Godeys Lady's Book Cover June 1867
Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th century American society by Marci Bounds Littlefield
Part 3
Motherhood and Black Family Life
The nature of motherhood for black women is pertinent to understanding black family life. There is a lot of debate concerning black family life during the era of slavery. Some assert that children largely grew up in mother-only households, while others suggest the importance of fathers in the lives of their children.
However, there is a sufficient amount of evidence to suggest that black men were more likely to be sold and the stability of black families was connected to the life cycles of their owners (Hine, King, and Reed). Motherhood was the most consistent part of the life of a slave child, though it may have been temporary, and the values, lessons, and tradition passed on by mothers shaped black family life. Since the condition of black people's lives in America did not allow them to be passive or submissive, black women "had to develop strength rather than glory and fragility, and had to be active and assertive rather than passive and submissive"(Landry 89).
Again, slaves often challenged the white notion of womanhood, which rested on purity and developed a "broader definition of womanhood which incorporated resourcefulness and independence"(Landry 58). While all black women did not run away, many initiated the precedence for the role of black women as active agents in their own emancipation in terms of both race and gender. The pre-Civil War role of black women as commodities within American society and as wives and mothers within families, which created plural and often contradictory roles, produced black women who were willing to challenge the dominant definition of black womanhood. This often covert yet culturally cohesive action helped to create a more meaningful reality for African Americans women's experiences, and a more expansive definition of what it meant to be a black woman, with the context of motherhood defining this reality.
Black women struggled for freedom in a society that viewed women as slaves. In surviving, many endured slavery, learned the cultural ethos, and recognized the value in changing their lives in preparation for better futures. This article considered black women's response to their multiple and often conflicting roles and suggested their response was to create a new meaning for black womanhood, one which made motherhood the center of black women's lives. Thus, black women negotiated motherhood in early 19th century society by surviving, by caring for their children, and by engaging in various forms of protest. Black women challenged common views as they transitioned through their life stages of 1) survival, 2) protest, 3) revolution, and 4) freedom, and created a new definition of black womanhood. This new definition allowed black women to reject the system of American domination, the idea of the inferiority of African Americans, and the traditional idea of womanhood; retain a sense of self-worth; and exercise self-efficacy.
This new notion of black womanhood led to oppositional consciousness formation and eventually fostered social change. The 19th century was a crucial time for African Americans because it marked a change in the social order, and black women played a critical role in bringing about this change.
Works Cited
Amott, Teresa & Julie Matthaei. Race Gender and Work, A Multicultural Economic History of Women in the United States. Boston, MA: South End Press,1996.
Carby, H.V. Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Farrell, B.G. "Marriage." Family: the Makings of an Idea, an Institution, and a Controversy in American Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.
Frazier, E. Franklin. "The Negro Slave Family." Articles on American Slavery, Women and the Family in a Slave Society. Ed. Paul Finkleman. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989.
Frederick Douglass' Paper. Rochester, NY. Item # 46039: Accessible Archives, Inc. 11 March 1853
Gutman, Herbert G. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976.
Hine, Darlene Clark. "We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible." A Reader in Black Women's History. Eds. Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma King, and Linda Reed. New York: Carlson,1994.
Hine, Darlene Clark, and Kathleen Thompson. A Shining Thread of Hope: A History of lack Women in America. New York: Broadway, 1998.
Jones, Jacqueline. "My Mother was Much of a Woman: Black Women Work and the Family under Slavery."Articles on American Slavery, Women and the Family in Slave Society. Ed. Paul Finkleman. New York: Garland, 1989.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_3/
Black American youth in the late '60's or early '70's
No comments:
Post a Comment