This was such a powerful change in the dialog! I was surprised as how much it jagged me at first. I didn't realize how much I'd internalized "owner" and "owned". I'm definitely changing my verbiage around this going forward and better examining my ingrained beliefs on the subject.
This is, I think, the first time I have seen a non racist depiction of interaction between an enslaved lady’s maid and said lady. Her enslaver. Usually, it’s full of “but they were friends! The lady would joke and gossip with her lady’s maid, so it was fine!” Or “but she loved her maid” and then insert the caricature brought forth by Gone With The Wind. Ugh. I am so, so grateful to see an accurate depiction that doesn’t shy away from how inherently wrong it was. This was beautifully done, and I really appreciate all the hard work you put into this!
Yes, for sure. You still see that an enslaver could think she had some "affection" for her enslaved lady's maid... But you also see how that didn't prevent her from actively keeping that person enslaved! And you really get a feel for the complexity that would add to Fick's life. Edited for clarity of intention.
@@zelulu1000 I don't think OP is saying slavery is being depicted as non racist, here, I think they're saying that a lot of depictions of slavery in traditional media and education are racist for the way they try to obscure the realities of slavery. So this depiction is less racist for being more realistic and honest about what being enslaved was like
@@zelulu1000 I mean depicted from the point of view of white people who support slavery (even if not trying to say it outright). So, depicted by racist people, who then go on to make out that the relationship between an enslaved lady’s maid and her enslaver was nice. Because they’re racist.
I like that you showed how, even though the mistress in this example is kind to her maid, the relationship is not actually a relationship since it's entirely one-sided and one person holds unlimited power over the other.
She wasn't a maid, a maid is a paid job that one can chose for themselves. She was a woman who got captured and taken away from her home country and was forced to work for someone against her will.
@@Xforeverlove21 exactly i come from a country where most people have maid. My family has one too. They are given holiday, clothing, food and shelter along with salary. Maid can choose to leave their jobs and their life choices are their own. My parents have helped with wedding cost of many maid who worked for us and most stopped working after they got married salves were never given any of these options
A relationship is any ongoing connection between people. Could be loving, or contentious, or distant, or hateful, etc.. All varieties. The longer the association, the stronger the relationship. So the quality of the relationship between slaver and enslaved would have been one quite sided but to say it wasn't a relationship at all overlooks the complicated nature of the experience. Just imagine the heartbreak of being sold - not only because of the humiliation and fear about the future, but also because it severs the relationships with people she or he may have been with for years or decades, however good or distant or terrible it might have been.
It’s insane to me that enslaved maids were made to engage in conversations like they were friends with the enslavers. “You talk to me like a regular person while I don’t treat you like one” is just such deep physiological brainwashing. Keeping a fresh mind in that environment was absolute hell.
Thats why it's so hard for me to believe that these people genuinely thought Black people were animalistic or less human because they carried out conversations with them, connected with them, and had them feeding their children. I believe there was a serve cognitive dissonance there where they continuously lied to themselves to justify the atrocious harm.
It is wild to think the same people who said that black people were subhuman had no qualms about them fixing their hair or applying makeup or tending to their children
I mean it still happens today in a way. Just look at how Karens treat service workers. We'll tell our nail techs and hair dressers and bar tenders all our woes but if they tell us too much of theirs it's inappropriate. Not that it's an excuse but I can see how it happens. Honestly just being a waitress the way rich people will treat you like dirt is nuts. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for enslaved people.
@@guana2885 delve a little deeper and you'll discover the fact that the women were black was not relevant. This was the norm in Europe since long before America was founded. We had (and have, although less strictly enforced) a class system. A tiny few were 'upper class', a larger number were 'middle class' and the vast, vast majority were 'working class'. Black slaves were esentially taken from their homeland by force and added to the white working class. Black slaves needed chains because they were used to living free. White working classes had never been free so didn't need chains. The norm was to speak to working class people as if they were dirt under your feet. It was not the norm for the elites to treat their slaves/servants well. White working classes were so indocrtinated that they accepted their position in life. They often adored and worshipped their masters. Those that pleased the masters would get the most trusted positions and a few perks - such as a kind word here and there. Don't think this was treatment reserved for black slaves. It was the norm for most white Europeans for centuries. It still hasn't changed deep down. White working classes are treated with utter contempt. Here in Europe the minorities among the working class are treated well and have laws to 'protect' them - but that's really about keeping the masses from revolting. Most people are white, so they favour the blacks now in order to create division. That's my take on things at least.
In my college history course we learned that being a ladies maid meant if something went wrong in the house, you became the scapegoat. Plus, there was more access for white men to sexually assault her. I cannot imagine the constant terror those women lived in. All enslaved people were true survivors.
I wonder. It seems from the video their positions were nearly identical to European lady's maids. If so, she'd have been with her mistress most of the time. I could see a house maid being vulnerable to unwanted attention, but not a lady's maid. I'd think she'd be nearly immune. And whipping if the baby cried? Wouldn't children be a Nanny's responsibility?
The emotional labor required of enslaved people was just astounding. I’m horrified that they had to do so much mental/emotional juggling every second on TOP of the physical abuse and everything else.
Yes I was just thinking about how taxing it would be to have to be cordial with someone who enslaved you, all day everyday. People tend to think that those working in the fields had it worse, but I can't imagine having to basically ass kiss your own enslaver and listen to their stupid little stories.
There's a lot of that still going on in our society, but I think it must have been so much worse then. Both the magnitude of the switch and the consequences for failure.
The emotional labor is still there. Via blacks constantly having to educate whites in the fact that these things still are going on. And this actually bring alot of understanding to the whole Karen epidemic and where she gets her massive out of touch sense of entitlement and sense of authority over others.
I noticed that too!! I thought (hoped) he was being portrayed as a shy gentleman, but when he smiled at Fick when they were talking and looked her in the eyes I figured I was mistaken. In fact, now that I think about it, it's NOT the first time I've seen the enslaved not look their enslavers in the eye. Was this taught? ...expected? .. "just known"? This video is wonderful and I thank you. With gratitude from someone who hated history in school but loves the realness and truth that your videos provide, your newest subbie. ❤🤗🤗 MK
@@emmkaa2099 a lot of households saw enslaved people meeting their enslavers eyes as a challenge of authority, some saw it as disrespectful. Personally I think that enslavers who didn’t like eye contact didnt because it made them uncomfortable realising that their slaves were human, and recognising that made them feel more guilty about ordering them around. Not sure though, not that that’s okay it would be terrible to have somebody refuse to acknowledge your humanity.
@@emmkaa2099 - It was taught (and I'm sure it became just generally "known" at some point) that many enslavers didn't allow enslaved people to look them directly in the eye. It's just another tactic for dehumanizing people and making them feel inferior. Even the lady's maid here doesn't really make direct eye contact with her enslaver. The cook's behavior was more obvious because he kept his head turned almost completely away from the enslaver because just looking at her could have been a punishable offense, as Black men weren't allowed to look directly at white women. This remained true even long after slavery was abolished.
@@woahhowmediocre3860 I'd like to think that at least a few enslavers thought that way but after even minimal research on my part and reading other comments it seems, heartbreakingly, that if some did even feel a twinge of guilt they were few and far between... apparently such is not the case. How horrible it must've been.
It's why oppressed groups of people tend to use cultural tools like religion, art, music, dance, storytelling etc. -- anything that offers them even the briefest escape. Culture is normally the last thing enslaved people can cultivate for themselves and keep it private ... and that's why cultural appropriation is such a hot topic in society today ... a general lack of understanding of the vital role those cultures played in their survival and our not allowing oppressed groups that one thing, which their historical oppressors couldn't take away from their ancestors; as a people ... is kinda messed up 😑 *Many enslaved people actually choose to cling to LIFE and the spirit of their cultures as an act of defiance against the abusive societies that enslaved them.* _It's why societies try so hard to crush it out of them using everything from making it illegal, religious and behavioural whitewashing, to public executions and torture._
@@NeonCicada Oh brother is THIS what they are telling you in school now how silly. My late grandmother's older sister would beg to differ with you as she was a slave and she most definitely had a culture while in slavery. And no she was not beat for having a culture duh. Do you wokeys actually talk like this all the time it's so cringe 😅. My grand aunt was not emotionally messed up she did what she had to do to survive then in reconstruction she gathered her siblings and made a home for herself. Then in the 1920s she moved up north.She could have ran away but she wanted to stay with her sisters. And I hate to break it to you but relationships happened anytime you put two groups of people together it will happen. Friendships love affairs fighting uprisings and running away sometimes with white lovers and mixed babies all happened! Slavery was not as neat as you kids think it was. And no all owners and slaves didn't hate each other many did but many did not. It depended on the owners and their beliefs. My aunt knew people that ran away she knew people that were brought back. She also knew people that got killed committed suicide and attacked their masters. You kids really need to read some actual history and not this bullshit woke reinvention of slavery.
I really respect how you consistently refer to them as “enslaved” throughout this piece, and emphasize the one-sided relationship. Too many productions romanticize these relationships!
Yeah, I dislike how many shows and films (most notably gone with the wind) showed enslavers being friendly and chatty with the people they “owned”, as if to say “this is one of the good ones. Not those horrible abusive slave owners”. Yet even so, a historical character who treats their slaves well, still owns a slave, is still directly benefiting from the intense pain her slaves endure, still oppresses people. It’s not to say friendly or even “kind” slave owners didn’t exist, but they are in no way guiltless
@@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460 I mean friendly as in friendly in demeanor. Kind as In (at least on a shallow surface level) treats them like a friend. This isn’t to say they were good people, however. You can treat people in a kind manner while being a bad person. You can treat your slave like a “friend”, but in the end, they are still enslaved
@@lavenderhuman I mean this video DOES show the enslaver being friendly and chatty, but I think the distinction is that is makes clear that it's ONE-SIDED. The white female enslaver can prattle on as much as she likes as if they are friends, but the limited responses of the enslaved woman show that this is a farce. They are not friends and can never be friends, so long as one of them is in ownership of the other.
Watching this I honestly had to laugh at “the lady’s slave was expected to keep up with latest fashion trends” and “hair skin and nails were expect to be free of dirt even though soap wasn’t always allowed to them” the audacity in those ppl were truthfully disgusting and distasteful
It's the same double standard given to homeless people looking for jobs. You must look put together for a job interview, yet to look put together you must first have the means, and the means can only come from a job, but to get a job you must already have the same means of cleanliness as a job affords.
The lion, the witch and the audacity of this bi***! That made me so angry too! „They were expected to find ways to be clean and smell good.“ Just another thing they did to make their lifes miserable!😡
The change of terminology from slave/master to enslaved people/enslavers is eye opening on several levels. It really shows how the narrative that many of us were taught in school was shaped by the people who wanted to distance themselves from the reality of enslavement and even perpetuate the notion of the superiority of the enslavers. Intellectually I know that the victors write the history books, but this shift of language really highlights it in a way my privilege has protected me from truly comprehending. Words matter so much. I've been following your work on UA-cam and Instagram for months. You've reframed the way I see American history. Thank you for the work you do.
I too appreciate that specific wording which I had only heard recently. It impacted me in a way I never imagined despite growing up hearing about the struggles of my ancestors.
yes I have never heard those terms being used before. I think that's part of what makes it feel uncomfortable (quite rightly so), just dropping the term mistress/owner and using enslaver...I mean it's the blunt truth
I also appreciate the use of "enslaved person" rather than "slave" for much the same reason. Reminds me of using "person-centered" language around illness and disability.
I've also taken to using the term "human traffickers" and "trafficked individuals," as well as "forced labor camps." Because that's exactly what they were.
@@sonipitts yes, I use those occasionally, too. I think it helps frame things in a modern context, to remind people that the slavery of two centuries ago still has effects today, and that slavery still exists throughout the world.
I love the fact that this is acted out. It makes the information hit harder. If you watched it on mute, they almost seem like friends, but when you put it with the information it really hits the guts. The understanding that even under the best circumstances, the enslaved was living on eggshells. Amazing and well done. Thank you so much for this
This video make for a good teaching instrument. I have a degree in history, when I was in college I did my senior paper on Women in the American Revolution and it's sad how little is written about the enslaved of this time period.
I congratulate you on your History major, and thank you for your dedication to teaching History -- your work is so important, and the field of History needs many more Black historians! Good luck with your career!
There's something so bizarre and demoralizing about expecting an enslaved person to act like your friend (therapist?) and also do work to literally make the person who enslaved them look good.
It's definitely like, maybe she's not working in the fields, but she expected to do ALOT of reciprocated/unpaid/unrewarded emotional labor as a person who OWNS her complains about their own problems and expects her to care...
"She made clothes she would never wear, and makeup she could never use..." Wow that's sad. All that talent, and if she had a daughter she couldn't make beautiful clothes for her either. Imagine passing down those amazing skills to a daughter, and the best a daughter could hope for was to follow in her mother's footsteps.
this is still true today... in a different degree but people who manufacture our clothes in India or China or sweatshops somewhere else will never be able to afford the garnements they make, most sales people can't afford the products they sell... which is an essential part of capitalism
@@RainyDayWolf your statement is true 100%.. but this situation is specifically referring to the hand maids of enslavers. Theoretically sweatshop workers could save up money or borrow clothes from relatives, they can wear those clothes in oublic and not be persecuted for it. Those enslaved women could not wear the clothes of their white bosses, even if they saved up money or were given hand me downs...
@@snowflakemelter1172 yes but a seamstress could still wear those clothes, hypothetically. They could walk out of the shop as a free person and wear them... An enslaved woman could never wear them. Ever.
@@skybee001 I said in a different degree... But you should really learn about those persons, I don't think you understand how terrible the life of people working in sweatshops is, because some are actual slaves 😔
I really like how you call people 'enslaved persons' not 'slaves', and the others as 'slavers' not 'masters'. It is far more suitable and much better reflects the true state of affairs, while acknowledging the human dignity of enslaved persons. I will always use this term myself from now on.
during those years if you were poor there was almost no difference between being white or black. The treatment was simple: they bought you (literally), they will tell you the worst things to do... really, it isn't about color sking trust me. It was also common selling kids for doing horrible jobs (many died).
@@Yep6803You sound ridiculous. It was about skin color. Yt people didn’t get killed bc they could read. No matter how poor yt people were, they were FREE. It had everything to do with being blk or yt.
It's amazing how delusional the enslavers must have been to actually think that even though the lady's maids were there against their will, they could be friends. In that way that position was definitely psychologically exhausting.
@@salleymudd5488 BS at some point you grow up to know what's right and what's wrong. You can't sit there and tell me that because they were around slaves since they were children that they didn't know any better. Maybe as children they didn't but at some point you have to grow up and have a brain and know the difference between right and wrong
I love the language used in this video. Instead of the usual “master” or “mistress” opting for enslaver was very fitting. One of many ways the language is sugar coated without even realizing
I truly agree the way it was portrayed here was honestly the best way enslaved people could’ve been treated this was the optimal of the way enslaved people could’ve been treated and this was not even a way anyone should’ve been treated you really pointed it out the best way possible and I think there should be a trending thing as we are going through one of the biggest Civil War‘s of our time this is the best way indentured servant‘s in endangered servants and enslaved servants could’ve been treated this was not the way most of them were it was be in it was starving it was horrible they sugarcoated it with giving us a realistic view because I can’t give us the whole view America and UA-cam wouldn’t allow it
Changing that makes complete sense. These people weren't their master or mistress. Changing "slave" to "enslaved person" does not, however. Both expressions mean exactly the same thing and the word "slave" doesn't sugar coat anything.
That's the scary part: you would have been different, had you been born then. Like now, you'd never step in front of a moving train, you wouldn't have opened your mouth back then. That is one reason why a just and equalistic society is so very important, so we can develop the sense of self-worth we need to demand our rights.
Imagine listening to the "problems" of your enslaver, adjusting your expression accordingly, and then comforting them - all while knowing your own family members are being whipped and hung. Makes me so MAD!!!!
I really like how you describe not only the work that enslaved ladies' maids were expected to do, but how they had to navigate their social realities. It really adds a lot to what their lives were like and restores their humanity.
I agree. It is important to note that the work was an entirely different thing than pure physical labor. The balance of education and social niceties is so jarring to her reality. Being aware of what was going on even more than the people who labored and were deliberately kept as ignorant as possible sounds exhausting in a very emotional way, even if not breaking one's body! Also the tragedy that all we truly know about the particular individual is merely snippets from receipts and diaries.
"... and restores their humanity." I'm not sure what to make of this. Do you mean that subconsciously you forgot that they were humans & this video helped you see them as human beings? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm trying to understand what you meant. As a black person, it struck me in a kind of odd way. The enslavers lost their humanity when they chose to enslave other human beings. They were inhumane.
@@moneybags999 I agree I could have worded it better. I've often felt like when we look at slavery in colonized American history, we can sometimes end up looking at slaves as a mass of people, which can be very dehumanizing. Some of the things she talked about here emphasizes how these were individual people, with individual experiences as a counterpoint to the traditional narrative.
I kept thinking about the mental impact this has to have on the people making this video too. I know they chose to do it, but it's like, knowing that the POC in this video are free today, it doesn't take away from what I see in the eyes of the man who was told not to look at the white woman playing the mistress of the house in order to portray how it would have been. I just hope he's doing ok and isn't having some sort of ancestral ptsd from having to act like a slave :( I know that videos like this are necessary and incredibly interesting, but I just can't help but feel bad for people who basically have to portray what it was like, putting their own mental health at risk, just because people have to actually SEE what it was actually like in order to understand it.
Gotta be a truly massive amount of stress constantly. Definitely would have worn their mental state. Worry about your family, worry about getting in trouble for no reason, worry about the possibility of being sold. How they survived it at all is beyond me.
Also makes you wonder how many black people are literally walking around with a mental illness. Black people always seen in such a negative light when in fact a lot of black people are suffering from mental illness that's been passed on from generations to generations
@@wolvie1618 black people are God's people. Only a strong race could survive 400 years of slavery. The white man tried to kill us off like they did the Natives.
@@dionned.6176 The white man didn’t invent slavery nor was he the longest or largest slave owner. African and Aboriginals routinely enslaved other conquered tribes. Slavery was also prolific all through the Caribbean, Asia, Asia-minor long before the white man ever showed up and is still going on today in many places in the world. Slavery is a legacy of human history, not just White history. The Jewish people were enslaved for thousands of years yet I don’t hear them complaining about it.
@@elizabethh86 When we use the term slave, it implies that it just is who that person is. The term enslaved person is active and reminds people that someone DID that to them, and it’s not who they are.
@@nakiacee15 yes it does. “slaves” refers to them as objects or robots and takes away the fact that they are still humans and should be treated as such. while “enslaved person” assured that they are still are people, they are just enslaved as the moment
Videos like this are great for history class. I always felt stupid, ill informed, and out of touch when I assisted, former special education teacher, in the history classes. The students need to see it through the slaves’ eyes. This was very well put together. We cannot erase history but learn from it.
@@Mar-pe9kx The weather was different back then. There is a paper on JSTOR that us specifically about the climate in Virginia. The Summers would have been hot, but not as hot as today, as we are several degrees hotter now due to leaving the Little Ice Age, and ofcourse a LOT because of climate change). The summers were also dry, not humid, which is why the Maize grew well (when there weren't Spring monsoons). The Autumn, Winter, and Spring were VERY cold, lessening the growing season by a month compared to England at the time (which was shorter than the current 3 crop season of England today). So the Summers were basically several degrees cooler than today, very dry, and the rest of the year was very cold and wet.
My goodness, this is so hard to watch without seething at the injustice. This is a history that must be taught fully and never forgotten. Thank you for bringing light to an insanely dark topic.
I’ve never realised how terrifying hearing about an upcoming slave auction would be to these people. You do good work, keep it up. History is important.
Yep, just everyone you've ever known your whole life is taken away from you and you may never see you parents, siblings or grandparents ever again (I believe super rarely if you had relatives that were sold nearby you could be given a pass to visit). I couldn't imagine going through something like that. We never get to hear about the stories and lives of enslaved people. A lot of what I learned in this video are things I was never taught. I'm glad that there are awesome channels like this that explain the things we really should have learned in school.
@@litchtheshinigami8936 And even then they weren’t safe. As the video says about the woman this was sort of based on - an eslaved person with a valuable skill was a financial asset and could be used as collateral as she was, or worse, sold. So basically, if legally you’re considered property, you aren’t safe.
just out of curiosity, is there a specific reason for "enslaved persons" rather than "enslaved people"? i've heard this term used often, but i've never understood the distinction
How does the terms change the horror that slavery was? This is so ridiculous. Are you trying to not offend the people that were slaves and OWNED by other people?
Schools teach from a general point of view, aka they should explain the jobs slaves did, but aren't obligated to go this deep, this is more for a historian, as she is
@@g.c.4824 Yeah, I mean, while I don't know the detailed life of every type of slave, I was taught the general concept. Honestly, sometimes I find it hard to believe it's schools failing to teach it or if it was a matter of people not paying attention.... I mean, there are people who don't know there are 50 states in America, I think that's absolutely a product of not paying attention....
@@alyssapinon9670 yes, you don't need to memorize it because you may never use it in your life, but math and such help develop and exercise the brain, so it is important, more important that knowing slave maids did their ensalver's clothing in the morn
@@alyssapinon9670 Math helps build critical thinking and logic skills. Memorizing it long term isn't necessary, but practicing more advanced forms of math is good for your brain. Learning some algebra and geometry will be useful in life as well. And even after that, you can be encouraged to continue calculations through a properly done economics class.
Thank you very much for this video! I'm a historian in a Western European country, and recently read "12 years a slave" for the first time. It was very touching and I realized how little I still know about the history of black and enslaved people in the US. Most history classes and books I came in contact so far focused on the decendants from European countries, and enslaved Africans often were described only in their economic functions as slaves (e.g. their role in the triangular trade). I'm glad about this account of social history which is so so important!
I might be white but I’m trans and I live in Mexico, my family doesn’t want me to travel, white people here live in gated communities and the white Mexican people created an Elite, everyone has 2 housekeepers, gardeners, and many more services that they almost pay for free (very cheap hand labor) obviously made by the indigenous Mexicans outside these gated communities, btw these gated communities are now the size of a city with malls and big buildings inside, no joke, watching all these videos make me upset cause it’s what places like Mexico and probably other countries are still living. Me as a transgender, you will say “darling if you were a straight male you would be doing the same thing”, and honestly I don’t know that, I only know all my life has been like this, it’s funny how all my siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts from both sides have expensive college degrees, visas, passports, etc and I’m the only one who doesn’t, a lot of people who are like me die young from many things, I’m still here and I’m 32, but I don’t even know how to explain but I relate to this video a lot !!!!!!
@@ReginaTrans_ John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I can’t imagine how strong they had to be endure the every whim of their enslavers while also taking care of their own families, it makes my life seem so trivial and privileged.
"yes torturer, my own "black father", that you sold me for some cash to another torture, I am so oppressed by light skinned, that I will remain here with you instead of going back to my father".
Human relations can get very bizarre and difficult to describe, especially when we're talking about communicating something from history to a modern audience, whom might find the setting being described to them as truly alien. I really like your method of presenting the situation/predicament as is and then asking us, the viewers, to just sit and absorb it and learn without strict instruction. I've always been against educational material that tells you how you are suppose to feel about what you're being taught, instead I like how this is all about letting me experience and consider. It really made me think about all these different contrasting aspects that must've messed with a person's head; how everyone in the system is interacting with each other in an unnatural way while awkwardly coating it with a veneer of "this is normal". Fick and her enslaver's relationship must have been so complicated and layered, yet I really loved how you managed to communicate this so fluidly. I can't wait to see the next episode / learn about another person in history!
I was JUST thinking this. I think that the reality is that not all enslaved people were bursting at the seams just waiting and dreaming of revolution, to be saved from their enslavement either by themselves or external force. To just be able to live this life, you have to be able to come to terms with it, as sad as we'd see it. Everyone just wants to be happy and experience good things, like love and friendships. Even material things, like good food, a nice dress, a little bit of money. I would be willing to bet for many enslaved people, the idea of a revolution, any chance of freedom, was just not a possibility to them, something totally unthinkable. To have a "good" relationships with their enslavers, become positive in their eyes and in turn see positivity from them, was likely the reality that many enslaved people yearned for. Very complicated, unequal relationships. I believe there are even cases of formerly enslaved people commending their previous enslavers, because that's just how many people cope with that kind of situation. I'm struggling and constantly deleting and rewriting because this is all super complex and I'm afraid of stepping on someone's toes, but hopefully my point is clear.
@@AdonisOuranios So slavery was just fine by them? Why rock the boat, huh? Just be happy your slavery isn't worse? It must be a beautiful sight up there on your horse.
I love the subtle detail of "her *Mistress* can share all her worries with her, but she can't share her worries with her *enslaver*" that tiny detail of switching from Mistress to enslaver really puts both the power dynamic and the difference in world view between the two people into perspective!
All servants had this problem, including those working for a wage. This is all focusing on petty issues instead of starvation, sickness, beatings, etc.
@@robinlillian9471 It was the subtle change in words. To the white mistress, the Black woman was simply a servant. But to the Black slave, thw white girl was her enslaver.
@@robinlillian9471 This is so true. It is like being a bird in a golden cage. Ppl in this modern day can find themselves "enslaved" by $ and the power dynamic being heavily on the employer's side. Jobs pay enough to lure ppl in but not enough that one could save and get out with a healthy nest egg. Necessitating decades of service to the employer.
Some oppose CRT while venerating founders' faux heroic stories to the same effect. The selected history of rich whites is safe from scrutiny, but not the real history of the enslaved.
@@robinlillian9471 I can’t believe you would form a Single Sentence comparing the misfortunes of Enslaved Africans with Anyone working for WAGE$; however small.🙄 There is simply no comparison. Period.
It makes me so sad that the lives of so many people were not documented well…like what happened to this specific maid, how the rest of her life played out. I doubt we even know where she was buried. Every human deserves to be remembered, I’m glad you’re reminding everyone of these people & their lives & making them come to life through your acting.
Literally no one cares about remembering other humans unless they’re your relatives, I don’t care about the slave or the enslaver, they’re literally irrelevant to me. You may call this selfish but like, it’s just how I think, I guess I’m selfish then.
@@Screech911your statement is objectively false though. plenty of people care deeply about remembering people not related to them, whom they’ve never met-celebrities, historical figures, even people who may have just been legends. i care about remembering people i’ve never met. you don’t have to, but the way you barged in to assert that no one could possibly care… you sound like an edgy child, which you probably are tbh
Compliments to the cook’s performance when speaking to the “mistress” role. Black men had to be REALLY careful around and when talking to white women. If you notice in the video, he doesn’t even make eye contact. Also, complements to all involved here. You showed the nuance and truth of the situation. You portrayed the mistress as being courteous whilst also being sure to detail the one sided power dynamic that existed. It really emphasizes the reality of what it was like for enslaved persons most of the time.
If you think this cleaned up "I better be careful not to make "them" look bad so let me not show the real shit" version of Slavery is showing the truth then you should be ashamed of yourself.
Imagine how terrifying it was knowing that even eye contact (misconceived as something more) could sent you to your death. It’s just disgusting to know that this literally happened. Enslavement was real. It was here. It was absolutely disgusting.
@Dorothea Mack are you insinuating that bw should be subservient to ww? Such entitled lazy jealous ppl. Shouldn’t have thought you could enslave ppl and not have to bear the price for being inhumane. That’s ok karma coming soon. Right here now in fact. Enjoy.
people didn't know any better.. on top of that they would probably be killed or at most tortured if they even tried anything.. the fear that was in them must have been unreal
Let's not forget that history shows how unkind was the slavery problem that many black people in Africa helped in the capture of their own nationals for profit knowing they were bound for America. Lastly were the ongoing battles and constant fighting between all the powerful kings and leaders of that time where the victors would win a battle and enslave all the losers of the battle. This happened all the time.
That's normal. I have service in my house and while they know were you live (obviously), your timetables, what you eat, they know your friends (because they come home to visit sometimes)... you don't know theirs. Some jobs are just like that. I am a doctor and I know my patients' lives, relatives, hobbies, jobs... things like that, and they don't know that kind of information about me.
@@elenavs8703 That's not the kind of relationship being discussed here. This goes beyond the knowledge you have of your patients. Also, your relationship with your patients is built on mutual trust and respect, and most importantly is /voluntary/. These women had no choice, certainly no respect, and the trust was one way and only there because if the black woman broke her mistresses trust the consequences could be deadly.
This was probably mostly the case but probably there were some that did become close and cared for each other as well. My great grandmother I am told had a mammy growing up. She married "down". But that mammy was more like her mother. I have seen letters written from her "aunt Sallie" long after "freedom" and the bond was very strong til her passing at a younger age. AUNT sallee traveled and came to her funeral, grieved very hard for her. They loved each other almost as a mother and child..., beyond what the laws of the land said or what people thought of it etc. The institution of slavery was pure evil, and wrong. But not everyone white was mean and soulless.
It's great to see these young actors honoring those from the past who lived this every day of their lives. Makes me appreciate modern times all the more!
The lightness with which the mistress speaks to the enslaved maid is terrifying to me, I can't pinpoint the reason, but being able to be so familiar and chill with a person she's physically ENSLAVING and she has the potential to further abuse at any point is just scary. (No harm meant to the actress of course!! She portrays the dynamic very realistically)
Yes, at one point when we couldn't hear her, I could imagine the filmmaker saying, "Make sure you show no signs of any concerns or worries, just chat away as if this were your friend and not a person whose labor you are receiving for free because you and your husband hold power over her very life."
Read the book Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim. It highlights how weird the mistresses mind was, often due to naivety initially and then evil as she learns more about how a plantation is truly run. Good book. Simple read, but good.
When I was reading Huck Finn in high school we talked about Huck's relationship with Jim, and how even though Jim was an adult and essentially was taking care of Huck, Huck (the 13yo hormonal white boy) could turn Jim in and get him killed at any moment. Even though on the surface their relationship seems friendly, Jim never really has the option of angering or disagreeing with Huck. It's super fucked, man
You're so rigth. Have yoy ever seen Merlin BBC series? Gosh in that show it's clearly depicted how slavery worked in the past. It's terryfying. The worst thing is they romanticize those relationships! In the show they ended being best friends but one was born to rule, the other or cleaning and peeling potatoes. I love the show but now I can confirm why I always felt triggered when seeing them misstreating their servants 🥺 After all it's a British production 🤦♀️ Once again, they reinforce the idea of being in a royal house was such a privilege.
Love the swap of "owner" for "enslaver," really puts it into the proper context. And wow, I hated my former boss and the thought of her having literally the power of life & death over me (and probably at least some of my family) is nightmare-inducing. So glad you're giving a voice to the enslaved people who lived that terrible reality.
Yes, I agree! "Enslaver" is a more active word- it points out that these people are actively making other people their slaves, rather than just being owners or masters in a cultural system. Holds them accountable for not freeing the people they held as slaves.
I never understood how people could claim that enslavers were kind and formed friendships with their slaves.... Then why didn't you free them and fight for the abolishment of slavery?
I suppose one could say some were “kind”, but definitely not kind enough to give up the benefits they got from owning a human being. It’s depressing how often the idea of some slave owners being good people is pushed. No matter how kind they may be, they still own another human being
I believe its a mix of ignorance, religion and culture of the times. I’m sure there were very evil enslavers and some others who were kind, however slavery is a crime.
It is kind of a reverse stickholm syndrom. Like knowing deep down its wrong but making it right dor the enslaver himself by telling themaelves "I said something nice while she served me and I didnt punish her for tripping with my plate. I am good to her. Yes I really treat her well, like a friend. Yes she is not here because I force her but because I am a good owner. We are friends."
Thank You thank You Thank You! I’m a product of sharecroppers and slaves, I’m now 70 years old, and you have given me a wealth of education that my relatives refused or could not talk about. You are appreciated.
yeah i was surprised by the pins too - i've worked in theatre a lot and costumes for the era are usually in one piece with hooks and eyes up the back or hooks and eyes holding the front panel on - i don't know if hooks and eyes weren't invented at this time yet but wow that' a really convouted way of getting dressed. imagine sneezing or bending down and getting a pin in your ribs because it bypassed the boning and went straight through your corset! I sew and seriously pins are all over my floor when i try something on - it must have been a constant touch-up job re-attaching your clothes through the day
I have my phone in my bathroom as I'm getting dressed & doing my hair for the day (I love watching history videos on YT). Its 90 degrees right now here in Washington state (we are on east side of state so its a dry climate). But I was thinking how exhausting & pure hell it must of been to wear such layers of clothing & bonnets back then...especially in the humid South! We are truly blessed in our current times as I'm standing in front of a cool fan as I dress.
I didn't know that enslavers would talk about their worries to their slaves, but the slaves couldn't talk about their worries back. I always assumed all of the labor to be physical, not emotional. I'm over here like "damn they had to be therapists too?!" 😭
@@vonniestewart4416 on top of that fact, learning that tipped positions were created as a way to employ black americans without fully paying them made me understand a lot of where the dynamics of customer vs worker in the US come from...
@@vonniestewart4416 1. Because that side isn't usually taught in school. 2. Because if showing emotion is considered vulnerable, then it isn't out of the question for someone to conclude that enslavers wouldn't disclose their emotions to their slaves. Can we at least try to be more understanding of people learning??
during victorian era or you were rich or you were poor: poor weren't allowed to have an opinion, worse if women... keep in mind this, now our lives are amazing and better not say "they treat us as slave". during victorian era europeans kids were working full days in mines and many died like that... what she was doing was an avarage day of a poor person in victorian era, she was poor since the alternatives were horrible like working in mines.
Is not saying black community doesn't have the right to protest, they got it, but please remember this video is showing the best job and this video is showing what an avarage poor girl in europe did if she was luck... the alternative was working full day in factory risking daily the life or in fields... i'm saying this for debbug myths. The closest thing you got are the Amish, but isn't the same people... Amish were the poor living good in victorian era. People dreamed to live like Amish.
As a white person, I am incredibly thankful for being able to see these accounts from a black person’s point of view. I was educated on “American History” through out high school and college and ALWAYS from white revisionist points of view. I went to a blend of public schools and private Christian schools and in fifth grade at a very conservative Christian school in the south I was even taught that enslaved people were thankful for the guidance that they were given by their leaders. I can’t imagine the courage it takes to stand up to that kind of silencing of your own history and that kind of dismissal of humanity. I hate what we are taught in traditional text books because I believe we all know better than that. We all know that treating people like objects and oppressing them is wrong and OF COURSE they were not thankful participants but the people that write the history books and approve what is taught in school are purposefully trying to hold on to that kind of terror. I feel like I don’t have the right to say very much, except for thank you for your voice, and I really hope that voices like yours take over the narrative because that’s what we so desperately need.
I think the abuse is not linked to the color of the skin, but to the power that people have over you (mainly economic power). Thru history there have been slaves all over the world of all colors, races and nationalities, of all genders and ages....not only black people have been enslaved. Let's don't make this huge world wide problem ONLY ABOUT SKIN COLOR...if we are looking to bring attention to this problem let's show it for what it is. I'm not making any less of the slavery problem for black people....but honestly....NOTHING HAS CHANGED....if anything things have gotten even crazier....JUST ASK AROUND TO ANY OF THE PERSONAL ASSISTANTS OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS.. (and I am not black)... For reasons of confidentially agreements I can not disclose the names of my former "employers"...but I can tell you that for 4 years....my life was very similar to what you show as the life of this enslaved woman. And not only I had to take care of almost all the same things that this lady had to....but also in a few instances I had to drive doctor's in to my employer's house to care for her after the beatings her STILL TO THIS DAY husband gave her. I had to shield her from harm as much as I could sometimes even with my own body and be at the receiving end of mistreatments from her husband for these reasons. I also had the responsibility of DOING ANYTHING SHE WANTED ME TO... from buying her clothes and have them fitted, cook for her, arrange meetings, handle her calendar, wear her new shoes to make them soft, take her children to school when she was on TIME OFF from the beatings so they would not know what was going on...I mean...you will not believe the things I had to do for this lady...so much so I was starting to have mental problems myself...so I decided to quit for my own mental health. THANK GOD I had the option to quit...not without threats that I will never find employment anywhere else and that i will leave without a reference and that sort of thing. This is what the slaves of all races, ages, genders etc do not have the chance to do...I wish this could also be part of the conversation on your channel. I really wish we made this conversation a bit more inclusive and really talk about slavery in all its forms...because with all due respect THIS ISSUE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE, it concerns everybody, in all countries, all nationalities, all skin colors, all races, all ages and genders.
Your'e so funny. Did you cut and paste what you wrote? It comes right out of a book. Any time you want, you can start paying reparations to your nearest black person. Let us know how that goes.
@@JonFrumTheFirst oh honey you are jealous that I have good written communication skills, that’s called education, and you should try it some time, that angry white supremacist schtick looks real bad on you, it’s like you want to be condescending but don’t have the vocabulary.
You are a really talented historical interpreter. You dont bring politics in, you present accurately and informatively, you dont talk AT your audience but TO them. As a budding historial interpreter myself, I am humbled at how well you have presented. Well done!
Imagine having to be with the very woman who helped brutalize your family all day long. Having to sit there and listen to the awful things these people say and not being able to speak up out of fear. 🥺🥺😥😥
I’d be dead- I couldn’t be in their house and not think of killing them somehow. I know my own and I’d crack kill them all in their sleep. I couldn’t be no slave. They’d have to kill me. Not sorry.
@@ihatebts4866 black people couldn’t leave their enslaver without taking a huge risk. they would be tracked down and returned, just to be beaten for escaping or killed.
I really appreciated the call out that an enslaved lady’s maid had to practice an early form of code switching. Such an eye opening way of looking at her experiences-and it made realize just how old that concept really is.
@@j.wa.1061 - Exactly. This still goes on today. In the workplace, you must be educated and competent enough to do your job. But don't come across as "too intelligent" or "too outspoken," lest you be labeled uppity or an angry Black woman.
I've always been uncomfortable with "owner" and I've always put it in quotations because I don't think a person can own another person, like mothers don't even own their children. I don't know why I never thought to say enslaver but I will now. Much more appropriate word.
Agreed. It’s a better word. But I have to say, as someone who has been treated as a thing to be owned by their parents... saying “owner” came way too eerily easily for me to say as a child...
@@jacopieterse8363 You're acting like the word is the same as the concept. I clearly explained how I felt about a word, and never gave my thoughts on slavery itself, so I don't understand what your point is.
It's both and u r supposed to be uncomfortable as none of this shit was right of course. So if u feel uncomfortable that is the feeling u should have. Saying our ancestors were owned and enslaved are the terms that should be used. Call it what it is.
Where I was raised the enslavers were called Masters. A more direct translation would be Sir but it doesn't portray the level of respect that's brought with it in my native language. Unfortunate how they're still referred to with those terms.
I always found it so confusing how during this time period, enslavers would have enslaved people, cook for them, dress them, live with them yet still saw them as subhuman despite constantly being in close proximity to them and clearly entrusting them with such personal tasks.
They came up with a large variety of reasons to justify it; they said that black people were naturally meant to be enslaved to white people and even enjoyed it
Many ppl back then told themselves they were doing the person who was enslaved by them a favor, for providing them a place in society and a job and food. Basically they thought they were humanitarians, since they believed that nonwhite people didn't have the capability to build anything for themselves. And of course, when you get used to that level of convenience and service your whole life, it is very easy to look away from the ugly parts of that arrangement.
That’s because they dehumanised them so bad to the point that even the idea of black people making their own decisions or having their own feelings never crossed their minds.. they always saw them as different and inferior, and anything they did was considered bad or savage.. but if a white person did the same thing, it’s normal or justifiable..🙄😬 Even till this day.. the method of dehumanising people still exists.. they need to strip groups of their humanity so that anything they do to them is justifiable and no one bats an eye or questions it.. because in your mind.. they’re considered “bad” or “savage” people so they “deserve” what’s happening to them.. it’s honestly so sad..
Thank you for making this! As an archaeologist I get sort of sad seeing how much focus by the general public is placed on the big names, while enslaved people especially were the ones doing all the labor behind the scenes to make those "majestic" scenes of collective imaginations possible.
Ditto! "Popular" history (i.e. what we see in film and on tv) has a habit of glossing over the working class, be they free or enslaved. It is always gratifying to stumble across works that acknowledge and explore the experiences of the majority of humanity, rather than just the rich, famous, and powerful.
Extremely informative, albeit the heartache and melancholy that certain phrases such as "Fick made clothes she could never wear, makeup she could never use" induce, it's needed and very important that we hear them. Videos like these are full of empathy in just the right places.
The parallel of the enslaver having help getting dressed, changing outfits, having her hair done and the enslaved person having to dress themselves and care after their own hygiene with little to no access to amenities is so striking… enslavers really exploited every little bit of an enslaved person’s life, health, humanity all so they could live the laziest of lives. Absolutely abhorrent.
@@honeybadger8942 I'm African and yeah It's true that this is your past life, but the reason we see this kind of video nowadays is to prevent such a horror from happening again. Instead of crying over the horrors that happened, we should think about what we can do so that future generations do not have to witness atrocities. No matter what race you are and what role they played in this history, don't feel hatred or shame, it won't change the past. I know it sounds like a stupid dream but I also know that we can do damage control, it's up to you. So let's stop the hate ✌🏾
@@celiaedvin2441 "Enslaved"?! As being ENSLAVED in Africa from other uncivilized African tribes? What a terrible thing, to be an "Enslaved Lady's maid" in the most advanced an civilized country in the world, living rent free, with free food and clothing, instead of being a slave in the most horrible place on earth of that time.
@@celiaedvin2441 No,my dear I'm a Christian,I've already forgiven my oppressors a long time ago and moved on with my life.No hatred in my heart,only love for my Saviour Jesus Christ and my fellow brethrens.
Being able to read other people's emotions and anticipate their needs is often a trauma response, meaning that it's a skill developed in effort to survive, whether physically or emotionally. 😢
@@nancyanderson2032 yes but when you're being abused from such a young age (or in this case terrified of white people) you become so hyper aware of what those people do, facial expression and tone when they speak and body language. You can develop this skill not because it's a job requirements but since all the abuse and bad treatment you got it.
@@vikingdogmanship everybody can, but as someone said further up, being in a situation in which a single slip-up has extreme consequences causes you to become hyperaware of every change in mood of the people around you. She would have to walk on eggshells because of the position she was in. I can't even imagine how horrific it would be to be expected to appease people who literally own you and can do whatever they want to you if you upset them
You can see the same complete cognitive dissonance in how a lot of Jim Crow era segregation laws were ostensibly based on "hygienic concerns" that Black people carried diseases, all while Black people were exploited as cheap resources in janitorial, childcare, and domestic labor positions that would obviously have exposed white people to those same )imaginary) diseases, keeping Black people away from swimming pools, water fountains, and other public facilities meant for white people. Obviously there was no scientific or public health reason to continue segregation, so it's genuinely baffling how many people would happily hand their kids off to a Black housekeeper for the afternoon while adamantly defending laws that kept Black people from "contaminating" the white public restroom.
Slavery is, and always will be, one of the most disgraceful acts humans can do to each other. Every person is born free, we must never forget the past and continuously work towards a brighter future for everyone 🇬🇧
Dubai was largely built by slaves and there are sex slaves being sold in the Middle East every day. There are pictures of modern day slave markets in Africa with people being hung by their feet. Wealthy arabic families sometimes have slaves from poor asian countries. Even in China, women are sold to single men in order to become their wives. People in the West, especially Americans, often times have no idea how lucky they are.
I have to say, seeing these scenes acted out in front of us as an audience raises questions I’ve never thought to ask before. The dynamics of these relationships must have been so insanely complex within the context of a horrifying system of subjugation.
You are sad. You never saw Roots? You never have known the truth? This is new to you? What does that say about your character? People were brutally separated from families. Mutilated. Killed. Imprisoned to serve other "humans." Who are you?????
It’s really not that deep. They were maids and given living quarters. No different than what is going on today except today is worse. You can’t even live in a house on maids earnings.
Comparing maids today to enslaved people back then is just ignorant. Being a maid is a job and no one who is a maid was forced to do so, whereas back then enslaved people were forced to work. Not to mention how horribly they were treated. People of color have went through this for centuries.
it was completely different the living was horrid in todays standards and the treatment was subhuman but people who could barely articulate themselves just see it in comparison to having literally 0 it was bad and you could get killed or raped or beaten for anything at any time...lets not start with the breeding farms. my great great-great-grandmother died in/. BECAUSE slavery my great-grandmother died 2 years ago it WAS THAT BAD@@anitadrink5255
I love that you bring history alive in your videos! The background music when you talk is a little to loud though . It makes it hard to hear what your saying.
I myself have always loved history, but when I was talking to my husband earlier he told me that if history had been taught to him in the way that it's presented now, his love for it would have started much much earlier. Thank you for your wonderful presentation of a terrible era in our history.. and for the wonderful presentation of something that is often too contentious for people to openly discuss
This was so interesting! Especially the part where you talk about the additional emotional labour that an enslaved person was forced to do by acting as the enslavers "friend". And I never heard anybody talk about that. Very well done video!
I wonder if my great grandma’s - grandma was a lady’s maid? The way my great grandma kept her house was like something you’d see in a museum. The plastic on the couch, the curtains always pressed and absolutely NOTHING was out of order ! This video makes me wonder who were my ancestors enslavers and what were their duties?
I traced my mom’s father’s (granddad) lineage back to 1865 using US census records and saw that they were generations of enslaved field workers. Maybe try to see if you can trace back your lineage using US census records from ancestry. I even found my grandfather could barely write and that was roughly in the 1940s
I love that this video tells us about a specific enslaved person and calls her by name, instead of just talking about enslaved ladies maids in general. We don’t know much about the lives of most individual enslaved people through the centuries, but we should use what records we have to honor their memories as much as possible. Now I will remember Fick when I think about resilience, resourcefulness, and what freedom means.
No velcro, no zippers, no eslatic, no stretchy fabric blends, only buttons which were time consuming to make by hand and more expensive than a pin and not ideal for areas you would want to lie smooth such as the chest area. Just ties, pins, buttons
I've always been concerned over how complicated clothing used to be. The richer you were the more time you spent getting dressed. Why? Life sucked enough, why make it harder with complex clothes.
@@Crazt They didn't know any other way. There were no bras so the corset was a bit of a precursor to the bra. Most skin had to be covered to maintain decorum so long dresses were necessary. It would have been improper not to wear peticoat and other underwear because you had to perhaps walk alot, be helped into high cabs, scrub floors, you didn't want all of your goddies to expose if a strong wind blows. There was no panties either. I don't think that clothing was made super complicated back then ( Excluding the outrageous layers of the super wealthy's fancy dresses) , I think that we have made clothing very casual and barely there now.
I really like a lot of the words used in this. Like saying "her enslaver" rather than what I often heard in educational materials growing up which was "her owner". It's a huge improvement. It holds the enslaver more accountable and shows that no human can rightfully own another human. Thank you for this work.
But they're not enslavers, they're slave owners. The enslavers were her fellow sub saharan africans who captured her ancestors and brought them to market.
I think the word "enslaver" is softer than owner. These human beings were bought and sold. They had owners! I refuse any language usage that seeks to tidy up the evil of slavery.
It’s weird, cause I could have been born at any point in time, like I could have been a slave or an enslaved maid, like it’s hard to imagine me there back then. I’m serenely glad I was born nowadays
Nobody has control of what skin color you are born with or what time period. My father was menomonee tribe my mom Italian but i didn't choose that nor can I change that. Nor would I want to. We can't change the past but we can heal and change the future.
It’s crazy to think of, I probably wouldn’t have even existed because I’m mixed (Indian and white) and if I was born in an earlier time period I would be illegal. I too, am very glad I was born when I was.
this is facanating. i feel like a lot of the time, people want to avoid the awkward conversations about black peoples roles throut history. I'm super grateful you're comfortable putting yourself in this position to help the greater understanding of American history!
I really enjoyed how you followed an actual woman’s story, it made this so much more personal (and it’s heartbreaking that there wasn’t more information about her)
"She knew her relationship with her enslaver was onesided", seeing enslaved persons as individuals has put history in an absolutely different perspective for me. Every single one of these human beings walked a razor's edge between a "kindd" smile from their enslavers, and their unjustified rage, so they really stood on unstable ground on a daily basis. That's realistic, these aren't just workers, these are people, being held captive against their will and forced to do things and behave in certain ways by their captors, stripped of their dignity, freedom, humanity and self value. This video has shown me people, humans, and I am very grateful for having seen this. I might be a person of color, but I'd never truly known what it was like for these folks a few hundred years ago.
Ladies maid makes me think of Downton Abbey and those romantic views of the relationship between the mistress and her maid. But then I realized how awful it must have been to never ever be able to leave, not getting paid and literally being a second class human. Just horrible 😢
Your'e confusing two countries. Slavery had no legal base in britain itself the ladies in downton abbey are like the ladies you think off, of course in american south it was differant.
"A form of code switching was employed. An enslaved lady had to be intelligent and creative enough to be useful yet docile and meek enough so as not to intimidate and offend." this literally illustrates the work life many black women still experience today. Sad reality.
@@samanthaingold9466 I can still hear the phrase "We have to work twice as hard as everyone else." Echoing in my head. (Because not only are we women we were black so that was two strikes against us in the workplace.) That phrase is literally engrained in us and passed down from generation to generation.
When you were describing the attributes of an enslaved ladies’ maid I found it so upsetting. Because as a Southern black woman these attributes and flawless code switching are the ideal (debutante) way to be. The fact that our society has internalized these ideals in how we raise our children in modern society explains so much in how we relate to each other.
This is awesome! the background music is a little loud though, and sometimes makes it a bit harder to hear you. Really cool project and excited to see more.
@@eanymeanyminymo Wow!! Someone *finally* showing humble respect to people who *need* to hear this brilliant woman's *VERY* HARD work!! Hearing impairment isn't a "preference". Some people seem to think it's voluntary, or just a reason to complain, but NAH! It's all about *communication* and *survival* is all. Thank you so much for responding, acknowledging and hopefully working out the issue for future videos. Seriously, if *you* are on her team, we are BLESSED, cuz you HEARD US!!
Chaney saying “shaved em off?” And making that “well how bout that” face is my favorite side-gem in this presentation. I wonder how many of my ancestors had to sit there and care for these enslavers and listen to their stupid stories
I mean really. Little Miss Enslaver talking about some dumbshit she thinks is the most wonderful idea at 2 am and the enslaved maid has to humor her every time.
@@ThatGirlJD It is not about looking older, it is about having something in your hair that keeps it clean-ish (think dry shampoo) and gives texture to make some hair styles possible.
exactly. people either make it “shocking so it traumatizes you” or so much lacking information, white privilege based writing. etc etc. its so hard to actually get true writings so it’s actually more “real” that’s either less coddling or heavily triggering
@Emerald Woodlands i mean, some children need to learn about this too and immediately describing every traumatizing event and disgusting reality wouldnt do much to teach them, only scare them and most likely they wouldn't learn. so this video would be good for them to learn the truth about what was happening with the traumatizing details until they are old enough to be told the full truth about every little thing that happened.
@Emerald Woodlands sorry if i wasn’t clear, it’s just that some stories like to bait grab people, or coerce it to be more “smooth” to white audience etc. its kind of a hard ball to land, cus like ykno being shown dead bodies as a kid etc etc can scar people even if they are related to such a struggle if u catch my drift.
@Emerald Woodlands basically, it’s hard to put it into words properly. it’s terrible either way and some things like religious superstition etc etc cult shit etc etc could be a use to manipulate the public and such biases. sorry if i am incorrect i HAVENT been completely sober today
History tells you what happened, but often leaves out how it felt happening -- your work is invaluable in bridging the gap between informational knowing and visceral understanding. Thank you and the team for all your work!
Jesus sees you and trully loves you. Even though you may not. He died on the cross so that you and I could have a chance at getting to heaven. Please repent, believe in Him and surrender your life to Him because He can heal you and He understands you more than anyone. I hope you receive this message with a soft heart. Have a nice day (｡♡‿♡｡)💗.
the fact that those women were forced to be friendly with their enslavers…absolutely awful, this is so important to talk about today, especially when people are so eager to forget and brush it under the rug as simply “something of the past”. thanks so much for sharing
Its still fucking wild to me how this **actually** happened. Like this is shit you would expect to see in a horror book or something, but no, this legitimately happened and some disgusting people still want this to be happening. Thank you for educating, because we certainly don't learn the extent of this in school
@@ashleybiocic4383 Slaves were just workers on contract, they were getting paid and were treated fairly. What I don't believe is the idea that they were held against their will and worked to death while being beat and abused.
@@stus2159 you're joking right? They absolutely were abused and exploited. They did not have a contract and they were FORCED to work, hence why it's called slavery. These people were taken from their homes and brought over across the ocean in chains. Their children were born into slavery and the rough truth is that some if not most women were raped by their white "masters".
Being an enslaved house servant, particularly a close and trusted one, rather than a fieldworker, seems like it could be quite alienating. I would imagine field laborers might be jealous/judgmental of the "cushier" position of house servants, plus as a house servant you're of course physically removed from your peers.
Absolutely. It was the motive behind The Willie Lynch Letter to all enslavers. It was his intent to pit slaves against one another by separating them based on skin complexion, their duties, hair texture etc. It's 300 years later it's still working. Unbelievable. Read The Willie Lynch Letter. You'll be fascinated and disgusted at the same time.
The racists The enslaver apologists Some trolls who think it's funny to mock other's pain because they don't know how to grow as a human being and its the smallest bit of fleeting enjoyment they can receive to fill the void in their hearts and lives that they most likely made themselves Etc.
This is the first time I've heard the term "enslaver" used instead of "owner." That speaks both to my ignorance and the bias of my education to date. Thank you for taking the time to education people like me. Thank you thank you thank you.
Agreed, my history teacher also uses language that sugarcoats slavery, it’s so stupid, the us’s educational system is highly flawed, bordering on dysfunctional.
If the mistress was an enslaver, does that mean the slave was a free person before this mistress acquired her? I always thought they became slaves the minute they were captured in Africa. And I don't think this mistress was the one who started the ensaving process.
@@karapalin The phrase applies not just to the people who put this woman into slavery, but the people who kept her there day after day and year after year. The mistress may not have put her in slavery but it was a structure that she maintained and benefited from. Enslavement is not just to take a person as a slave, but also to keep them there.
@@sydneyd2094 I've always heard "owners." That seems more benign to me. Like owning a car or a house. You bought a thing and that the end of it. "Enslaver"to me denotes an ongoing decision to keep someone as property. It is more honest about what was going on at the time.
i appreciate how this video emphasizes the VERY one sided relationship between the enslaved, and the enslaver. it’s all too often that these relationships get unrealistically romanticized.
Thank you so much for this! Just discovered your channel! As an African born and bred in Africa, this was insightful. It existed in Africa as well, but people were employees. The caveat was that Africans and all blacks could only qualify for certain jobs, skills and experience. Reading about this and seeing the demonstration is so different, so much more powerful! Movies come close in depictions, they just lack the focus, so this is incredibly insightful! Thank you 🙏💜
Can I just add to the compliments of how extremely well acted this is? Obviously it’s not the same thing at all, but as someone with an abusive dad I so appreciate all the nuances shown here. There’s no violence shown, the mistress is never even rude, but that’s not what makes this so insidious. Extremely well done and I learned a lot, especially as a non-American!
As someone who was raised in the southern United States, specifically South Carolina, I had never heard the term “enslaver” used before, only “owner.” I’m 33 years old, and I am ashamed that this is the first time I have heard someone use this language to describe the dynamic. I will definitely be using this in the future. Thank you so much for educating me and others that were failed by a southern education system.
afaik it's new language that wasn't used as such until very recently. An enslaver would have been the person "generating" the slave, i.e. capture, breeding and sale related tasks. While some would pertain that enslavers were mostly black, i.e. the Africans capturing rival tribes for sale to the Europeans, I think most would agree that enslaver goes further than that and includes shipping and sale as well - as those 3 tasks are required for a person to become enslaved and owned by the final owner. Once the slave had been sold to it's final owner, that would have been considered just the owner or master; he did no enslaving personally, but had enslavers do it for him. It's an interesting change in speech that underlines the power dynamic very well, even if slightly inaccurate. Of course some owners could be considered enslavers themselves, notably if breeding was encouraged to generate new slaves.
This reminds me of corporate America workplace, they want you to be efficient, intelligent and forward thinking but non threatening, docile and non intimidating to them - a tightrope of fine “etiquette” of knowing one’s place.
When the topic of slavery came up in history my teacher said: "look to you left. Now, think that that person owns you". On that day my bully of 3 years was sitting to my left and I'll never forget that creepy grin of his. Thinking of people actually being in such a situation and at the mercy of an enslaver gives me the chills. "At least" here in Europe white people enslaved white people, so you had a small chance to actually escape. But in america even if you were actually free you still had to worry about being falsely accused of being a runaway slave.
@@sunshineyrainbows13 yes, but owning enslaved black people was much more common in the us. It is correct that Britain had a huge part in the slave trade though.
@@sunshineyrainbows13 a lot of countries had a part in African slavery. 90% of the slaves Europeans paid for during that time period went to central & South America, the rest went to the British colonies in North America. Portugal was the only European country to participate in raids, as the European lifespan in Africa at that time was around 6-12 months. There’s other instances of African slavery outside of the the Atlantic Slave Trade. Most wealthy African countries had enslaved African from central Africa. Mansa Musa I had around 12,000 enslaved people. There were enslaved Africans in Asia & the Middle East.
@@sunshineyrainbows13 I think so? I'm Austrian and there is not much to be found on past slavery in the current sense (white enslaving black) here. We have more of a history of bondage. That is not to say austrians never participated in it. Also with how the borders shifted it is hard to say "my country did it" as what was this country changed every 50 years. So you could say there was slavery because we were governing some parts of now germany and now italy who at some point had their fingers in the african slave trade.... Tl;dr: it's complicated
Lazhuli Yes there were both African and non African, and white slaves etc all over the world actually, and Mansa Musa was black himself. The difference here with Atlantic slave trade is that it is the most horrific one to date, despite the fact that we can consider it being so close to modern era. Another really horrific thing with Transatlantic slavery is as mentioned in the original comment, slaves were mainly if not only black, so all black people were regarded as slaves in America. Their scientists at the time even wrote literature about how the black man is inferior and should therefore be moral to be enslaved by their "superior counterpart". While slaves in other parts of the world hundreds of years prior to American slavery can be freed regardless of skin color and live among other people. Though rare, slaves in other parts of the world have become Kings and Queens or reached other more achievable status in society. I mean there are multitudes of other reasons why Transatlantic slavery was horrible, slaves weren't even considered people really.
THANK YOU for saying "enslaver" rather than "owner". Such a simple change, and yet so VERY CRUCIAL!!
I love this too.
Exactly. Language matters. Words have power.
It was new to me to hear this, but damned if its not spot on, Im going to use this word from now on. Thank you for the insightful video!
This was such a powerful change in the dialog! I was surprised as how much it jagged me at first. I didn't realize how much I'd internalized "owner" and "owned". I'm definitely changing my verbiage around this going forward and better examining my ingrained beliefs on the subject.
I agree! Very much appreciated! :)
This is, I think, the first time I have seen a non racist depiction of interaction between an enslaved lady’s maid and said lady. Her enslaver. Usually, it’s full of “but they were friends! The lady would joke and gossip with her lady’s maid, so it was fine!” Or “but she loved her maid” and then insert the caricature brought forth by Gone With The Wind. Ugh.
I am so, so grateful to see an accurate depiction that doesn’t shy away from how inherently wrong it was. This was beautifully done, and I really appreciate all the hard work you put into this!
Yes, for sure. You still see that an enslaver could think she had some "affection" for her enslaved lady's maid... But you also see how that didn't prevent her from actively keeping that person enslaved! And you really get a feel for the complexity that would add to Fick's life.
Edited for clarity of intention.
I agree. It's so powerful how she pointed out that it was a one-sided friendship.
What do you call racist depiction? The institution of slavery was inherently racist in america. What could make it not racist?
@@zelulu1000 I don't think OP is saying slavery is being depicted as non racist, here, I think they're saying that a lot of depictions of slavery in traditional media and education are racist for the way they try to obscure the realities of slavery. So this depiction is less racist for being more realistic and honest about what being enslaved was like
@@zelulu1000 I mean depicted from the point of view of white people who support slavery (even if not trying to say it outright). So, depicted by racist people, who then go on to make out that the relationship between an enslaved lady’s maid and her enslaver was nice. Because they’re racist.
I like that you showed how, even though the mistress in this example is kind to her maid, the relationship is not actually a relationship since it's entirely one-sided and one person holds unlimited power over the other.
I mean, if ignoring their concerns and forcing them to serve you every waking moment of their life could be considered kind.
She wasn't a maid, a maid is a paid job that one can chose for themselves. She was a woman who got captured and taken away from her home country and was forced to work for someone against her will.
@@themaggattack I feel like that was implicit in my comment.
@@Xforeverlove21 exactly i come from a country where most people have maid. My family has one too. They are given holiday, clothing, food and shelter along with salary. Maid can choose to leave their jobs and their life choices are their own. My parents have helped with wedding cost of many maid who worked for us and most stopped working after they got married salves were never given any of these options
A relationship is any ongoing connection between people. Could be loving, or contentious, or distant, or hateful, etc.. All varieties. The longer the association, the stronger the relationship. So the quality of the relationship between slaver and enslaved would have been one quite sided but to say it wasn't a relationship at all overlooks the complicated nature of the experience.
Just imagine the heartbreak of being sold - not only because of the humiliation and fear about the future, but also because it severs the relationships with people she or he may have been with for years or decades, however good or distant or terrible it might have been.
It’s insane to me that enslaved maids were made to engage in conversations like they were friends with the enslavers. “You talk to me like a regular person while I don’t treat you like one” is just such deep physiological brainwashing. Keeping a fresh mind in that environment was absolute hell.
Thats why it's so hard for me to believe that these people genuinely thought Black people were animalistic or less human because they carried out conversations with them, connected with them, and had them feeding their children. I believe there was a serve cognitive dissonance there where they continuously lied to themselves to justify the atrocious harm.
It is wild to think the same people who said that black people were subhuman had no qualms about them fixing their hair or applying makeup or tending to their children
Now we wonder why mental illness is at an all time high, and our jails are overwhelming.
I mean it still happens today in a way. Just look at how Karens treat service workers. We'll tell our nail techs and hair dressers and bar tenders all our woes but if they tell us too much of theirs it's inappropriate.
Not that it's an excuse but I can see how it happens.
Honestly just being a waitress the way rich people will treat you like dirt is nuts. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for enslaved people.
@@guana2885 delve a little deeper and you'll discover the fact that the women were black was not relevant. This was the norm in Europe since long before America was founded.
We had (and have, although less strictly enforced) a class system. A tiny few were 'upper class', a larger number were 'middle class' and the vast, vast majority were 'working class'.
Black slaves were esentially taken from their homeland by force and added to the white working class. Black slaves needed chains because they were used to living free. White working classes had never been free so didn't need chains.
The norm was to speak to working class people as if they were dirt under your feet. It was not the norm for the elites to treat their slaves/servants well. White working classes were so indocrtinated that they accepted their position in life. They often adored and worshipped their masters. Those that pleased the masters would get the most trusted positions and a few perks - such as a kind word here and there.
Don't think this was treatment reserved for black slaves. It was the norm for most white Europeans for centuries. It still hasn't changed deep down. White working classes are treated with utter contempt. Here in Europe the minorities among the working class are treated well and have laws to 'protect' them - but that's really about keeping the masses from revolting. Most people are white, so they favour the blacks now in order to create division. That's my take on things at least.
In my college history course we learned that being a ladies maid meant if something went wrong in the house, you became the scapegoat. Plus, there was more access for white men to sexually assault her. I cannot imagine the constant terror those women lived in. All enslaved people were true survivors.
If the baby cried, she got whipped.
@@tommyspike1969 Imagine if that made the baby cry harder (assuming it was done in front of the baby) and they got more mad
I wonder. It seems from the video their positions were nearly identical to European lady's maids. If so, she'd have been with her mistress most of the time.
I could see a house maid being vulnerable to unwanted attention, but not a lady's maid. I'd think she'd be nearly immune.
And whipping if the baby cried? Wouldn't children be a Nanny's responsibility?
they meant the slave babies , and no she wouldn’t be immune at the end of the day she would still be just a slave
@@jwhippet8313 Are you American? 🤔
The emotional labor required of enslaved people was just astounding. I’m horrified that they had to do so much mental/emotional juggling every second on TOP of the physical abuse and everything else.
Yes I was just thinking about how taxing it would be to have to be cordial with someone who enslaved you, all day everyday. People tend to think that those working in the fields had it worse, but I can't imagine having to basically ass kiss your own enslaver and listen to their stupid little stories.
There's a lot of that still going on in our society, but I think it must have been so much worse then. Both the magnitude of the switch and the consequences for failure.
Til this day.
The emotional labor is still there. Via blacks constantly having to educate whites in the fact that these things still are going on. And this actually bring alot of understanding to the whole Karen epidemic and where she gets her massive out of touch sense of entitlement and sense of authority over others.
@@VanityLuxe yes, yes and yes, the emotional labour is still going on to this day
The way that the cook avoids eye contact while suggesting where to source eggs breaks my heart.
I noticed that too!! I thought (hoped) he was being portrayed as a shy gentleman, but when he smiled at Fick when they were talking and looked her in the eyes I figured I was mistaken. In fact, now that I think about it, it's NOT the first time I've seen the enslaved not look their enslavers in the eye. Was this taught? ...expected? .. "just known"? This video is wonderful and I thank you. With gratitude from someone who hated history in school but loves the realness and truth that your videos provide, your newest subbie. ❤🤗🤗 MK
@@emmkaa2099 a lot of households saw enslaved people meeting their enslavers eyes as a challenge of authority, some saw it as disrespectful. Personally I think that enslavers who didn’t like eye contact didnt because it made them uncomfortable realising that their slaves were human, and recognising that made them feel more guilty about ordering them around. Not sure though, not that that’s okay it would be terrible to have somebody refuse to acknowledge your humanity.
@@emmkaa2099 - It was taught (and I'm sure it became just generally "known" at some point) that many enslavers didn't allow enslaved people to look them directly in the eye. It's just another tactic for dehumanizing people and making them feel inferior. Even the lady's maid here doesn't really make direct eye contact with her enslaver. The cook's behavior was more obvious because he kept his head turned almost completely away from the enslaver because just looking at her could have been a punishable offense, as Black men weren't allowed to look directly at white women. This remained true even long after slavery was abolished.
kinda dumb
@@woahhowmediocre3860 I'd like to think that at least a few enslavers thought that way but after even minimal research on my part and reading other comments it seems, heartbreakingly, that if some did even feel a twinge of guilt they were few and far between... apparently such is not the case. How horrible it must've been.
The fact that this was their toil without any foreseeable end is just so overwhelming. No future, no end in sight, no escape.
In most cases the only escape was…sadly death 😢
I wish they would have not been afraid to take some of the evil off this earth.
Yes their lives would have been so much better if not brought to the colonies 😢
It's why oppressed groups of people tend to use cultural tools like religion, art, music, dance, storytelling etc. -- anything that offers them even the briefest escape.
Culture is normally the last thing enslaved people can cultivate for themselves and keep it private ... and that's why cultural appropriation is such a hot topic in society today
... a general lack of understanding of the vital role those cultures played in their survival and our not allowing oppressed groups that one thing, which their historical oppressors couldn't take away from their ancestors; as a people
... is kinda messed up 😑
*Many enslaved people actually choose to cling to LIFE and the spirit of their cultures as an act of defiance against the abusive societies that enslaved them.*
_It's why societies try so hard to crush it out of them using everything from making it illegal, religious and behavioural whitewashing, to public executions and torture._
@@NeonCicada Oh brother is THIS what they are telling you in school now how silly. My late grandmother's older sister would beg to differ with you as she was a slave and she most
definitely had a culture while in slavery.
And no she was not beat for having a culture duh. Do you wokeys actually talk like this all the time it's so cringe
😅. My grand aunt was not
emotionally messed up she did
what she had to do to survive then
in reconstruction she gathered her siblings and made a home for herself.
Then in the 1920s she moved up north.She could have ran away but she wanted to stay with her sisters.
And I hate to break it to you but relationships happened anytime
you put two groups of people together
it will happen. Friendships love affairs
fighting uprisings and running away
sometimes with white lovers and mixed babies all happened! Slavery was not as neat as you kids think it was. And no all owners and slaves didn't hate each other many did but
many did not. It depended on the
owners and their beliefs. My aunt
knew people that ran away she knew
people that were brought back.
She also knew people that got killed
committed suicide and attacked
their masters. You kids really need
to read some actual history and not
this bullshit woke reinvention of slavery.
I really respect how you consistently refer to them as “enslaved” throughout this piece, and emphasize the one-sided relationship. Too many productions romanticize these relationships!
Yeah, I dislike how many shows and films (most notably gone with the wind) showed enslavers being friendly and chatty with the people they “owned”, as if to say “this is one of the good ones. Not those horrible abusive slave owners”. Yet even so, a historical character who treats their slaves well, still owns a slave, is still directly benefiting from the intense pain her slaves endure, still oppresses people. It’s not to say friendly or even “kind” slave owners didn’t exist, but they are in no way guiltless
@@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460 I mean friendly as in friendly in demeanor. Kind as In (at least on a shallow surface level) treats them like a friend. This isn’t to say they were good people, however. You can treat people in a kind manner while being a bad person. You can treat your slave like a “friend”, but in the end, they are still enslaved
@@lavenderhuman I mean this video DOES show the enslaver being friendly and chatty, but I think the distinction is that is makes clear that it's ONE-SIDED. The white female enslaver can prattle on as much as she likes as if they are friends, but the limited responses of the enslaved woman show that this is a farce. They are not friends and can never be friends, so long as one of them is in ownership of the other.
@@luminousmoon86 yes that’s my point though
@@dr.braxygilkeycruises1460 it’s like saying “friendly kidnapper” or “considerate murderer”, it’s an oxymoron
Watching this I honestly had to laugh at “the lady’s slave was expected to keep up with latest fashion trends” and “hair skin and nails were expect to be free of dirt even though soap wasn’t always allowed to them” the audacity in those ppl were truthfully disgusting and distasteful
No seriously. That part pissed me off. They were expected to smell good even though some weren’t given soap. Ugh. Smfh
It's the same double standard given to homeless people looking for jobs. You must look put together for a job interview, yet to look put together you must first have the means, and the means can only come from a job, but to get a job you must already have the same means of cleanliness as a job affords.
The lion, the witch and the audacity of this bi***! That made me so angry too! „They were expected to find ways to be clean and smell good.“ Just another thing they did to make their lifes miserable!😡
Let's be real. No one smelled good in Colonial times.
@@broganmckoko They did have perfume, plus their clothes would be washed.
The change of terminology from slave/master to enslaved people/enslavers is eye opening on several levels. It really shows how the narrative that many of us were taught in school was shaped by the people who wanted to distance themselves from the reality of enslavement and even perpetuate the notion of the superiority of the enslavers. Intellectually I know that the victors write the history books, but this shift of language really highlights it in a way my privilege has protected me from truly comprehending. Words matter so much.
I've been following your work on UA-cam and Instagram for months. You've reframed the way I see American history. Thank you for the work you do.
I too appreciate that specific wording which I had only heard recently. It impacted me in a way I never imagined despite growing up hearing about the struggles of my ancestors.
yes I have never heard those terms being used before. I think that's part of what makes it feel uncomfortable (quite rightly so), just dropping the term mistress/owner and using enslaver...I mean it's the blunt truth
I also appreciate the use of "enslaved person" rather than "slave" for much the same reason. Reminds me of using "person-centered" language around illness and disability.
I've also taken to using the term "human traffickers" and "trafficked individuals," as well as "forced labor camps." Because that's exactly what they were.
@@sonipitts yes, I use those occasionally, too. I think it helps frame things in a modern context, to remind people that the slavery of two centuries ago still has effects today, and that slavery still exists throughout the world.
I love the fact that this is acted out. It makes the information hit harder. If you watched it on mute, they almost seem like friends, but when you put it with the information it really hits the guts. The understanding that even under the best circumstances, the enslaved was living on eggshells. Amazing and well done. Thank you so much for this
When was that , I mean slavery how long time ago? Sow what? Then all Europe worked like slaves , so what?! Are you want a medal for it now? ba!
Are you on ok @@Lita-bj5irlol
@@Lita-bj5ir you write like a complete idiot, congrats.
Life wasn't easy for anybody of any class back then.
@@Lita-bj5irbe quiet.
As a history major and future history teacher, I love seeing black women as historians and thank you so much for this vital video!
This video make for a good teaching instrument. I have a degree in history, when I was in college I did my senior paper on Women in the American Revolution and it's sad how little is written about the enslaved of this time period.
I congratulate you on your History major, and thank you for your dedication to teaching History -- your work is so important, and the field of History needs many more Black historians! Good luck with your career!
@@rey-yac not to mention how they tone everything down
@@tempest206 YES!!🙄🤦🏿♀️
Me also ! I studied costume history and deeply appreciate the different perspectives !
There's something so bizarre and demoralizing about expecting an enslaved person to act like your friend (therapist?) and also do work to literally make the person who enslaved them look good.
The word 'therapist" came to my mind too as I watched Fick doing her mistress' hair.
Right? Because she still thinks of the slave as less than human.
It's definitely like, maybe she's not working in the fields, but she expected to do ALOT of reciprocated/unpaid/unrewarded emotional labor as a person who OWNS her complains about their own problems and expects her to care...
It's fiction, the film makers invented what thery thought was happening in that relationship.
@@snowflakemelter1172 Can you stop invalidating the experiences of Black women for ONE SECOND
"She made clothes she would never wear, and makeup she could never use..." Wow that's sad. All that talent, and if she had a daughter she couldn't make beautiful clothes for her either. Imagine passing down those amazing skills to a daughter, and the best a daughter could hope for was to follow in her mother's footsteps.
this is still true today... in a different degree but people who manufacture our clothes in India or China or sweatshops somewhere else will never be able to afford the garnements they make, most sales people can't afford the products they sell... which is an essential part of capitalism
@@RainyDayWolf your statement is true 100%.. but this situation is specifically referring to the hand maids of enslavers. Theoretically sweatshop workers could save up money or borrow clothes from relatives, they can wear those clothes in oublic and not be persecuted for it. Those enslaved women could not wear the clothes of their white bosses, even if they saved up money or were given hand me downs...
So did the average non slave working class seamstress and all servants of the period.
@@snowflakemelter1172 yes but a seamstress could still wear those clothes, hypothetically. They could walk out of the shop as a free person and wear them... An enslaved woman could never wear them. Ever.
@@skybee001 I said in a different degree... But you should really learn about those persons, I don't think you understand how terrible the life of people working in sweatshops is, because some are actual slaves 😔
I really like how you call people 'enslaved persons' not 'slaves', and the others as 'slavers' not 'masters'. It is far more suitable and much better reflects the true state of affairs, while acknowledging the human dignity of enslaved persons. I will always use this term myself from now on.
during those years if you were poor there was almost no difference between being white or black. The treatment was simple: they bought you (literally), they will tell you the worst things to do... really, it isn't about color sking trust me. It was also common selling kids for doing horrible jobs (many died).
@@Yep6803You sound ridiculous. It was about skin color. Yt people didn’t get killed bc they could read. No matter how poor yt people were, they were FREE. It had everything to do with being blk or yt.
I mean. This black women had a good life. Roof over her head.. brick house. Or perhaps houses from mud are better for those people.
Completely irrelevant.
Slave is simply a class designation that doesn’t exist anymore
@@westonmeyer3110 way to miss the point
It's amazing how delusional the enslavers must have been to actually think that even though the lady's maids were there against their will, they could be friends. In that way that position was definitely psychologically exhausting.
I don’t find the enslavers psychopathy to be amazing in any form.
@@KingdomInnovate Amazing isn't always a good thing..This comment wasn't a compliment
Many of them were born into it and grew up with slaves from the time they were born so they didn't know life any other way
Exactly. They were so INSANE omg 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
@@salleymudd5488 BS at some point you grow up to know what's right and what's wrong. You can't sit there and tell me that because they were around slaves since they were children that they didn't know any better. Maybe as children they didn't but at some point you have to grow up and have a brain and know the difference between right and wrong
I love the language used in this video. Instead of the usual “master” or “mistress” opting for enslaver was very fitting. One of many ways the language is sugar coated without even realizing
I agree. I had never truly thought about it before. Calling them enslavers lessens the perception that they were 'above' the enslaved persons.
I truly agree the way it was portrayed here was honestly the best way enslaved people could’ve been treated this was the optimal of the way enslaved people could’ve been treated and this was not even a way anyone should’ve been treated you really pointed it out the best way possible and I think there should be a trending thing as we are going through one of the biggest Civil War‘s of our time this is the best way indentured servant‘s in endangered servants and enslaved servants could’ve been treated this was not the way most of them were it was be in it was starving it was horrible they sugarcoated it with giving us a realistic view because I can’t give us the whole view America and UA-cam wouldn’t allow it
Yes - it has definitely made me think about the language I use when speaking about slavery
Yes! I noticed it instantly and it shows what they truly are. Not employers, masters or owners.
Changing that makes complete sense. These people weren't their master or mistress. Changing "slave" to "enslaved person" does not, however. Both expressions mean exactly the same thing and the word "slave" doesn't sugar coat anything.
Man….I can’t imagine living long if I was there…this mouth of mine would have gotten me dead. The patience, the resilience…
Same sis, same.🎯
Truth
Yep... My mouth would have done me in.
Same
That's the scary part: you would have been different, had you been born then. Like now, you'd never step in front of a moving train, you wouldn't have opened your mouth back then. That is one reason why a just and equalistic society is so very important, so we can develop the sense of self-worth we need to demand our rights.
Imagine listening to the "problems" of your enslaver, adjusting your expression accordingly, and then comforting them - all while knowing your own family members are being whipped and hung. Makes me so MAD!!!!
Fr
I really like how you describe not only the work that enslaved ladies' maids were expected to do, but how they had to navigate their social realities. It really adds a lot to what their lives were like and restores their humanity.
I agree. It is important to note that the work was an entirely different thing than pure physical labor. The balance of education and social niceties is so jarring to her reality. Being aware of what was going on even more than the people who labored and were deliberately kept as ignorant as possible sounds exhausting in a very emotional way, even if not breaking one's body! Also the tragedy that all we truly know about the particular individual is merely snippets from receipts and diaries.
"... and restores their humanity." I'm not sure what to make of this. Do you mean that subconsciously you forgot that they were humans & this video helped you see them as human beings? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm trying to understand what you meant. As a black person, it struck me in a kind of odd way. The enslavers lost their humanity when they chose to enslave other human beings. They were inhumane.
@@moneybags999 I agree I could have worded it better. I've often felt like when we look at slavery in colonized American history, we can sometimes end up looking at slaves as a mass of people, which can be very dehumanizing. Some of the things she talked about here emphasizes how these were individual people, with individual experiences as a counterpoint to the traditional narrative.
@@rachaelpoulin1997 Ok, Gotcha. That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.
It’s extremely sad seeing the mental impact this would have on enslaved people. They were constantly walking on ice.
I kept thinking about the mental impact this has to have on the people making this video too. I know they chose to do it, but it's like, knowing that the POC in this video are free today, it doesn't take away from what I see in the eyes of the man who was told not to look at the white woman playing the mistress of the house in order to portray how it would have been. I just hope he's doing ok and isn't having some sort of ancestral ptsd from having to act like a slave :( I know that videos like this are necessary and incredibly interesting, but I just can't help but feel bad for people who basically have to portray what it was like, putting their own mental health at risk, just because people have to actually SEE what it was actually like in order to understand it.
Gotta be a truly massive amount of stress constantly. Definitely would have worn their mental state. Worry about your family, worry about getting in trouble for no reason, worry about the possibility of being sold. How they survived it at all is beyond me.
Also makes you wonder how many black people are literally walking around with a mental illness. Black people always seen in such a negative light when in fact a lot of black people are suffering from mental illness that's been passed on from generations to generations
@@wolvie1618 black people are God's people. Only a strong race could survive 400 years of slavery. The white man tried to kill us off like they did the Natives.
@@dionned.6176 The white man didn’t invent slavery nor was he the longest or largest slave owner.
African and Aboriginals routinely enslaved other conquered tribes. Slavery was also prolific all through the Caribbean, Asia, Asia-minor long before the white man ever showed up and is still going on today in many places in the world.
Slavery is a legacy of human history, not just White history. The Jewish people were enslaved for thousands of years yet I don’t hear them complaining about it.
I still cant believe how a person can think they "own" someone, really learnt a lot from this video
@River Lette true and dehumanizing
Still happens around the world to this day
@@taraji_b yeah sadly :'
@@taraji_b and no one gives a fuq enough to do anything about it ahahahaha
@@taraji_b yea :'( i hope one day the world will be a safer and more peaceful place
I hope Mrs. Fick is up in heaven and relaxing! I hope she at least had some joy in her life.
Fick is the German word for fuck lol
I had never heard "enslaved persons" used before, only "slaves". I'm glad to learn this term!
It’s important to refer them as enslaved and not slaves.
@@nakiacee15 Can you explain more? No offense intended...I've just always heard the term "slaves" and rarely "enslaved people."
@@elizabethh86 When we use the term slave, it implies that it just is who that person is. The term enslaved person is active and reminds people that someone DID that to them, and it’s not who they are.
@@nakiacee15 yes it does. “slaves” refers to them as objects or robots and takes away the fact that they are still humans and should be treated as such. while “enslaved person” assured that they are still are people, they are just enslaved as the moment
@@sadewelsh7333 SAY 👏 IT 👏 FOR 👏 THE 👏 PEOPLE 👏 IN 👏 THE 👏 BACK
This is what we need young people to be watching in classes. Actual informational videos. With honesty, and every single detail.
Yes
Nowhere in European countries or even African states that the triangular trade is part of school curriculum. A crying shame!
this!!! 👏🏽
Videos like this are great for history class. I always felt stupid, ill informed, and out of touch when I assisted, former special education teacher, in the history classes. The students need to see it through the slaves’ eyes. This was very well put together. We cannot erase history but learn from it.
Yes
the amount of layers of clothing they wore back then is insane.
It was colder
@@rsmith6366 not too much
@@semnome6059 It's called The Little Ice Age.
Imagine how hot they were in the humid summers, especially inside the home that had no cooling system.
@@Mar-pe9kx The weather was different back then. There is a paper on JSTOR that us specifically about the climate in Virginia. The Summers would have been hot, but not as hot as today, as we are several degrees hotter now due to leaving the Little Ice Age, and ofcourse a LOT because of climate change). The summers were also dry, not humid, which is why the Maize grew well (when there weren't Spring monsoons). The Autumn, Winter, and Spring were VERY cold, lessening the growing season by a month compared to England at the time (which was shorter than the current 3 crop season of England today). So the Summers were basically several degrees cooler than today, very dry, and the rest of the year was very cold and wet.
My goodness, this is so hard to watch without seething at the injustice. This is a history that must be taught fully and never forgotten. Thank you for bringing light to an insanely dark topic.
I’ve never realised how terrifying hearing about an upcoming slave auction would be to these people. You do good work, keep it up. History is important.
Yep
yep.. unless you had a position that was very important and you were very good at it it would have been extremely scary
Yep, just everyone you've ever known your whole life is taken away from you and you may never see you parents, siblings or grandparents ever again (I believe super rarely if you had relatives that were sold nearby you could be given a pass to visit). I couldn't imagine going through something like that. We never get to hear about the stories and lives of enslaved people. A lot of what I learned in this video are things I was never taught. I'm glad that there are awesome channels like this that explain the things we really should have learned in school.
@@litchtheshinigami8936 And even then they weren’t safe. As the video says about the woman this was sort of based on - an eslaved person with a valuable skill was a financial asset and could be used as collateral as she was, or worse, sold. So basically, if legally you’re considered property, you aren’t safe.
Tô these people 🤔 imma let you slide because clearly you are trying to educate yourself.
I love that you say "enslaved persons" instead of "slave". That's the truth.
and also ''enslavers'' instead of ''master''.
just out of curiosity, is there a specific reason for "enslaved persons" rather than "enslaved people"? i've heard this term used often, but i've never understood the distinction
Does using “enslaved” instead of “slave”.make certain people feel better about the horrific history of the US owning people of color? Just asking?
@@debmj1960 Yes.
How does the terms change the horror that slavery was? This is so ridiculous. Are you trying to not offend the people that were slaves and OWNED by other people?
You’re teaching the history our schools fail to and I love that. Can’t wait for more!
Schools teach from a general point of view, aka they should explain the jobs slaves did, but aren't obligated to go this deep, this is more for a historian, as she is
@@g.c.4824 Yeah, I mean, while I don't know the detailed life of every type of slave, I was taught the general concept. Honestly, sometimes I find it hard to believe it's schools failing to teach it or if it was a matter of people not paying attention.... I mean, there are people who don't know there are 50 states in America, I think that's absolutely a product of not paying attention....
Yes! We don’t need to be memorizing the quadratic formula! We need to learn stuff that actually matters!
@@alyssapinon9670 yes, you don't need to memorize it because you may never use it in your life, but math and such help develop and exercise the brain, so it is important, more important that knowing slave maids did their ensalver's clothing in the morn
@@alyssapinon9670 Math helps build critical thinking and logic skills. Memorizing it long term isn't necessary, but practicing more advanced forms of math is good for your brain. Learning some algebra and geometry will be useful in life as well. And even after that, you can be encouraged to continue calculations through a properly done economics class.
Thank you very much for this video! I'm a historian in a Western European country, and recently read "12 years a slave" for the first time. It was very touching and I realized how little I still know about the history of black and enslaved people in the US. Most history classes and books I came in contact so far focused on the decendants from European countries, and enslaved Africans often were described only in their economic functions as slaves (e.g. their role in the triangular trade). I'm glad about this account of social history which is so so important!
Notice how the man slave / cook wasn’t allowed to even look the “enslaver” in her eyes as they spoke.
Makes sense.
I'd wondered if that was intentional, you're probably right.
@@Libbathegreat Hell, ask emmet till who got hung for that very reason!!
I might be white but I’m trans and I live in Mexico, my family doesn’t want me to travel, white people here live in gated communities and the white Mexican people created an Elite, everyone has 2 housekeepers, gardeners, and many more services that they almost pay for free (very cheap hand labor) obviously made by the indigenous Mexicans outside these gated communities, btw these gated communities are now the size of a city with malls and big buildings inside, no joke, watching all these videos make me upset cause it’s what places like Mexico and probably other countries are still living. Me as a transgender, you will say “darling if you were a straight male you would be doing the same thing”, and honestly I don’t know that, I only know all my life has been like this, it’s funny how all my siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts from both sides have expensive college degrees, visas, passports, etc and I’m the only one who doesn’t, a lot of people who are like me die young from many things, I’m still here and I’m 32, but I don’t even know how to explain but I relate to this video a lot !!!!!!
@@ReginaTrans_ John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I can’t imagine how strong they had to be endure the every whim of their enslavers while also taking care of their own families, it makes my life seem so trivial and privileged.
I don’t think they got to be with their own families even
Their family was usually not a priority at all, even Wet nurse slaves would leave their new born for weeks while breastfeeding their enslaver's babies
Families were separated the kids were already doing field and house work very young
LMAO
@@KrisD007 you're a hater
The correct use of the term “enslaver” truly shows the power dynamic, and the helpless position the enslaved were in. Amazing information.
Better than "Mistress" or "Master".
@MoralSingularity classic white noise. Please stop trying to take others suffering for your own. It's despicable.
@MoralSingularity White 😰
@MoralSingularity as that is bad as well you shouldn’t bring up other problems when someone is trying to tell about a problem.
It’s not a competition.
@MoralSingularity You sound so horribly uneducated.
" Ohh you are so good to me, my kidnapper, my torturer, thank you so much for letting me bath, eat a little, and sleep in peace for a while"
"yes torturer, my own "black father", that you sold me for some cash to another torture, I am so oppressed by light skinned, that I will remain here with you instead of going back to my father".
😂
Right? Craziness.
Human relations can get very bizarre and difficult to describe, especially when we're talking about communicating something from history to a modern audience, whom might find the setting being described to them as truly alien. I really like your method of presenting the situation/predicament as is and then asking us, the viewers, to just sit and absorb it and learn without strict instruction. I've always been against educational material that tells you how you are suppose to feel about what you're being taught, instead I like how this is all about letting me experience and consider. It really made me think about all these different contrasting aspects that must've messed with a person's head; how everyone in the system is interacting with each other in an unnatural way while awkwardly coating it with a veneer of "this is normal". Fick and her enslaver's relationship must have been so complicated and layered, yet I really loved how you managed to communicate this so fluidly.
I can't wait to see the next episode / learn about another person in history!
I agree, I definitely noticed that too! I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series
I was JUST thinking this. I think that the reality is that not all enslaved people were bursting at the seams just waiting and dreaming of revolution, to be saved from their enslavement either by themselves or external force. To just be able to live this life, you have to be able to come to terms with it, as sad as we'd see it. Everyone just wants to be happy and experience good things, like love and friendships. Even material things, like good food, a nice dress, a little bit of money.
I would be willing to bet for many enslaved people, the idea of a revolution, any chance of freedom, was just not a possibility to them, something totally unthinkable.
To have a "good" relationships with their enslavers, become positive in their eyes and in turn see positivity from them, was likely the reality that many enslaved people yearned for. Very complicated, unequal relationships. I believe there are even cases of formerly enslaved people commending their previous enslavers, because that's just how many people cope with that kind of situation.
I'm struggling and constantly deleting and rewriting because this is all super complex and I'm afraid of stepping on someone's toes, but hopefully my point is clear.
Cracked Tea Cup, and Adonis Batheus, and Diana, y'all are clearly very bright, you have my respect.
@@AdonisOuranios So slavery was just fine by them? Why rock the boat, huh? Just be happy your slavery isn't worse? It must be a beautiful sight up there on your horse.
@@AKing69 That is not what they said at all. Read it again.
One sided friendship: mistresses could share all her dumb problems while the other woman can't share her real problems. 😒
That’s a lot of white people now lol.
@@dezmitchell5329 how many "white safe spaces" do you know of? Who wants one-sided?
@@douglasvilledarling2935 church, corporate America, politics, police departments, neighborhoods
@@douglasvilledarling2935 the internet
Not a friendship don't call it that
I love the subtle detail of "her *Mistress* can share all her worries with her, but she can't share her worries with her *enslaver*" that tiny detail of switching from Mistress to enslaver really puts both the power dynamic and the difference in world view between the two people into perspective!
All servants had this problem, including those working for a wage. This is all focusing on petty issues instead of starvation, sickness, beatings, etc.
@@robinlillian9471 It was the subtle change in words. To the white mistress, the Black woman was simply a servant. But to the Black slave, thw white girl was her enslaver.
@@robinlillian9471 This is so true. It is like being a bird in a golden cage. Ppl in this modern day can find themselves "enslaved" by $ and the power dynamic being heavily on the employer's side. Jobs pay enough to lure ppl in but not enough that one could save and get out with a healthy nest egg. Necessitating decades of service to the employer.
Some oppose CRT while venerating founders' faux heroic stories to the same effect. The selected history of rich whites is safe from scrutiny, but not the real history of the enslaved.
@@robinlillian9471 I can’t believe you would form a Single Sentence comparing the misfortunes of Enslaved Africans with Anyone working for WAGE$; however small.🙄
There is simply no comparison. Period.
It makes me so sad that the lives of so many people were not documented well…like what happened to this specific maid, how the rest of her life played out. I doubt we even know where she was buried. Every human deserves to be remembered, I’m glad you’re reminding everyone of these people & their lives & making them come to life through your acting.
Literally no one cares about remembering other humans unless they’re your relatives, I don’t care about the slave or the enslaver, they’re literally irrelevant to me. You may call this selfish but like, it’s just how I think, I guess I’m selfish then.
@@Screech911your statement is objectively false though. plenty of people care deeply about remembering people not related to them, whom they’ve never met-celebrities, historical figures, even people who may have just been legends. i care about remembering people i’ve never met. you don’t have to, but the way you barged in to assert that no one could possibly care… you sound like an edgy child, which you probably are tbh
@@EF5Winds idk, my family tree is really well documented. We can trace them back before the 1600s.
@@Screech911 “literally no one cares“ isn’t true, I care, the woman who made the video cares, & many of the people watching this video
@@DearPacificDay3 Valid, but I guess I still don’t care.
Compliments to the cook’s performance when speaking to the “mistress” role. Black men had to be REALLY careful around and when talking to white women. If you notice in the video, he doesn’t even make eye contact.
Also, complements to all involved here. You showed the nuance and truth of the situation. You portrayed the mistress as being courteous whilst also being sure to detail the one sided power dynamic that existed. It really emphasizes the reality of what it was like for enslaved persons most of the time.
How things change, they sure don't have that problem today.
If you think this cleaned up "I better be careful not to make "them" look bad so let me not show the real shit" version of Slavery is showing the truth then you should be ashamed of yourself.
@@pafena look up Emmett Till
Imagine how terrifying it was knowing that even eye contact (misconceived as something more) could sent you to your death. It’s just disgusting to know that this literally happened. Enslavement was real. It was here. It was absolutely disgusting.
@Dorothea Mack are you insinuating that bw should be subservient to ww? Such entitled lazy jealous ppl. Shouldn’t have thought you could enslave ppl and not have to bear the price for being inhumane. That’s ok karma coming soon. Right here now in fact. Enjoy.
the self control it takes to not rip your enslaver's hair out of her head is beyond me - it's so sickening, how this horror was so casual and normal
people didn't know any better.. on top of that they would probably be killed or at most tortured if they even tried anything.. the fear that was in them must have been unreal
It happened though. There was always rogue enslaved black people. Couldn’t help it. Everyone’s personality is different. Always a hot head.
AND PEOPLE LIKE YOU NEED NOT BE REMINDED...ENFORCING MORE HATE!
That is just etiquete of working for a person in a close relationship. Is normal.
Let's not forget that history shows how unkind was the slavery problem that many black people in Africa helped in the capture of their own nationals for profit knowing they were bound for America. Lastly were the ongoing battles and constant fighting between all the powerful kings and leaders of that time where the victors would win a battle and enslave all the losers of the battle. This happened all the time.
The 'one-sided relationship' really hit me hard, something I knew about but neglected to really /understand/. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thats also how they are now as well
That's normal. I have service in my house and while they know were you live (obviously), your timetables, what you eat, they know your friends (because they come home to visit sometimes)... you don't know theirs. Some jobs are just like that. I am a doctor and I know my patients' lives, relatives, hobbies, jobs... things like that, and they don't know that kind of information about me.
@@elenavs8703 That's not the kind of relationship being discussed here. This goes beyond the knowledge you have of your patients. Also, your relationship with your patients is built on mutual trust and respect, and most importantly is /voluntary/. These women had no choice, certainly no respect, and the trust was one way and only there because if the black woman broke her mistresses trust the consequences could be deadly.
This was probably mostly the case but probably there were some that did become close and cared for each other as well. My great grandmother I am told had a mammy growing up. She married "down". But that mammy was more like her mother. I have seen letters written from her "aunt Sallie" long after "freedom" and the bond was very strong til her passing at a younger age. AUNT sallee traveled and came to her funeral, grieved very hard for her. They loved each other almost as a mother and child..., beyond what the laws of the land said or what people thought of it etc.
The institution of slavery was pure evil, and wrong. But not everyone white was mean and soulless.
@@elenavs8703 she's talking about white women.
It's great to see these young actors honoring those from the past who lived this every day of their lives. Makes me appreciate modern times all the more!
The lightness with which the mistress speaks to the enslaved maid is terrifying to me, I can't pinpoint the reason, but being able to be so familiar and chill with a person she's physically ENSLAVING and she has the potential to further abuse at any point is just scary. (No harm meant to the actress of course!! She portrays the dynamic very realistically)
Yes, at one point when we couldn't hear her, I could imagine the filmmaker saying, "Make sure you show no signs of any concerns or worries, just chat away as if this were your friend and not a person whose labor you are receiving for free because you and your husband hold power over her very life."
RIGHT! It’s kind of eerie… like at one point I was expecting her to accidentally prick her with the pin and for her to go off on her!
Read the book Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim. It highlights how weird the mistresses mind was, often due to naivety initially and then evil as she learns more about how a plantation is truly run. Good book. Simple read, but good.
When I was reading Huck Finn in high school we talked about Huck's relationship with Jim, and how even though Jim was an adult and essentially was taking care of Huck, Huck (the 13yo hormonal white boy) could turn Jim in and get him killed at any moment. Even though on the surface their relationship seems friendly, Jim never really has the option of angering or disagreeing with Huck.
It's super fucked, man
You're so rigth. Have yoy ever seen Merlin BBC series? Gosh in that show it's clearly depicted how slavery worked in the past. It's terryfying. The worst thing is they romanticize those relationships! In the show they ended being best friends but one was born to rule, the other or cleaning and peeling potatoes. I love the show but now I can confirm why I always felt triggered when seeing them misstreating their servants 🥺 After all it's a British production 🤦♀️ Once again, they reinforce the idea of being in a royal house was such a privilege.
Love the swap of "owner" for "enslaver," really puts it into the proper context. And wow, I hated my former boss and the thought of her having literally the power of life & death over me (and probably at least some of my family) is nightmare-inducing. So glad you're giving a voice to the enslaved people who lived that terrible reality.
Yes, I agree! "Enslaver" is a more active word- it points out that these people are actively making other people their slaves, rather than just being owners or masters in a cultural system. Holds them accountable for not freeing the people they held as slaves.
Let's not forget that slavery still exist in 2021 in some countries, very sad, activists should concentrate of those countries as they need it!
@@NoirVelours true, not sure if you're talking about slavery in general or black slavery happening in North Africa, but both need to be addressed
@@6_blocks_under THere has never been a period when Africans have not enslaved other Africans.
@@NoirVelours Yes in Dubai they still do exist
I never understood how people could claim that enslavers were kind and formed friendships with their slaves.... Then why didn't you free them and fight for the abolishment of slavery?
I suppose one could say some were “kind”, but definitely not kind enough to give up the benefits they got from owning a human being. It’s depressing how often the idea of some slave owners being good people is pushed. No matter how kind they may be, they still own another human being
I believe its a mix of ignorance, religion and culture of the times. I’m sure there were very evil enslavers and some others who were kind, however slavery is a crime.
Cognitive dissonance
Money. They were valuable. 🤢
It is kind of a reverse stickholm syndrom. Like knowing deep down its wrong but making it right dor the enslaver himself by telling themaelves "I said something nice while she served me and I didnt punish her for tripping with my plate. I am good to her. Yes I really treat her well, like a friend. Yes she is not here because I force her but because I am a good owner. We are friends."
Thank You thank You Thank You! I’m a product of sharecroppers and slaves, I’m now 70 years old, and you have given me a wealth of education that my relatives refused or could not talk about. You are appreciated.
Wow just watching her get dressed was exhausting. Can't imagine doing that everyday and all the pins. >_
yeah i was surprised by the pins too - i've worked in theatre a lot and costumes for the era are usually in one piece with hooks and eyes up the back or hooks and eyes holding the front panel on - i don't know if hooks and eyes weren't invented at this time yet but wow that' a really convouted way of getting dressed. imagine sneezing or bending down and getting a pin in your ribs because it bypassed the boning and went straight through your corset! I sew and seriously pins are all over my floor when i try something on - it must have been a constant touch-up job re-attaching your clothes through the day
I was like, dang I need a nap after all that! I kept thinking how many times a day a pin would stick you moving around .
i kept thinking about how long and tedious of a process that is to get dressed but at least the clothes fit quite perfectly to any body !
I have my phone in my bathroom as I'm getting dressed & doing my hair for the day (I love watching history videos on YT). Its 90 degrees right now here in Washington state (we are on east side of state so its a dry climate). But I was thinking how exhausting & pure hell it must of been to wear such layers of clothing & bonnets back then...especially in the humid South! We are truly blessed in our current times as I'm standing in front of a cool fan as I dress.
let alone completely living for another person, dressing them too like that. absolutely soulcrushing
I didn't know that enslavers would talk about their worries to their slaves, but the slaves couldn't talk about their worries back. I always assumed all of the labor to be physical, not emotional. I'm over here like "damn they had to be therapists too?!" 😭
Folks still use retail workers as therapy so i dunno how this didnt occur to you for enslaved folks stuck there.
@@vonniestewart4416 on top of that fact, learning that tipped positions were created as a way to employ black americans without fully paying them made me understand a lot of where the dynamics of customer vs worker in the US come from...
@@vonniestewart4416 1. Because that side isn't usually taught in school. 2. Because if showing emotion is considered vulnerable, then it isn't out of the question for someone to conclude that enslavers wouldn't disclose their emotions to their slaves. Can we at least try to be more understanding of people learning??
during victorian era or you were rich or you were poor: poor weren't allowed to have an opinion, worse if women... keep in mind this, now our lives are amazing and better not say "they treat us as slave". during victorian era europeans kids were working full days in mines and many died like that... what she was doing was an avarage day of a poor person in victorian era, she was poor since the alternatives were horrible like working in mines.
Is not saying black community doesn't have the right to protest, they got it, but please remember this video is showing the best job and this video is showing what an avarage poor girl in europe did if she was luck... the alternative was working full day in factory risking daily the life or in fields... i'm saying this for debbug myths. The closest thing you got are the Amish, but isn't the same people... Amish were the poor living good in victorian era. People dreamed to live like Amish.
As a white person, I am incredibly thankful for being able to see these accounts from a black person’s point of view. I was educated on “American History” through out high school and college and ALWAYS from white revisionist points of view. I went to a blend of public schools and private Christian schools and in fifth grade at a very conservative Christian school in the south I was even taught that enslaved people were thankful for the guidance that they were given by their leaders. I can’t imagine the courage it takes to stand up to that kind of silencing of your own history and that kind of dismissal of humanity. I hate what we are taught in traditional text books because I believe we all know better than that. We all know that treating people like objects and oppressing them is wrong and OF COURSE they were not thankful participants but the people that write the history books and approve what is taught in school are purposefully trying to hold on to that kind of terror. I feel like I don’t have the right to say very much, except for thank you for your voice, and I really hope that voices like yours take over the narrative because that’s what we so desperately need.
I think the abuse is not linked to the color of the skin, but to the power that people have over you (mainly economic power). Thru history there have been slaves all over the world of all colors, races and nationalities, of all genders and ages....not only black people have been enslaved. Let's don't make this huge world wide problem ONLY ABOUT SKIN COLOR...if we are looking to bring attention to this problem let's show it for what it is.
I'm not making any less of the slavery problem for black people....but honestly....NOTHING HAS CHANGED....if anything things have gotten even crazier....JUST ASK AROUND TO ANY OF THE PERSONAL ASSISTANTS OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS.. (and I am not black)...
For reasons of confidentially agreements I can not disclose the names of my former "employers"...but I can tell you that for 4 years....my life was very similar to what you show as the life of this enslaved woman. And not only I had to take care of almost all the same things that this lady had to....but also in a few instances I had to drive doctor's in to my employer's house to care for her after the beatings her STILL TO THIS DAY husband gave her. I had to shield her from harm as much as I could sometimes even with my own body and be at the receiving end of mistreatments from her husband for these reasons. I also had the responsibility of DOING ANYTHING SHE WANTED ME TO... from buying her clothes and have them fitted, cook for her, arrange meetings, handle her calendar, wear her new shoes to make them soft, take her children to school when she was on TIME OFF from the beatings so they would not know what was going on...I mean...you will not believe the things I had to do for this lady...so much so I was starting to have mental problems myself...so I decided to quit for my own mental health.
THANK GOD I had the option to quit...not without threats that I will never find employment anywhere else and that i will leave without a reference and that sort of thing. This is what the slaves of all races, ages, genders etc do not have the chance to do...I wish this could also be part of the conversation on your channel.
I really wish we made this conversation a bit more inclusive and really talk about slavery in all its forms...because with all due respect THIS ISSUE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE, it concerns everybody, in all countries, all nationalities, all skin colors, all races, all ages and genders.
Your'e so funny. Did you cut and paste what you wrote? It comes right out of a book.
Any time you want, you can start paying reparations to your nearest black person. Let us know how that goes.
Not leaders demons.
@@iwokeuplikethis3589 agreed
@@JonFrumTheFirst oh honey you are jealous that I have good written communication skills, that’s called education, and you should try it some time, that angry white supremacist schtick looks real bad on you, it’s like you want to be condescending but don’t have the vocabulary.
You are a really talented historical interpreter. You dont bring politics in, you present accurately and informatively, you dont talk AT your audience but TO them. As a budding historial interpreter myself, I am humbled at how well you have presented. Well done!
Imagine having to be with the very woman who helped brutalize your family all day long. Having to sit there and listen to the awful things these people say and not being able to speak up out of fear. 🥺🥺😥😥
I’d be dead- I couldn’t be in their house and not think of killing them somehow. I know my own and I’d crack kill them all in their sleep. I couldn’t be no slave. They’d have to kill me. Not sorry.
Sounds like Russia
Can you pls explain why she cant leave
@@ihatebts4866 obviously it's because she was a slave.
@@ihatebts4866 black people couldn’t leave their enslaver without taking a huge risk. they would be tracked down and returned, just to be beaten for escaping or killed.
I really appreciated the call out that an enslaved lady’s maid had to practice an early form of code switching. Such an eye opening way of looking at her experiences-and it made realize just how old that concept really is.
yes, and pointing out that she had to be educated and competent but not intimidating
@@j.wa.1061 - Exactly. This still goes on today. In the workplace, you must be educated and competent enough to do your job. But don't come across as "too intelligent" or "too outspoken," lest you be labeled uppity or an angry Black woman.
That also blew my mind a little. Code switching started with the slaves in-between.
I have never heard that term before.
@@Kindred04 I think this is true for all women. I experienced that in a job not long ago.
I've always been uncomfortable with "owner" and I've always put it in quotations because I don't think a person can own another person, like mothers don't even own their children. I don't know why I never thought to say enslaver but I will now. Much more appropriate word.
Agreed. It’s a better word. But I have to say, as someone who has been treated as a thing to be owned by their parents... saying “owner” came way too eerily easily for me to say as a child...
Imo both terms are fitting and uncomfortable
@@jacopieterse8363 You're acting like the word is the same as the concept. I clearly explained how I felt about a word, and never gave my thoughts on slavery itself, so I don't understand what your point is.
It's both and u r supposed to be uncomfortable as none of this shit was right of course. So if u feel uncomfortable that is the feeling u should have. Saying our ancestors were owned and enslaved are the terms that should be used. Call it what it is.
Where I was raised the enslavers were called Masters. A more direct translation would be Sir but it doesn't portray the level of respect that's brought with it in my native language. Unfortunate how they're still referred to with those terms.
I always found it so confusing how during this time period, enslavers would have enslaved people, cook for them, dress them, live with them yet still saw them as subhuman despite constantly being in close proximity to them and clearly entrusting them with such personal tasks.
They came up with a large variety of reasons to justify it; they said that black people were naturally meant to be enslaved to white people and even enjoyed it
My thoughts
Many ppl back then told themselves they were doing the person who was enslaved by them a favor, for providing them a place in society and a job and food. Basically they thought they were humanitarians, since they believed that nonwhite people didn't have the capability to build anything for themselves. And of course, when you get used to that level of convenience and service your whole life, it is very easy to look away from the ugly parts of that arrangement.
they couldnt have had souls, point blank. no person with a soul could be so close and yet so distant with people.
That’s because they dehumanised them so bad to the point that even the idea of black people making their own decisions or having their own feelings never crossed their minds.. they always saw them as different and inferior, and anything they did was considered bad or savage.. but if a white person did the same thing, it’s normal or justifiable..🙄😬
Even till this day.. the method of dehumanising people still exists.. they need to strip groups of their humanity so that anything they do to them is justifiable and no one bats an eye or questions it.. because in your mind.. they’re considered “bad” or “savage” people so they “deserve” what’s happening to them.. it’s honestly so sad..
The algorithm brought me here.
My interest has kept me here.
💯
same!
Facts
Same
Thank you for making this! As an archaeologist I get sort of sad seeing how much focus by the general public is placed on the big names, while enslaved people especially were the ones doing all the labor behind the scenes to make those "majestic" scenes of collective imaginations possible.
Ditto! "Popular" history (i.e. what we see in film and on tv) has a habit of glossing over the working class, be they free or enslaved. It is always gratifying to stumble across works that acknowledge and explore the experiences of the majority of humanity, rather than just the rich, famous, and powerful.
Extremely informative, albeit the heartache and melancholy that certain phrases such as "Fick made clothes she could never wear, makeup she could never use" induce, it's needed and very important that we hear them. Videos like these are full of empathy in just the right places.
The parallel of the enslaver having help getting dressed, changing outfits, having her hair done and the enslaved person having to dress themselves and care after their own hygiene with little to no access to amenities is so striking… enslavers really exploited every little bit of an enslaved person’s life, health, humanity all so they could live the laziest of lives. Absolutely abhorrent.
My past life... 😢
@@honeybadger8942 I'm African and yeah It's true that this is your past life, but the reason we see this kind of video nowadays is to prevent such a horror from happening again. Instead of crying over the horrors that happened, we should think about what we can do so that future generations do not have to witness atrocities. No matter what race you are and what role they played in this history, don't feel hatred or shame, it won't change the past. I know it sounds like a stupid dream but I also know that we can do damage control, it's up to you.
So let's stop the hate ✌🏾
@@celiaedvin2441 "Enslaved"?! As being ENSLAVED in Africa from other uncivilized African tribes? What a terrible thing, to be an "Enslaved Lady's maid" in the most advanced an civilized country in the world, living rent free, with free food and clothing, instead of being a slave in the most horrible place on earth of that time.
Happened in upper classes in society all around the world
@@celiaedvin2441 No,my dear I'm a Christian,I've already forgiven my oppressors a long time ago and moved on with my life.No hatred in my heart,only love for my Saviour Jesus Christ and my fellow brethrens.
Being able to read other people's emotions and anticipate their needs is often a trauma response, meaning that it's a skill developed in effort to survive, whether physically or emotionally. 😢
@@nancyanderson2032 yes but when you're being abused from such a young age (or in this case terrified of white people) you become so hyper aware of what those people do, facial expression and tone when they speak and body language.
You can develop this skill not because it's a job requirements but since all the abuse and bad treatment you got it.
@@nancyanderson2032 paid more???
@@nancyanderson2032 there were enslaved and owned. I dont think they were paid, Nancy...
I tought everyone could....
@@vikingdogmanship everybody can, but as someone said further up, being in a situation in which a single slip-up has extreme consequences causes you to become hyperaware of every change in mood of the people around you. She would have to walk on eggshells because of the position she was in. I can't even imagine how horrific it would be to be expected to appease people who literally own you and can do whatever they want to you if you upset them
So strange how they had such intimately physically close-relationships with each other, but yet the slaves were treated so poorly. It’s mind boggling.
You can see the same complete cognitive dissonance in how a lot of Jim Crow era segregation laws were ostensibly based on "hygienic concerns" that Black people carried diseases, all while Black people were exploited as cheap resources in janitorial, childcare, and domestic labor positions that would obviously have exposed white people to those same )imaginary) diseases, keeping Black people away from swimming pools, water fountains, and other public facilities meant for white people. Obviously there was no scientific or public health reason to continue segregation, so it's genuinely baffling how many people would happily hand their kids off to a Black housekeeper for the afternoon while adamantly defending laws that kept Black people from "contaminating" the white public restroom.
Fr.
Not rly it happens now, obviously not in that level of seriousness, but there are friendship dynamics like this
I broke your 444 likes
they generally were not treated poorly , many employees of this day Are treated far worse than slaves were then.
Damn to be wearing all that layers of clothes for hours while working is a nightmare
Slavery is, and always will be, one of the most disgraceful acts humans can do to each other. Every person is born free, we must never forget the past and continuously work towards a brighter future for everyone 🇬🇧
Slavery still quite common in Africa and Asia.
American Slavery* that’s why reparation are still OWED. For this, Jim Crow, crack epidemic and now this LGBT agenda co-opted as BLM
@@thegall7437 Which countries in Africa??
Dubai was largely built by slaves and there are sex slaves being sold in the Middle East every day. There are pictures of modern day slave markets in Africa with people being hung by their feet. Wealthy arabic families sometimes have slaves from poor asian countries. Even in China, women are sold to single men in order to become their wives. People in the West, especially Americans, often times have no idea how lucky they are.
We need more heavy weapons and sanktions against moskovia
Thank you for helping teach underrepresented histories. As a side note, the blue printed fichu is beautiful!
I think that fichu is a Burnley and Trowbridge item: burnleyandtrowbridge.com/collections/neck-handkerchiefs-shawls
Remarkable portrayal. Beautifully made as well.
Both ladies’ outfits were beautiful. Very nicely done.
I was intrigued by the ladies' outfits on the whole. Is this truly how those dresses worked, with pins in the front portions?
@@sassybaby2u Yep! Lots of pins, since buttons added bulk and zippers/velcro weren't around yet as flatter alternatives.
I have to say, seeing these scenes acted out in front of us as an audience raises questions I’ve never thought to ask before. The dynamics of these relationships must have been so insanely complex within the context of a horrifying system of subjugation.
You are sad. You never saw Roots? You never have known the truth? This is new to you? What does that say about your character? People were brutally separated from families. Mutilated. Killed. Imprisoned to serve other "humans." Who are you?????
It’s really not that deep. They were maids and given living quarters. No different than what is going on today except today is worse. You can’t even live in a house on maids earnings.
Comparing maids today to enslaved people back then is just ignorant. Being a maid is a job and no one who is a maid was forced to do so, whereas back then enslaved people were forced to work. Not to mention how horribly they were treated. People of color have went through this for centuries.
@@anitadrink5255🤨
it was completely different the living was horrid in todays standards and the treatment was subhuman but people who could barely articulate themselves just see it in comparison to having literally 0 it was bad and you could get killed or raped or beaten for anything at any time...lets not start with the breeding farms. my great great-great-grandmother died in/. BECAUSE slavery my great-grandmother died 2 years ago it WAS THAT BAD@@anitadrink5255
I love that you bring history alive in your videos! The background music when you talk is a little to loud though . It makes it hard to hear what your saying.
I myself have always loved history, but when I was talking to my husband earlier he told me that if history had been taught to him in the way that it's presented now, his love for it would have started much much earlier. Thank you for your wonderful presentation of a terrible era in our history.. and for the wonderful presentation of something that is often too contentious for people to openly discuss
This was so interesting! Especially the part where you talk about the additional emotional labour that an enslaved person was forced to do by acting as the enslavers "friend". And I never heard anybody talk about that. Very well done video!
yeah that really stuck w me
Servants of the time were never "friends" the idea is ridiculous, there was a strict class structure.
@@snowflakemelter1172 Yes, that’s why they were forced.
@@Jocelyn_Jade they went friends or expected to be in the first place, they were servants.
@@snowflakemelter1172 thats why he/she said "friend" in """""""""""""".
I wonder if my great grandma’s - grandma was a lady’s maid? The way my great grandma kept her house was like something you’d see in a museum. The plastic on the couch, the curtains always pressed and absolutely NOTHING was out of order ! This video makes me wonder who were my ancestors enslavers and what were their duties?
Oh god, the plastic on the couch? Many ppl do that.
I wonder the same thing about my family.
@@oceanbreeze8456 LMAO 🤣
My grandmother was the same way and she was a house cook at 13.
I traced my mom’s father’s (granddad) lineage back to 1865 using US census records and saw that they were generations of enslaved field workers. Maybe try to see if you can trace back your lineage using US census records from ancestry.
I even found my grandfather could barely write and that was roughly in the 1940s
I love that this video tells us about a specific enslaved person and calls her by name, instead of just talking about enslaved ladies maids in general. We don’t know much about the lives of most individual enslaved people through the centuries, but we should use what records we have to honor their memories as much as possible. Now I will remember Fick when I think about resilience, resourcefulness, and what freedom means.
I never realized how much historical clothing utilized pins
No velcro, no zippers, no eslatic, no stretchy fabric blends, only buttons which were time consuming to make by hand and more expensive than a pin and not ideal for areas you would want to lie smooth such as the chest area.
Just ties, pins, buttons
@@TheMariemarie16 that sounds like my kind of fashion! I hate sewing fasteners of any kind
And so many useless layers.
I've always been concerned over how complicated clothing used to be. The richer you were the more time you spent getting dressed. Why? Life sucked enough, why make it harder with complex clothes.
@@Crazt They didn't know any other way.
There were no bras so the corset was a bit of a precursor to the bra.
Most skin had to be covered to maintain decorum so long dresses were necessary.
It would have been improper not to wear peticoat and other underwear because you had to perhaps walk alot, be helped into high cabs, scrub floors, you didn't want all of your goddies to expose if a strong wind blows. There was no panties either.
I don't think that clothing was made super complicated back then ( Excluding the outrageous layers of the super wealthy's fancy dresses) , I think that we have made clothing very casual and barely there now.
I really like a lot of the words used in this. Like saying "her enslaver" rather than what I often heard in educational materials growing up which was "her owner". It's a huge improvement. It holds the enslaver more accountable and shows that no human can rightfully own another human. Thank you for this work.
*enslaver (not “slaver”)
@@calisongbird thanks, i fixed it
But they're not enslavers, they're slave owners. The enslavers were her fellow sub saharan africans who captured her ancestors and brought them to market.
I think the word "enslaver" is softer than owner. These human beings were bought and sold. They had owners! I refuse any language usage that seeks to tidy up the evil of slavery.
@@happycook6737 I don't think so. Enslaver connotes someone FORCED another to be a slave. This may suggest the persons enslaved wasn't a slave at all.
It’s weird, cause I could have been born at any point in time, like I could have been a slave or an enslaved maid, like it’s hard to imagine me there back then. I’m serenely glad I was born nowadays
Nobody has control of what skin color you are born with or what time period. My father was menomonee tribe my mom Italian but i didn't choose that nor can I change that. Nor would I want to. We can't change the past but we can heal and change the future.
RIGHT I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT THAT IM SO GRATEFUL
Not slave. Enslaved. It's not an identity but something that happened/ was done to people
It’s crazy to think of, I probably wouldn’t have even existed because I’m mixed (Indian and white) and if I was born in an earlier time period I would be illegal. I too, am very glad I was born when I was.
See, there's my privilege right here. I'm trying to imagine being born in a time when I'd have owned slaves.
this is facanating. i feel like a lot of the time, people want to avoid the awkward conversations about black peoples roles throut history. I'm super grateful you're comfortable putting yourself in this position to help the greater understanding of American history!
I really enjoyed how you followed an actual woman’s story, it made this so much more personal (and it’s heartbreaking that there wasn’t more information about her)
"She knew her relationship with her enslaver was onesided", seeing enslaved persons as individuals has put history in an absolutely different perspective for me. Every single one of these human beings walked a razor's edge between a "kindd" smile from their enslavers, and their unjustified rage, so they really stood on unstable ground on a daily basis.
That's realistic, these aren't just workers, these are people, being held captive against their will and forced to do things and behave in certain ways by their captors, stripped of their dignity, freedom, humanity and self value. This video has shown me people, humans, and I am very grateful for having seen this. I might be a person of color, but I'd never truly known what it was like for these folks a few hundred years ago.
The way she just interacts like their friends and shes just over for tea gives me the same vibes as child abusers with a extreme toxic traits
It's extremely eerie, VERY well done for sure
Fr.
this
Ladies maid makes me think of Downton Abbey and those romantic views of the relationship between the mistress and her maid. But then I realized how awful it must have been to never ever be able to leave, not getting paid and literally being a second class human. Just horrible 😢
It all depended (and still depends) on who you work for.
we are all slaves if you think about it 🤔🙄
Downton abbey had servants not slaves. They were paid and could leaves when they want to. Being slave is horrible
Your'e confusing two countries. Slavery had no legal base in britain itself the ladies in downton abbey are like the ladies you think off, of course in american south it was differant.
"A form of code switching was employed. An enslaved lady had to be intelligent and creative enough to be useful yet docile and meek enough so as not to intimidate and offend." this literally illustrates the work life many black women still experience today. Sad reality.
I said the same thing.
@@samanthaingold9466 I can still hear the phrase "We have to work twice as hard as everyone else." Echoing in my head. (Because not only are we women we were black so that was two strikes against us in the workplace.) That phrase is literally engrained in us and passed down from generation to generation.
I definitely felt that. It hit home.
You’re absolutely right and that’s so crazy
Truth
When you were describing the attributes of an enslaved ladies’ maid I found it so upsetting. Because as a Southern black woman these attributes and flawless code switching are the ideal (debutante) way to be. The fact that our society has internalized these ideals in how we raise our children in modern society explains so much in how we relate to each other.
:(
This is awesome! the background music is a little loud though, and sometimes makes it a bit harder to hear you. Really cool project and excited to see more.
I know it really isn't the same as her voice, but the captions are pretty accurate throughout the video if you'd like to know what she was saying!
Agree with you about the music - it distracts from the marvelous content. Other than that, very well done.
Thank you!
That is very supportive advice, I appreciate constructive communications.
@@eanymeanyminymo Wow!! Someone *finally* showing humble respect to people who *need* to hear this brilliant woman's *VERY* HARD work!!
Hearing impairment isn't a "preference". Some people seem to think it's voluntary, or just a reason to complain, but NAH! It's all about *communication* and *survival* is all.
Thank you so much for responding, acknowledging and hopefully working out the issue for future videos. Seriously, if *you* are on her team, we are BLESSED, cuz you HEARD US!!
Marijean Rue : you should have stopped typing at 'I definitely noticed it'. please examine what racist tropes are and mind the stereotypes.
This was amazing! You guys put a lot of work into this series and it shows! Thanks for making this series. History rocks!
Chaney saying “shaved em off?” And making that “well how bout that” face is my favorite side-gem in this presentation. I wonder how many of my ancestors had to sit there and care for these enslavers and listen to their stupid stories
I mean really. Little Miss Enslaver talking about some dumbshit she thinks is the most wonderful idea at 2 am and the enslaved maid has to humor her every time.
👆🏾This!!!! I was thinking the same thing
While powdering her hair, like "Idk why she wants to look 25 years older. I'll be so glad when her hair turns gray."
@@ThatGirlJD 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@ThatGirlJD It is not about looking older, it is about having something in your hair that keeps it clean-ish (think dry shampoo) and gives texture to make some hair styles possible.
Wow, non-triggering non-traumatizing content about the details of the life surviving under chattel slavery. genuinely thank you.
exactly. people either make it “shocking so it traumatizes you” or so much lacking information, white privilege based writing. etc etc. its so hard to actually get true writings so it’s actually more “real” that’s either less coddling or heavily triggering
@Emerald Woodlands i mean, some children need to learn about this too and immediately describing every traumatizing event and disgusting reality wouldnt do much to teach them, only scare them and most likely they wouldn't learn. so this video would be good for them to learn the truth about what was happening with the traumatizing details until they are old enough to be told the full truth about every little thing that happened.
@Emerald Woodlands keep cherry picking babe 🤦♀️
@Emerald Woodlands sorry if i wasn’t clear, it’s just that some stories like to bait grab people, or coerce it to be more “smooth” to white audience etc. its kind of a hard ball to land, cus like ykno being shown dead bodies as a kid etc etc can scar people even if they are related to such a struggle if u catch my drift.
@Emerald Woodlands basically, it’s hard to put it into words properly. it’s terrible either way and some things like religious superstition etc etc cult shit etc etc could be a use to manipulate the public and such biases. sorry if i am incorrect i HAVENT been completely sober today
History tells you what happened, but often leaves out how it felt happening -- your work is invaluable in bridging the gap between informational knowing and visceral understanding. Thank you and the team for all your work!
Jesus sees you and trully loves you. Even though you may not. He died on the cross so that you and I could have a chance at getting to heaven. Please repent, believe in Him and surrender your life to Him because He can heal you and He understands you more than anyone. I hope you receive this message with a soft heart. Have a nice day
(｡♡‿♡｡)💗.
the fact that those women were forced to be friendly with their enslavers…absolutely awful, this is so important to talk about today, especially when people are so eager to forget and brush it under the rug as simply “something of the past”. thanks so much for sharing
Its still fucking wild to me how this **actually** happened. Like this is shit you would expect to see in a horror book or something, but no, this legitimately happened and some disgusting people still want this to be happening. Thank you for educating, because we certainly don't learn the extent of this in school
That is the very sad painful truth. There are still people who want to see blacks eslaved to this very day.
I don't' really see any proof that any of this "actually" happened.
@@stus2159 what? you don't think slavery actually happened?
@@ashleybiocic4383 Slaves were just workers on contract, they were getting paid and were treated fairly. What I don't believe is the idea that they were held against their will and worked to death while being beat and abused.
@@stus2159 you're joking right?
They absolutely were abused and exploited.
They did not have a contract and they were FORCED to work, hence why it's called slavery. These people were taken from their homes and brought over across the ocean in chains. Their children were born into slavery and the rough truth is that some if not most women were raped by their white "masters".
She had to be “docile” as not to “intimate” or “offend” smh… just like they perceive an assertive black woman today as belligerent or aggressive…..
Same thing that came to my mind 📌
They do that to any women, because men are easily intimidated.
I agree with you 1 million percent
Thats where the stereotype came from
@@audreyhogan8285 black women face that from not only men but women of other races…
Being an enslaved house servant, particularly a close and trusted one, rather than a fieldworker, seems like it could be quite alienating. I would imagine field laborers might be jealous/judgmental of the "cushier" position of house servants, plus as a house servant you're of course physically removed from your peers.
Till this day us Black folk have this mentality. I've always wondered where the hate came from.
House servants were usually light skinned so I reckon they were being judged for being a product of rape by others.
Absolutely. It was the motive behind The Willie Lynch Letter to all enslavers. It was his intent to pit slaves against one another by separating them based on skin complexion, their duties, hair texture etc. It's 300 years later it's still working. Unbelievable. Read The Willie Lynch Letter. You'll be fascinated and disgusted at the same time.
@@mrshappilymarried1 The most truth filled comment I’ve ever seen on UA-cam. 💯
Yes, they are referred as (House Slave) and (Field Slave)... I don't want to use the N-word.
Wow look at all the layers of clothing she had to put on. I like the way you talked about this. Thank you for sharing.
Who in the HELL gave this magnificent educational content a thumbs down??
People who deny/don't like the trutth.
Me so I could see the awfl seethe
We know who😒
The racists
The enslaver apologists
Some trolls who think it's funny to mock other's pain because they don't know how to grow as a human being and its the smallest bit of fleeting enjoyment they can receive to fill the void in their hearts and lives that they most likely made themselves
Etc.
People who still turn a blind eye to the dark history of our nation.
This is the first time I've heard the term "enslaver" used instead of "owner." That speaks both to my ignorance and the bias of my education to date. Thank you for taking the time to education people like me. Thank you thank you thank you.
Agreed, my history teacher also uses language that sugarcoats slavery, it’s so stupid, the us’s educational system is highly flawed, bordering on dysfunctional.
If the mistress was an enslaver, does that mean the slave was a free person before this mistress acquired her? I always thought they became slaves the minute they were captured in Africa. And I don't think this mistress was the one who started the ensaving process.
@@karapalin The phrase applies not just to the people who put this woman into slavery, but the people who kept her there day after day and year after year. The mistress may not have put her in slavery but it was a structure that she maintained and benefited from. Enslavement is not just to take a person as a slave, but also to keep them there.
I don’t about other ppl or where you’re from but I’ve always heard “slave owners” or “enslavers”
@@sydneyd2094 I've always heard "owners." That seems more benign to me. Like owning a car or a house. You bought a thing and that the end of it. "Enslaver"to me denotes an ongoing decision to keep someone as property. It is more honest about what was going on at the time.
i appreciate how this video emphasizes the VERY one sided relationship between the enslaved, and the enslaver. it’s all too often that these relationships get unrealistically romanticized.
Thank you so much for this! Just discovered your channel! As an African born and bred in Africa, this was insightful. It existed in Africa as well, but people were employees. The caveat was that Africans and all blacks could only qualify for certain jobs, skills and experience. Reading about this and seeing the demonstration is so different, so much more powerful! Movies come close in depictions, they just lack the focus, so this is incredibly insightful! Thank you 🙏💜
Yes, actually no one mentions that it happened among the African people, as well, they were enslaved by their superiors, to regret, of course, too.
Can I just add to the compliments of how extremely well acted this is? Obviously it’s not the same thing at all, but as someone with an abusive dad I so appreciate all the nuances shown here. There’s no violence shown, the mistress is never even rude, but that’s not what makes this so insidious. Extremely well done and I learned a lot, especially as a non-American!
Yess, I like how the video knows that the audience is smart enough to understand how cruel all this is even without showing physical abuse
Imagine having your daily struggles and having to worry about that other person on top.
"I hope they are in a good mood" takes a whole new meaning
I felt this comment
Overwhelming.
It's a similar relationship to that which occurs between an abused child and a narcissistic "parent", if you think about it.
As someone who was raised in the southern United States, specifically South Carolina, I had never heard the term “enslaver” used before, only “owner.” I’m 33 years old, and I am ashamed that this is the first time I have heard someone use this language to describe the dynamic. I will definitely be using this in the future. Thank you so much for educating me and others that were failed by a southern education system.
afaik it's new language that wasn't used as such until very recently. An enslaver would have been the person "generating" the slave, i.e. capture, breeding and sale related tasks. While some would pertain that enslavers were mostly black, i.e. the Africans capturing rival tribes for sale to the Europeans, I think most would agree that enslaver goes further than that and includes shipping and sale as well - as those 3 tasks are required for a person to become enslaved and owned by the final owner. Once the slave had been sold to it's final owner, that would have been considered just the owner or master; he did no enslaving personally, but had enslavers do it for him. It's an interesting change in speech that underlines the power dynamic very well, even if slightly inaccurate.
Of course some owners could be considered enslavers themselves, notably if breeding was encouraged to generate new slaves.
I was raised in MS and all I heard was ‘owner’ too 😢
In school, they called them "plantation owners" (South Carolina Public School System)
Even more appalling considering the term "enslaver" has always bern used in other languages.
Of course. Changing words does change reality. See how it works in daily life.
This reminds me of corporate America workplace, they want you to be efficient, intelligent and forward thinking but non threatening, docile and non intimidating to them - a tightrope of fine “etiquette” of knowing one’s place.
When the topic of slavery came up in history my teacher said: "look to you left. Now, think that that person owns you". On that day my bully of 3 years was sitting to my left and I'll never forget that creepy grin of his. Thinking of people actually being in such a situation and at the mercy of an enslaver gives me the chills. "At least" here in Europe white people enslaved white people, so you had a small chance to actually escape. But in america even if you were actually free you still had to worry about being falsely accused of being a runaway slave.
Didn't Britain have a huge part in the African slave trade too?
@@sunshineyrainbows13 yes, but owning enslaved black people was much more common in the us. It is correct that Britain had a huge part in the slave trade though.
@@sunshineyrainbows13 a lot of countries had a part in African slavery. 90% of the slaves Europeans paid for during that time period went to central & South America, the rest went to the British colonies in North America. Portugal was the only European country to participate in raids, as the European lifespan in Africa at that time was around 6-12 months.
There’s other instances of African slavery outside of the the Atlantic Slave Trade. Most wealthy African countries had enslaved African from central Africa. Mansa Musa I had around 12,000 enslaved people. There were enslaved Africans in Asia & the Middle East.
@@sunshineyrainbows13 I think so? I'm Austrian and there is not much to be found on past slavery in the current sense (white enslaving black) here. We have more of a history of bondage. That is not to say austrians never participated in it. Also with how the borders shifted it is hard to say "my country did it" as what was this country changed every 50 years. So you could say there was slavery because we were governing some parts of now germany and now italy who at some point had their fingers in the african slave trade....
Tl;dr: it's complicated
Lazhuli Yes there were both African and non African, and white slaves etc all over the world actually, and Mansa Musa was black himself. The difference here with Atlantic slave trade is that it is the most horrific one to date, despite the fact that we can consider it being so close to modern era. Another really horrific thing with Transatlantic slavery is as mentioned in the original comment, slaves were mainly if not only black, so all black people were regarded as slaves in America. Their scientists at the time even wrote literature about how the black man is inferior and should therefore be moral to be enslaved by their "superior counterpart". While slaves in other parts of the world hundreds of years prior to American slavery can be freed regardless of skin color and live among other people. Though rare, slaves in other parts of the world have become Kings and Queens or reached other more achievable status in society. I mean there are multitudes of other reasons why Transatlantic slavery was horrible, slaves weren't even considered people really.