West African American Influence On West African Motherhood

During the times of slavery, black women were forcefully impregnated both in order to maintain the institution of slavery and as an economic incentive for white slave owners to control the reproductive lives of black women. A black woman’s child was considered the property of her slave owner from the moment of conception. This key feature in the institution of slavery gave whites the ultimate power of repression against blacks in America. Despite this fact, black women fought back. They took initiatives such as self-induced miscarriage in order to not bear a child. Unfortunately, these women were punished for taking such initiatives; however, they were reprimanded for the wrong reasons. As Robert demonstrates:

In a time period when women were considered inferior, as were blacks, it was unimaginable the horrors a black woman in the south had to endure during this period. African women were slaves and subject to the many horrors that come along with being in bondage, but because they were also women, they were subject to the cruelties of men who look down on women as inferior simply because of their sex. The sexual exploitation of these females often lead to the women fathering children of their white masters. Black women were also prohibited from defending themselves against any type of abuse, including sexual, at the hands of white men. If a slave attempted to defend herself she was often subjected to further beatings from the master. The black female was forced into sexual relationships for the slave master’s pleasure and profit. By doing this it was the slave owner ways of helping his slave population grow.

Slavery has a huge affect on how a woman can mother her children for it drastically increases the difficulty of such a task while limiting the availability of the mother herself. Slavery averts a mother’s ability to form an intricate relationship with her children, making the connection between the two subjects weak and almost non existent. In Beloved, slavery is a huge element in why Sethe is the mother she is, and it has influenced many of her more regrettable actions. Throughout the book the Morrison shines some light onto the horrible treatment of some of the characters, this is reflected when Paul D states: “White people believed that whatever the manners, under every dark skin was a jungle. Swift unnavigable waters, swinging screaming baboons, sleeping snakes, red gums ready for their sweet white blood... it wasn’t the jungle blacks brought with them to this place. . . . It was the jungle whitefolks planted in them.” (Morrison). Here we can see that the amount of degradation and dehumanization that occurred during this time period as a slave was unbearably prevalent, posing as a huge distractor towards mothers and their ability to care for their child. The Owners of the slaves rarely viewed the slaves as living beings, so one

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.

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

         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.

“Frequently, before the child has reached its twelfth month, 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. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of the child’s affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child. This is the inevitable result.” This is done so the mother can get right to work on the field while women who are too old to do such labor are taking care of the kids and household. A child is taken away before the age of 1 for the fact that they are so young so they can’t remember or feel any attachment to their mother just yet. The slave owners also made sure when they took the child they would sell them off to a farther farm from which the mother would be working. For the reason to make sure the mother wouldn’t be able to easily see the child and try to corrupt anything that they are trying to play in them. This process is unavoidable like Frederick says, this prevents any connection with emotions between the slaves. The end result can be

Douglass' life started off as any other life of a slave. He was born into slavery on a plantation, separated from his mother before he was twelve months old, and taken care of by his grandmother, who was too old to be of any use on a plantation. This was a usual occurrence, taking the child from the enslaved woman at a young age. Being very important in keeping the child enslaved and obedient, the only purpose to the psychological effect of this separation was, Douglass writes, "to hinder the development of the child's affection toward its mother, and to blunt and destroy the natural affection of the mother for the child" (Douglass, 48). Douglass also tells of when he learns that his mother had died, "I received tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (Douglass, 49). He states this to further illustrate the effect and purpose of the separation. Douglass feels no different towards his own mother than he does toward a complete stranger, implying what little he knew of, experienced with, and cared about his mother due to their forced separation.

   Historically, the job of women in society is to care for the husband, the home, and the children. As a homemaker, it has been up to the woman to support the husband and care for the house; as a mother, the role was to care for the children and pass along cultural traditions and values to the children. These roles are no different in the African-American community, except for the fact that they are magnified to even larger proportions. The image of the mother in African-American culture is one of guidance, love, and wisdom; quite often the mother is the shaping and driving force of African-American children. This is reflected in the literature of the

Fittingly, they treated the slaves as if their family bonds were completely worthless – something they would never have imagined doing to a white man. This is illustrated through Douglass's relationship with his own mother, Harriet Bailey, whom he was separated from as an infant. As Douglass reminisced, "very little communication ever took place between us…I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial…I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger" (26). This passage depicts how the slaveholders became so convinced of the worthlessness of the slaves that they saw no reason to respect the vital bond between a mother and child. Consequently, the slaves' view of family fell askew. Although Douglass appeared to know that his mother was important and desired a relationship with her, her passing clearly did not ever sadden him. He also showed no affection for his brother and sisters, as he lacked the necessary interactions with them needed to form familial bondage. Additionally, slaveholders expressed extreme animosity towards the slave families by raping slave women, impregnating them, and then encouraging their white children to whip their half-black siblings. As a result of the dehumanizing behavior that slavery presents, slaves not only suffered and lost all of their freedoms, but also lost their entire family lives, which the slaveholders deemed necessary to

As it was common for large amounts of African slaves to live on one plantation, families began to become prevalent among slave communities. Slave owners actually encouraged marraige because it generally meant better moral among the slaves and thus less opposition, as well as, because slave marraiges meant children which would become the slave owner’s next generation of laborers. Therefore, slave families grew quickly and became a key aspect of slave culture. Instead of relying on friends on the plantation, slaves had their families to go back to. Black mothers found great joy and happiness in their newborns, even though childbirth deaths were common, but

During the time of slavery, not only were African Americans were treated unfairly, but their women had it worse at times; African American women would be raped would be raped by their owners, or be trafficked around from man to man (Browne-Marshall). The white man was seen as evil, disgusting and cruel, so being a black woman carrying a white man’s child was basically

The slave women's choices in life were not limited to her happiness, but she had to think about her children. A mother had different responsibilities that she had to deal with. By having to deal with sexual abuse and thinking about children women were less able to leave their chains and people behind. According to Deborah Gray White in "Aren't I a Women?","...for those fugitive women who left children in slavery, the physical relief which freedom brought was limited compensation for the anguish they suffered."(White.62)

Looking at the female slave as a mother, we find that she fetishizes her relationship with her child. Fueling her state of distortion further, we suggest that the mother believes her infant son’s existence is another mistakes. Boldly, the mother takes on the unprecedented role of God and makes a multitude of distasteful decisions about her infant son. Like deeming his fair skin unbearable, predicting that as an adult he will claim a “master-right” over black slaves, and finally ending his life. By all accounts, the mother is unable to make sensible decisions about anything.

    The maternal bond between mother and kin is valued and important in all cultures.  Mothers and children are linked together and joined: physically, by womb and breast; and emotionally, by a sense of self and possession.  Once that bond is established, a mother will do anything for her child.  In the novel Beloved, the author, Toni Morrison, describes a woman, Sethe, who's bond is so strong she goes to great lengths to keep her children safe and protected from the evil that she knows.  She gave them the gift of life, then, adding to that, the joy of freedom.  Determined to shield them from the hell of slavery, she took drastic measures to keep them from that life.  But, in doing so, the