Michelle Aybar October 14, 2013
Barbados the Original Colony
Bussa statue. The leader of a slave uprising in
Barbados
Barbados was the
first English colony to erect a racial hierarchy, which acted as a model for
the mainland plantation colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region and South
Carolina. (Soderalnd, Pg. 63) “ The
inclination of English men and women to exploit Africans as slaves came from
ethnocentrism, hierarchical beliefs, and prejudice against blackness, all
leading to the idea that Africans were an inferior, pagan, people who could be
held as property. To justify keeping
Africans as slaves, English colonist used color of skin more than any other
attribute such as religion or customs.” (Soderland, Pg. 64) The English also employed the identical
rationale for enslaving Native Americans, whom they also regarded as a tainted,
heathen race.
Barbadians,
English, and Europeans validated enslaving Africans for life and for the life
of their offspring’s on the position that dark skinned people were pagan,
uncivilized, and inferior human beings. (Soderland, Pg. 65) The hierarchies established by the Europeans
defined Christians as superior to heathens, the Europeans found grave
deficiencies in African religion, social customs, dress, and political organizations.
(Soderland, Pg. 65) Africans were viewed to be at the very bottom of the
humanity scale and were justifiably enslaved.
“ Most crucial for
the English was skin color. English Language and culture differentiated sharply
between White and Black, with Whiteness denoting what was good and pure and
blackness suggesting sin and filth.” (Soderland, Pg. 65) Europeans mainly
concentrated on the differences rather than on the traits they shared in common
with the Africans, such as the belief in one creator, physical similarities
that were overwhelming, and similar livelihoods as agriculturalist and live stock
raisers. (Soderland, Pg.65 & Pg.66)
For the Europeans
racialization was a justification for slavery.
“Barbados was the most important single colony in the British empire,
worth almost as much in its total value trade as the two tobacco colonies of
Virginia and Maryland combined, and nearly three times as valuable as
Jamaica. The tiny sugar island was more
valuable to Great Britain than Carolina, New England, New York, and
Pennsylvania all together.” (Das Gupta, Pg. 151)
Growing up and
listening to the word race being used, I always correlated the word to meaning
where you were born and where your parents/ancestors are from. It is very disheartening to learn that race
originates from the beliefs and ideas of people born of a specific skin color that deem anyone different from their specific colored skin a inferior race, that
are not to be seen as human beings but as property that can be treated with no
regard.
The idea of race
persists and is relevant in present contemporary social relations because those
who are the majority seek to manipulate and maintain control and power over
everything particularly capitol. Capitol
was a key factor for those who were in control back then and it is still a
vital property today. I often think to
myself if race is what was used to divide us into groups and different
categories, perhaps one day we will stray away from the grouping that divides
us and classify ourselves as one race the human race. How powerful of an impact would that have on
society? http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/barbados_01.shtml,
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jul/20/sugar-in-the-blood-andrea-stuart-review,
and http://jeromehandler.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Life-Histories-98.pdf
are three very fascinating and interesting websites I highly recommend filled
with knowledgeable facts of the history of Barbados.
Me sitting on The Lion at Gun
Hill, Barbados – The Lion stands with one foot resting on a ball, which is
representative of the might the British Empire had over the world at that time
in history.
References
Das Gupta, Tania (2007).
Race and Racialization: Essential Readings. Canadian Scholars’ press –
Social Science Pg. 151
Soderland, Jean R. (2000).
Creating a Biracial Society in Scott, W. R., & Shade, W. G. (Eds.),
Upon These Shores: Themes in the African
American experience, 1600 to the present (Pg. 63-81). New York: Routledge.
Aybar, Michelle. 2009. The Lion at Gun Hill,
Barbados (Photograph)
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