r/askhistorians suggested a check over here. I'm looking for a non-fiction book which explores the experience or psychology of those slaves (if they existed) who accepted that they did not belong to themselves and did not try to escape. It's hard to comprehend what it's like to not belong to yourself, and I wonder what it was/is like to internalise that.
My premise may be incorrect, and the vast majority of slaves never stopped working for a better life, but if that is true, then why were the majority not constantly revolting and escaping?
by Je_in_BC
4 Comments
Maybe find something along the lines of Jim Crow or the civil rights movement. This part of our history is, ahem, whitewashed so any perspective would be considerably biased and unlikely to capture a realistic experience.
Any of Frederick Douglass’ autobiographies, Harriet Jacob’s Life of a Slave Girl, or any other number of slave narratives giving first-hand accounts of their experiences as slaves is probably the place to look here.
*The wretched of the earth* by Frantz Fanon is tangentially related (it’s about the psychology of colonized peoples) and can be at least partially extrapolated to your questions.
Many have revolted and escaped, but those stories don’t get told often.
Also, consider – psychology and policy go hand in hand. Revolt and do what when they were not considered citizens? Escape to what when it was illegal to want to learn how to read?
You have a great question that should be further explored, but keep in mind that the choice to be “free” did not exist in a vacuum.
Systemic as well as societal oppression were impactful on the individual and the group as a whole. For true liberation, there must be change on a policy level as well as personal level – in addition to the psychological level.