Caring For Children In Africa

In the statement “Enslaved women and their children could be separated at any time, and even if they belonged to the same owner, strict labor policies and plantation regulations severely limited the development of their relationships” (Li,14), it supports the idea of the acts of slavery disregarding a female slave and her young having a relationship. In the slave narrative, it shows that sometimes a punishment for not pleasing your master can be separated from your kid shown through “This poor woman endured many cruelties from her master and mistress; sometimes she was locked up, away from her nursing baby, for a whole day” (Jacobs,13). Dr. Flint, Linda as well as other slaves master, had a cook who was ordered to cook mush for their pet dog. The dog refused to eat what she was ordering to cook and died. The punishment for a dog dying was the poor lady being taken away from her infant. As can be seen, taking away the relationship between mother and child takes away the rights as a mother of a female slave. Sadly, it has to be remembered that a female slave is not looked at as a mother but her and her offspring are only viewed as a property and labor.

slave family built was broken (ibid). Thus, it was not uncommon for children to share the same

In Marie Schwartz’s book Born in Bondage, describes the life as a child during the antebellum era. The most evident struggle of these children is who to have the most loyalty to. Who should the child listen to when it comes to its survival? Should the child be loyal to the Master or its parents? This was the struggle between the will of the Owner and the wants of the parents. The struggle to gain the loyalty of the child typically would go to the parents except in a few cases where the child was raised away from its parents and in the owner’s house. Who has the most influence in the child’s life was a major source of conflict between slave parents and slave owners. This competition for their loyalty created its own problems for the child such as not knowing who to trust more. For the most part one group would exert more influence than the other. While the child’s parents tended to be the group that would exert the most influence, the owners in certain instances would and could exert more influence than the other. One of these circumstances was when the child was raised by its owners.

Slave families were a pivotal part of how African American culture was created. Some slave owners encouraged their slaves to marry, enabling them to form a family. African American traditions and values were spread from generation to generation making slave families an integral part of keeping their unique culture alive. Specific gender roles were also produced within slave families. Though their work in the plantations were fairly equal, in their off time gender roles were created. In

         Care of the mother for the child's future character formation, have a decisive role.  The slaves don‘t know their mother, so they don’t get good care. Slaves don’t have a sense of identity for self because they don‘t know their birthday. It is easy to hurt them as a person's sense of belonging. Slaves needs their mothers to be their directors.

Family dynamics across all races are complex. For the state of the black family is made even more complicated by a history rooted in slavery. Fractured families were born out of a system where husbands were taken away, jailed or killed, leaving the family weakened with a mother and/or grandmother at the helm. While these historical facts may be true; that the black family is weak, can be argued. Yet, the family for many in the black community and other communities of color extend to include a large number of kin. On the other hand, it can also be argued that since families were ripped apart during the slave trade it created an opportunity for setting up networks of support and family units to include members who may not be blood related. You often hear black people refer to an elder as “aunt” or “uncle” these networks were put in place as protective factors in the event that parents were sold there was an assurance that someone would care for the children. To an extent this behavior continues to this day as we see many fathers sentenced to long jail terms for petty crimes or killed. The family structure makeup may be a blood relative and it may also be kin of another kind. LaShawnDa Pittman discusses how these factors shape the African-American family and how slavery impacted the role of the mother and father within the family system. During slavery there wasn’t any possibility of childhood. Children were socialized to begin work at the age of

Even in places where the minority population is small the amount of children removed from their families was still large, in fact about three times as high as their proportion in the general population. “Bremner (1974) states, “Although the rate of child welfare services to Negro children was higher…behavioral and emotional problems were reported for a considerably smaller proportion of Negro children… This raised the question for some professionals that whether placement of minority-group children is precipitated by poverty and lack of supportive resources, rather than disruptive family relationships or perceived habits of the child” (p. 8). The removal rate of Native American children was high as well. Like African American children there were obvious overlaps between removal from the home and poverty. As well during that time most social workers were Caucasian and tended to have different cultural standards in terms of family life therefore creating convolution. Like the circumstances of Native American children being taken from their home in the turn of the century, Native American children, when taken from their home often lost their culture and

Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth months its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an old woman, too old for field labor” While the bond of a mother and child is essential in basic relationships and child development, slave children are inhibited from this bond and lack the development and relationship that white children and mothers are able to have. Douglass is not even deemed a son to his father and is taken from his mother shortly after his birth.

Despite its inception some 400 odd years ago, slavery continues to impact families of African descent. Al though forcibly taken to American shores with shack les and chains draped around them like garments, Africans retained some sense of family both mentally and spiritually. The familial bond which was present those 400 years ago still exists today. It is the tradi tional African family structure that is the baseline for the past, present and future black American family. It is therefore imperative that we examine this tradi tional structure.

African-American slaves during that era used family as a means to focus their lives around something bigger than any one person. Utilizing the family

By going back to one’s roots, the future of developing countries resided in the “development of Africa is one of the most constructive and universally helpful missions” (Locke, 6). This direction was a form of modernization that was an improvement of relationships between African Americans and other races.

In the beginning Africans would be sold in the colonies as indentured servants. Unfortunately, the need for workers grew, assemblies began to pass laws making slavery legal. Later in time, slavery became a part of their life, in the colonies. In the mid-1700s, slavery was legal in all 13 colonies. These laws said that the children of enslaved people would also be slaves. Saddly, families were normally split up and sold to different owners. Slaves often did whatever they could to resist, act against slavery, brake tools, pretend to be sick, or work slowly. These action were dangerous, slaves had to be careful to avoid punishment.

If a child was born to an African American woman in slavery, often times it wouldn't survive because of the same poor conditions. Once an African American woman completed her daily work for her master, she returned home to her community, set up among other slaves. This community was usually located away from the living quarters of her master. In this community, the African American men and women tried to preserve some of the customs native to their respective countries. They grew vegetables that they once grew on their home soil, held traditional ceremonies, and practiced long-established birthing methods. Many African American women established intimate relationships with African American men. When this took place, a traditional marriage ceremony often took place. They raised families, much as the colonial men and women. Many times, after years of companionship, they were separated because of death or one being traded to another family.

The concept of family is one of many universal priorities amongst all Africans in all regions. Family is something that African families genuinely value and is considered the foundation for their standing in society. No matter how old you are, you are not considered an adult until you have had children. African parents do not feel complete until they become grandparents. And even if you are married you are not considered to have a family until you have children. African families have very strong foundations because they cherish their families, and are all very close knit. It is considered to be very common and normal to live in a household with both of your grandparents and sometimes even aunts and uncles.

     The black family is centered around the African ethos, a common guiding principle that filled African peoples lives. The African ethos, broken down into two categories, is the survival of the tribe and the oneness of being. “The knowledge of one’s tribal or family genealogy not only reflected and showed the importance of the interconnectedness of all elements of the family (tribe), it also was thought to impart the sense of sacred obligation to extend and continue one’s genealogical line.” In other words, existence is dependent not only on those alive, but those dead as well. Therefore in practice, the structure of traditional African families is based on union. African-based family systems can be thought of as a “Continual Flexibility in Circularity”. It is based on the continuity and union of people. African culture must be the basis for understanding black families. “African roots of black culture is the retention of an African attitude, an attitude based on a belief system which understood everything in the universe to be endowed with the Supreme Force.” In