ger # w S611 “(e961 ‘BIE BACHE 9HOK NBN) me w 2S Peo taming, “PRP IBY OF 61 “81 “(A96t SHoog weg 0K MON) 32 PHONE 94 JOANeDGE 9p 2HOENS 6E op) aIaRsSIry SHEDS SHOR SN) rat W v W u 6 Teuoneaniey 904 2X) sqoa2y 20018 ustanueg pun ‘usy-puy usEEEdited by Joy James 1Bsz ooxstH weonouy-oxry pur KydexBor0gg URIOKN “6 ext umog wide am paw usERY Ode -g m1 spans jo Sua0> arp uy apy s,uEwo. 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