The After Life of Slavery

 AnnaBelle Isaac

Ms. Harris

November 15, 2022

The After-Life of Slavery

What is slavery? Slavery is the condition of one human being owned by another. Slavery took place from 1776 until 1865; however, has the trauma of that time period ever disappeared? Throughout our class, the course theme has been “The Sea is Haunted”, and we have focused on the idea of the Black Gothic, but what exactly is that? Throughout our class, we have discussed topics such as trauma, racial violence, sexual violence, capitalism, and much more, all of which strongly contribute to the class theme. 

In my opinion, the Black Gothic is a feeling of darkness, reminding you of the past, an ongoing feeling of horror that follows you around. The Black Gothic has many themes itself, including death, darkness, hauntings, and mystery. The sad truth is that people still feel the horrors from what their ancestors had to endure. This is known as the Afterlife of Slavery, a term created by Saidiya Hartman. This involves the fear that still crosses an African American person’s mind. I first got the impression of this from the novel Zong! By Nourbese Philips. Throughout the text, she describes how she is going to write the novel and how the reader needs to understand it.  In the novel, she states, “to lock myself into this particular and peculiar discursive landscape in the belief that the story of these African men, women, and children thrown overboard in an attempt to collect insurance monies, the story that can only be told by not telling, is locked in this text. In the many silences within the Silence of the text. I would lock myself in this text in the same way men, women, and children were locked in the holds of the slave ship Zong.” As stated, these people were seen as having a monetary value or being someone’s “property.” This affects those who suffer from the afterlife of slavery because they have to live with the thought of their loved ones being treated inhumanely. This also contributes to such because an ongoing fear will forever be in their mind. In modern society, there are many examples of unfairness when it comes to racial differences, and because of this, some feel as if they cannot live life to their full capability.

Another text that strongly influenced my idea of the afterlife of slavery is Equiano. This novel is known as a slave narrative. The book begins with Equiano being taken away at age 11 and his life from then on out. This novel was written specifically for abolitionists because he tells of the horrors of not only being on a slave ship but also his life after. This contributes to the afterlife of slavery because he was trying to change the future for new generations; he was trying to prove to people the wrongdoings that were being made in hopes of changing. Sadly, even today, there are still many racial discriminations that exist. In the article “The Sociology of Discrimination” by Devah Pagar and Hana Shepherd, it states, “unlike in the pre–civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were overt and widespread, today discrimination is less readily identifiable, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement.” This is true in many ways, specifically because it is not always as identifiable. For example, redlining, school systems, and even employment all vary based off of racial identity. 

In closing, it needs to be known that there is still a racial injustice that isn’t deserved. So many people’s ancestors and even themselves have faced many trials and tribulations, which truly shows how strong of a person they are. Everyone is equal, and that needs to be known. We know that reparations will never be made, but the best we can give is telling people the truth. The afterlife of slavery is an ongoing horror that still determines people of color's life choices because they feel as if they cannot choose. 






Work Cited:

“Zong! by M. Nourbese Philip.” Goodreads, Goodreads, 1 Mar. 2008, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3009984-zong.

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equian...” Goodreads, Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240009.The_Interesting_Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Olaudah_Equiano. 

Pager, Devah, and Hana Shepherd. “The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets.” Annual Review of Sociology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 2008, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2915460/. 

authors, All, et al. “Ecological Memory in the Biophysical Afterlife of Slavery.” Taylor & Francis, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2022.2107985. 

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