[paper/課程論文/論文] 美國文學/ Stowe, Jacobs and Douglass/ Black Lives Matter

Although I am happy to see some of the female narrative by Jacobs coming up, we cannot kill the truth that the breath-taking works by Stowe, Jacobs, and Douglass, mark the history of slavery in the U.S. that a slaveowner’s “word was to be [slaves’] law” (1050) and how the slaves fought against it. 

There are some possibilities for peaceful race relations in the United States in the following works. We can say that there are some nice people who doesn’t abuse the slaves. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the sincere connection among human beings, such as Mrs. Bird’s kindness and generosity for the visitors to the home because she finds the space between “the law” (851) punishing slavery and a safe place to “shelter” people in need as a White person. 

But the peaceful race relations will never happen without on the strive and the struggle of the individuals. Harriet Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she is obligated from the freedom for love, give birth, and to barely live with multiple threats by the slaveowner. However, she insisted with the strong mentality, “Let the storm beat! I will brave it till I die” (888), and refused to yield to the current system. 

Fredrick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself, moreover, presents that the only solution is escaping to a place with peaceful race relations to live like a human being. He wrestles with Mr. Covey, one of his master back then, and rekindles “the few expiring embers of freedom” (1041) and prepares himself to escape. Such turning out makes him want to chase after something WM. Lloyd Garrison has mentioned in the preface of the book, the “universal liberty” (1001). 

From the three text I’ve read, I understand why reactionary against injustice is a must, and I personally support Black Lives Matter Movement, which started in 2013, and was fueled by the George Floyd’s murder in 2020. I would never forget the first time when I saw the publication on the postcards before the Civil War. The postcard picture was a slave whipped and hung to death, and the warm greeting on the back of the postcard was about “Merry Christmas!” to another family. I am still shocked by the dirty history.

 I know some people might smirk on the slogan of “Black Lives Matter,” were either asking to rephrase the slogan into “All Lives Matter.” The attitude somehow reminds me of Mr. Haley, a slave owner in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who is opinionated about how “human” he is when he doesn’t lock Tom’s hands but only legs. If “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” then oppression with another naming is still oppression 

 

Although it not might be a slave narrative, but I really like the Black narrative in multimedia, “Love is the Message, the Message is death” by Arthur Jafa in 2016, has repetitively inserted some of the videos of police violence and checks in this production as well, and we cannot deny that systematic violence against African American is encoded in their daily life. Not to mention that the music video “This is America” and the movie “Get Out” have gone viral because the two pieces represent the unrest violence against the community is the reality.

I personally don’t think that the “blackness of despair” (862) has gone in American, but what we need to notice as well is the overemphasis on the racial background and the policy supporting specific community can result into some scandal. Jessica Krug, a professor who has her research field in African American culture in George Washington University, was exposed to be pretending to have the heritage of African American to win grants when she is actually White. The heated discussion, then, arise when people talk about politics of identity again, and I think this is something people really need to face when we are eager to practice equality. 

With the tensions on African American issues, I’d like to quote from painful line in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl again, “There are wrongs which even the grave does not bury” (895). We cannot deny there were the wrong decision, wrong mindset, and wrong actions tearing someone’s life apart. As an American, people should not ignore the history on slavery. As a Taiwanese, alerted by the tragedy, people should examine our history and society: Are we paying enough attention to the victims or the Other of the systematic oppression, such as the White Terror, Native Taiwanese, and SEA migrant workers? Are we humble enough to revisit the traumatic history? Are we insightful enough to educate the next generation to authentically do the things right?

These are by far my thoughts on slave narrative, Black Lives Matter Movement, politics on identity, and social justice as a Taiwanese.