Slavery's Ancestors of Today's Manhood Types

During slavery there were two separate social status ladders related to the slaves. First, the slaveowner set up the upper class slaves (with whom he had intimate contact); the middle class (slaves close around him); and the lower class (slaves distanced from any Whites). Field slaves had the hardest time. House slaves developed more individualistic attitudes, shaped either by conforming to the master or reacting against him. Upper class slaves (e.g. valets) were usually loyal imitators of the master's ways. Second, there was the slave's own status of hierarchy. Generally, specialist slaves were ascribed higher status in the slave quarters. So were those whose jobs frequently took them away from the plantation -- dravers, steamboatmen, draymen (drivers of heavily loaded carts,) and suppliers of shoes, clothes, and food. The lowest were house slaves, slave drivers, concubines, mulattoes, and informants. Slaves who lived among and worked closely with the master learned special things which made it less rough on their path to independence following slavery. However, that path for all ex-slaves was terrible because of the practices springing out of the original USA philosophy. This philosophy was established by a comparatively few evil White men who controlled eleven states of the Union, monopolized all the political offices, made all the laws, controlled the educational system and media; owned most of the good land of the South and possessed nearly all the riches. Losing the Civil War intensified their hate of Black people, and especially of Black males whom they envied and feared. Yet, their nation-wide control and/or influence continues to this day. By being excluded from participating in any institution of the dominate society meant Blacks had to "make do" with what little they had in each of their subgroups. Each subgroup developed its own social institutions, including models of manhood (and womanhood). Yet, all subgroups were herded together in segregated parts of town. This allowed for subgroup cross fertilization of African survivals, slaves survivals, and newly forming ex-slave customs. From these values emerged patterns of Black manhood. The unique system of values within each subgroup emphasized certain established patterns, modified others, and de-emphasized the remainder. Persistent bad patterns have slowed many Black's recovery from slavery. Despite most everybody being against them, the effects of good patterns enabled Black Americans to make astonishing progress out of a bottomless pit in an amazingly short period of time. If each slave subgroup can be thought of as a "tree" and their like-kind descendants as "apples," let us speculate on five rough subgroups. First, the Elite "apples" of today are likely to have come from the upper class slaves, with contributions from many in the middle class, from among the Free Negro "tree," and from the remainder of the ex-slaves who took advantage of post-slavery school education. Second, the Omnibus "apples" were probably of the same mix as the Elite but were dominated by house slaves loyal to the master. Third, Mainstream "apples were perhaps from the specialized slave and Free Negro "trees" who obtained some degree of post-slavery schooling. Fourth, the Enslaved Mind "apples" are likely derivatives of the "robot" slaves who were brainwashed into not getting an education, not being ambitious, and not trying to better themselves. They have stayed in perpetual poverty. Fifth, the "tree" for today's criminals apparently came from outraged and rebellious slaves who, as ex-slaves, were so fed up with their slavery related work as to refuse to return to slave type work. As a result, most vanished behind prison walls; many slipped deep into the ghetto to live outside the law; and a few became entrepreneurs who profited from "Negro Vice." website: jablifeskills.com Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.

 

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