First of all I applaud Katrina Browne for having it in her to do all of this, it took a lot and clearly she invested a lot of her time and money in it.
Moving on...
She said something to the effect of the DeWolf slave trade money ran out, but the family maintained its elite status because of other sources of income like cotton, sugar, railroads, etc. To me it seemed like she was trying to say after the original DeWolf's noone really benefited monetarily from the slave trade. It sounded like she was trying to say that they kept their status by branching out, but really all of those industries were fueled by the slave trade and slavery. I do not know if this statement was meant how I am interpreting it, but that is what it sounded like to me. I want to know if anyone is on board with me on this one?
President Obama walks fine line on race, justice
11 years ago
I agree. I will say right off the bat that I could certainly benefit from hearing this segment again and listening for specific word choice. It seems to me, however, that Katrina Browne should have acknowledged that the only reason her family was able to "branch out" and continue their success was (even without the money) was because of the elite cultural status of her family achieved through slave trade itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything Ty and Clare have said so far, but let me pose this question to you both: If we can take this instance of a family who was able to branch out only because of the elite cultural status that slavery gave them can we apply that same logic to all whites in the US. I think some would say we could and call it "white privilege." So we're back to the same idea that all US white people are implicated and responsible. I don't like this line of thinking, it doesn't sit well with me, like I talked about in class today. It just doesn't.
ReplyDeleteTo touch on Nick's question, I don't believe that you can apply the same logic to all whites in the US. It is pretty clear that all whites did not have a connection to the slave trade and are not part of the culturally elite. However, I do believe that traditionally there has been an uneven playing field between blacks and whites. There are those elitist whites who were able to branch out and exploit slavery that have been at the top (economically) for a very long time. Other white people that did not profit from slavery still kind of had a leg up on black people whose efforts towards upward mobility were hampered by the damage slavery caused. Black people who were introduced to this country as slaves have had to build their economic status from the ground up by working tirelessly and overcoming obstacles that most white people never had to face in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough question to decide what degree of responsibility Americans should have regarding the horrific events of the slave trade. To some extent, I believe some guilt should be maintained.
ReplyDeleteLets begin by looking at an election. After former president Bush took office, many Americans felt ashamed or guilty of being an American and representing a certain set of generalizable values. Personally I felt a bit embarrassed when traveling in other countries. But I did not vote for Bush, rather I voted for his opponent, thus my actions in no way caused his presidency. Why would I then feel guilty for something I did not do?
One might say, well you could have done more to ensure Bush did not take office. You were alive during his campaign and that is the difference between this example and say the slave trade. Yet can the time dimension really save us from responsibility?
I believe that no action nor experience is ever completely erased from one's history. You are or a nation is the aggregate of its history. This is not to say that beneficial change can not occur. If say the Klu Klux Klan today changed to become a pro-rights activist group, I believe new members could say "I am proud of our present and guilty of our past." A group contains certain qualities as an individual does. A group can be honest, rich, intelligent, etc. Doesn't everyone want to work for a GOOD HONEST organization? When members of a group commit crimes per-say, the entire group is held somewhat responsible. It is perfectly acceptable to in these circumstances say, "I didn't do anything wrong, but I feel bad to have been associated with this group. I will either leave this group, or work to change its ways."
In this sense I think Americans can still be proud to be an American but also feel guilty from our past. We can share the responsibility of our Country's actions and work now to improve our current reputation.