History, Race, and Violence in the Arena of Reproduction Enslavement. :: Essays Papers

History, Race, and Violence in the Arena of likeness Enslavement. In 1997, Dorothy Roberts wrote a salient book titled Killing the pitch-black Body Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. Roberts explicates the crusade to punish scandalous womenespecially the starkfor having children. The exploitation of pitch blackness women in the U.S. began in the days of slavery and, fittingly enough, Roberts introduces her first chapter with an illustrative storyWhen rose Williams was sixteen years old, her stamp down sent her to live in a cabin with a masculine slave named Rufus. It did not matter that Rose disliked Rufus cause he a bully. At first Rose thought that her role was retributive to perform household chores for Rufus and a few other slaves. But she lettered the true nature of her assignment when Rufus crawled into her bunk one night I says , What you means, you fool nigger? He say for me to hush de mouth. Dis my bunk, too, he say. When Rose fended off Rufuss sexual advances with a poker, she was reported to Master Hawkins. Hawkins made it irradiate that she had no choice in the matter De nex day de massa call me and specialize me, Woman, Is pay big money for you,and Is done dat for de cause I wants yous to raise me chillens. Is put you to live with Rufus for dat purpose. Now, if you doesnt want whippin at de stake, yous do what I wants.Rose reluctantly acceded to her masters demands I thinks bout massa buyin me offen de block and savin me from bein seprated from my folk music and bout bein whipped at de stake. Dere it am. What am Is to do? So I cides to do as de massa wish and so I yields.The story of control of benighted reproduction begins with the experiences of slave women like Rose Williams. Black procreation helped to bring forth slavery, giving slave masters an economic incentive to govern Black womens reproductive lives. Slave womens childbearing replenished the enslaved labor force Black women practice children who belonged to t he slaveowner from the moment of their conception. This feature of slavery made control of reproduction a central aspect of whites subjugation of African people in America. It label Black women from the beginning as objects whose decisions about reproduction should be compositors case to social regulation rather than to their own will. (22-23)Once slavery was abolished Black people no longer had to worry about their children being the keeping of slaveowners, or anyone else.