Slavery beyond the Human Perspective - The Enslavement of Life as a “False Commodity”

As we are all well aware of the horrific evils of slavery in the past (regarding the enslavement of the African American race) and the way in which slavery would serve as a false commodity regarding the items (sugar, cotton, to name a few) that were produced by the slaves. We are also well aware of the persistent slavery in our current day and age, and the interconnection that many industries have in the supporting human enslavement (agriculture, factories, coffee, diamonds, ect.). I want to bring attention, as I hope many of us are aware, of the enslavement of animals for cosmetic testing (one of the many ways in which animals are used as false commodities). Leading cosmetic products use animal testing to make sure the product is safe for human usage. This controversy has, under its wing, the false justification that we should practice animal testing because it benefits human beings, when other methods that prove more satisfactory for knowing actual human reactions are available for companies to use. In other words, animal testing is obsolete. (I have a hard time thinking that it was necessary in the first place, but that is my personal opinion). I think as human beings we have enslaved life (for animals used in animal testing live and die with suffering and with the only purpose of having chemicals inserted into their eyes, skin, or bodies) under the illusion that it benefits us some way or other, in an economical perspective or other. In the past and present there were/are alternatives for the same products and the only thing they require out of the consumers is consciousness and attention to the products they are demanding.

Below I posted some links to sites that help guide anyone who is interested in changing some consumer habits:

http://leapingbunny.org/indexcus.php

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cosmetic_testing/

and lastly a video by PETA that is graphic so be warned…

This is a picture of Booker T. Washington in his office at Tuskegee. This picture resembles many things about Washington's personality and morals. First of all his office is really clean, he always talked about cleanliness being really important and something that was necessary in order to be taken seriously. It also shows Washington non-stop work ethic that drove him to be so successful and influential in promoting change in society. The book case in the back of the room full of books shows that hes educated and always reading and learning new things. Washington was a non- stop advocate of industrial education, but also of bettering yourself through being more professional in every aspect and it is truly shown in this picture. The dead flowers are kind of ironic though, i don't really know how i feel about them. It's Ironic in the fact that this picture depicts change for the better but then there's dead flowers, I find it rather odd.

Letter to Washington

To the right is a letter that W.E.B Du Bois wrote to Booker T. Washington, congratulating him on his speech in Atlanta. I find this interesting since we have been discussing how Du Bois challenged Washington's opinions on African American advancement. While Washington believed that African Americans should concentrate on social and economic improvement(assuming political rights would follow), Du Bois had the opposite idea. Both Washington and Du Bois had the same goal in trying to advance African Americans. Setting their differences aside, I find it honorable that rivals can still congratulate each other on their accomplishments, even though they may disagree.
(Let me heartily congratulate you on your phenomenal success at Atlanta-it was a word fitly spoken.)

After learning about The Tuskegee Institute that Booker T. Washington built from the ground up, I wanted to look into it further. I came upon this photo of the students of Tuskegee constructing on of the buildings, I found this interesting because this is what I based my paper about Washington on. The fact that Washington incorporated this kind of education into the lessons he provided at the Institute was very impactful. Not only did the students that graduated from this school come out with book smarts but they left the Institute with many other strong characteristics that would benefit them in life. The very act of making bricks and constructing the building of the institute instilled a sense of pride and accomplishment into these men. Also, through this Washington's students learned to respect. I believe that by teaching these intangibles Washington made these students better people.

Tuskegee Airmen

After talking about Tuskgee and having the presentations about the institute I just thought i'd highlight one of the famous sets of African Americans associated with the school. The Tuskegee airmen were a group of pilots during WW2 that were highly respected. Jim Crow laws were still in use, thus African Americans, even those fighting were segregated. The tuskegee airmen were the first African American pilots. They were incharge of guarding other planes, like bomber planes. Before long their reputation made them quite popular. They made strides for their people disproving the idea that African Americans were less intelligent or able bodied. This also, to me, proves another point. Washingtons system worked. It allowed people to slowly prove their self worth. The education they recieved at Tusgekee empowered students. It helped them to succeed, giving them both a positive attitute and a set of skills. Overall I think this is a perfect example of how Du Bois was perhaps a little too critical of Washtingons idea of an education. The students of Tuskegee were helping gain their peoples rights, and it offered them a source of a pride not just a key to money.

Slavery Today

Being a global studies major I like to link things to present day conflicts. Also, being who I am, I link most things to pop culture in some way or another. I suppose in some way it helps me to better understand concepts.Hence after our class meeting on Thursday, I realized Slumdog Millionare was a perfect example of child slavery. For those of you who havent seen the movie the main character is taken as an oraphan to a camp where children from the slums are kept and taught to sing. Only to realize they're future was to be PURPOSELY blinded and forced to sing on the side of the road for money (none of which they'd keep). Talking about blind singers, and beggers made me think of this movie (a picture of which is the one to the right). It's a painful reminder today that these conditions still exsist. Yes this is just a movie, but its painfully realistic for the slums of third world countires. After all who would miss orphan children whose exsistance is barely recognized as is? If were obvlious to problems we cant help. Just as previously mentioned we unknowningly power the inhumane practice of human trafficking. So be aware of these problems. If you can buy from companies that advertise fair wages (like with diamonds and coffee beans).

Honoring W.E.B. Du Bois

Du Bois was recently honored for his numerous contributions throughout his life. Du Bois was born and raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Due to the controversy surrounding Du Bois' later years in life, citizens of Great Barrington have been reluctant to erect monuments in memory of Du Bois. Until recently, the only display honoring Du Bois' contributions was a park that was dedicated shortly after his death. Not surprisingly, most of the uproar surrounding the proposed displays honoring Du Bois were initiated by the older population of Great Barrington. Inevitably, population shifts occur, and an older group of citizens is replaced with a younger, more open-minded generation. With that, as of the last decade, the citizens of Great Barrington have honored Du Bois by: erecting multiple monuments, painting several murals, posting signs at the entrances of their town alerting passer-by's of his birthplace, and have built the official Du Bois center. As quoted from a citizen of Great Barrington. "He's everywhere in Great Barrington, I'm kind of comfortable where things are now. The resistance is not there anymore." Great Barrington will be celebrating its 250th birthday soon, so citizens there are in the process of putting the final touches on items honoring Du Bois. The painting above is a mural on the side of a building in Great Barrington depicting the life and achievements of Du Bois. Next to the tree within the painting is a quote from a Reverend that states, "Du Bois' legacy is beneficial to all those who seek freedom and justice."

Two-ness

This schizophrenic painting by placid Anemia can represent the two-ness that W.E.B. Du Bois describes in his book. He writes, “an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled striving; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from it from being torn asunder.” The man on the right is different from the man on the left; he is represented as subordinate than the man represented on the left. Do Bois state’s that African American’s saw themselves through other people’s eyes rather then their own.

This is a postcard of a Duluth, Minnesota lynching in 1920. I'm not sure who decided this would be a good picture for a post card, or why for that matter.

The brutality of this image is unbearable. I cannot even grasp the concept that the whites at this time could stand and watch these black men being hung for a crime that they didn't even commit. From the presentation about lynching that was done in class, I was so surprised to hear that the white men would often put blame on the blacks for a wrong that they committed and in turn, the black man would be hung in place of the white man. The biggest question that comes to my mind when reading and seeing pictures about lynching is, how can anyone think that this is okay, if it is not enough to enslave a man, beat him almost to death, then having him killed for a crime he did not commit is? The harsh reality of this time period and the act of lynching is terrible. Over this entire semester we have been reading about the dreadful lives of slaves like Fredrick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs but none ended with an outcome such as this. Lynching is by far the most brutal result of the inequality of this era.

Humans as False Commodities Today

After attending the lecture on human trafficking this evening in Jones Auditorium I thought that it would be fitting to demonstrate how our countries economy and business structure ties into to worker enslavement. Over the years our country has decreased in amounts of manufacturing due to the business principle of profit maximization. For example, Americans who wish to make manufactured goods to sell to larger companies in our country are wanting to be paid good wages and demand higher prices for their products. Big businesses have more incentive to maximize profits by spending less on materials and products due to competition in these separate and integrated markets. America has created a very competitive market for the least expensive products, which has led to the rapid increase in outsourcing in recent decades. This fight to be competitive trickles down in these countries and they then must find ways to stay competitive to us as consumers. To do this they use sweatshops where people are forced to working long hours for basically nothing, continuing the theme of humans as a false commodity.

Booker T. Washington

    This is a photo of Booker T. Washington giving a speech to a group of people. I thought it would be interesting to see a picture of the man who we just read a book about in action. As we were told in the book Washington traveled all over the United States in order to give speeches to gain funding for the Tuskegee Institution. We have a pretty solid idea of what went on at one of his speeches, where he would explain to others the importance of education. This picture is a clear example of how many people looked up to Washington. There are many African Americans in this picture and you see people smiling and laughing. Everyone seems to be enjoying the speech Washington is giving, it seems as if Washington liked to joke around with people based off the reaction of some of the men pictured. This picture reminds me of a picture you would see of Martin Luther King Jr. giving to Americans during his time. Everyone is focused and listening to what Washington is saying. It is as if Booker T. Washington was the man before MLK. He helped motivate African American’s as well as telling white’s the importance of helping African Americans make a living for themselves. All of Washington’s hard work to get the school running paid off considering the school is still open today and that he was able to help many people receive the education he saw fit for the time being.

Slave Lynching

This is a painting by Claude Clark in 1915. He was born in Georgia and is African American. He has painted many paintings relating to his heritage. This painting "Slave Lynching" is a direct statement about the agony slaves in this country endured. As you see the slave is tied by the hands to a wood post facing the crowd with no clothes on (I cannot tell if the red pigment on her body is clothing or blood). The slaveholder is depicted in a forward motion about to whip the slave over and over. I really like that Claude Clark depicts this painting in front of an enormous crowd watching because it is often stated in history that slave owners lynched slaves in front of others as a tactic of fear and intimidation. I believe Clark used vibrant colors such as red and orange to stir the mood up as one of pain and agony. This is not a pleasant or happy painting to look at, but is part of our country's history we cannot ignore. Clark does a great job of incorporating all the feelings slaves endured by this painting showing the manipulation and control the white slave holders had over slaves of this time.

Radical Equality

This is a lithograph portraying a controversial incident in which President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington in 1901 to dinner at the White House. At the time because it seemed to be radical to have an African American guest eat dinner with the President inside the White House. Of course nowadays we can argue of the lunacy regarding the controversy, yet at the time it was called by The Memphis Scimitar “the most dimmable outrage which has ever been perpetrated by any citizen of the United States.” Even the former President Grover Cleveland (who Washington claims to admire in his book Up from Slavery) declared that “he had never done such a thing as invite a black man to dinner in that house.” I think it’s important to note that even in the 20^th century presidents who had African American guests were criticized for it. The lithograph shows how the dinner represented the equality stated in the 13, 14, and 15^th amendments. However, the controversy following this dinner represented that the country was not ready for radical movements toward equality (we have to remember Booker T. Washington was liked by the mainstream Southern population). The lithograph also shows a portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the middle of both Washington and Roosevelt. I think it signifies the role Lincoln played in the “equality” of the former slaves. I think it also represents how this specific dinner shows how the country was moving towards that equality (beginning with the Emancipation Proclamation) even if the majority of the country was not ready for “radical” occurrences. I think I can argue though, that although because of segregation (which was not eradicated until the Civil Rights Movement) equality between both races had to be a radical process, but the whole country itself had radical movements (like the KKK who is a very radical organization uprooted around this time period). I found this lithograph at The New York Times “Week in Review” section (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/weekinreview/09harris.html?_r=1) . This article connected the inequality of the nation with the election of President Barack Obama. Published in November 8, 2008.