Introduction
For this paper, I will be connecting a chapter by Dian Million (2013) with the one by Ann Cvetkovich (2012) by working through, and from, a particular quote. My goal, then, is to draw a parallel between the treatment and conditions of life as a black American with that of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. That is not to say I intend to conflate the experiences of the two groups, as I recognize them as substantively different. Rather, what I want to show is that the afterlife of slavery for black Americans and the afterlife of colonialism for Aboriginal Canadians is strikingly similar. Put another way, the history of both slavery and colonialism have current political stakes that skew life chances, limit access to health and education,
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However, in this context that would not be practicable. Although all four points regarding the afterlife of slavery (or colonialism) that are made by Hartman are important and valuable, for feasibility purposes I wish to tackle two in particular: access to health and education, and premature death. My aim is to show that the impact of slavery and colonialism are felt to this day, and because of this, we must recognize the current context within its historical …show more content…
One of the reasons I chose to focus on health and education as well as premature death is because of their innate connection. That is, poor access to health and education can be understood as factors associated with an increased likelihood of premature death. Further, in the Canadian context colonization is linked to the “poor health, both physical and mental, substance abuse, suicide risk, and early death” (Million, 2013, 5), of Aboriginal people. For Million (2013), the problem in this particular context is that the Canadian government created a narrative of the colonized subject as a trauma victim
Healthcare systems are microcosms of the larger society in which they exist. Where there is structural violence or cultural violence in the larger society, so will there be evidence of systematic inequities in the institutions of these societies. The healthcare system in Australia is one example—from a plethora of similarly situated healthcare systems—in which the color of a patient’s skin or the race of his parents may determine the quality of medical received. Life expectancy and infant mortality rates are vastly different for non-Aboriginal, Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islanders residing in Australia. The life expectancy of Aboriginal men is 21 years shorter than for non-Aboriginal men in Australia. For women, the difference is 19 years. The infant mortality rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male infants is 6.8% and the infant mortality rate for female infants is 6.7%. For non-Aboriginal infants, the infant mortality rates are 1% for male infants and 0.8% for female infants. Further, the Aboriginal population is subject to a wide-range of diseases that do not exhibit comparatively high incidence rates in non-Aboriginal Australians.
To begin, Wigmore argues that there is an important relationship between slavery and the borders which allowed the slaves their freedom. Wigmore develops this idea by introducing his reader to personal case studies. He provides context by giving a historical as well as personal narratives of runaway slaves. He uses that narrative to than explore the historical laws and amendments that were created on the basis of slavery. In particular, Wigmore looks at two contradictory laws; the Upper Canada’s 1793 antislavery act which “forbade the introduction of new slaves into their respective jurisdictions” and the Jay Treaty of 1794 which “protected the private property of British subjects living in the region prior to the American takeover in 1796, and that such property included slaves.” Wigmore demonstrates through the use of personal stories how these two acts were contradictory and confusing for the habitants of both countries.
This again shows the traumatic effects of residential schools and of cultural, psychological, and emotional upheaval caused by the intolerance and mistreatment of Aboriginals in Canada. Settlers not only displaced Aboriginal people from their land and their homes, but they also experienced emotional trauma and cultural displacement.
Through words such as “plain” (Cary 15) and “concealed” (Cary 29), Cary draws on the audience’s beliefs of holding themselves on a higher platform and stresses that by doing so, the nation should feel ashamed that they are neglecting the existence of others. Essentially, the audience feels obligated in questioning whether the issue of slavery goes against the virtues of human nature because despite the Constitution stating that everyone is of equal standing, there are exceptions. The writer emphasizes how society views the abolitionists and fugitives in “cold contempt” (Cary 43) and draws a connection between their sense of arrogance and the effects it has on those who do not share the same beliefs. Furthermore, not a single newspaper was printed that “… represented the intelligence of colored Canadians…” (Cary 30-31) and taking advantage of this statement, Cary demonstrates that the antislavery cause should be promoted in order to destroy the preconceived ideas that those who are not white are deemed as lowly
Slavery in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted of brutal and completely unjust treatment of African-Americans. Africans were pulled from their families and forced to work for cruel masters under horrendous conditions, oceans away from their homes. While it cannot be denied that slavery everywhere was horrible, the conditions varied greatly and some slaves lived a much more tolerable life than others. Examples of these life styles are vividly depicted in the personal narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince. The diversity of slave treatment and conditions was dependent on many different factors that affected a slave’s future. Mary Prince and Olaudah Equiano both faced similar challenges, but their conditions and life styles
While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.
To understand the desperation of wanting to obtain freedom at any cost, it is necessary to take a look into what the conditions and lives were like of slaves. It is no secret that African-American slaves received cruel and inhumane treatment. Although she wrote of the horrific afflictions experienced by slaves, Linda Brent said, “No pen can give adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery." The life of a slave was never a satisfactory one, but it all depended on the plantation that one lived on and the mast...
A reasonable way of understanding why aboriginal people in Canada are at a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS is to go back in time and revisit a few historical events that left an indelible mark on this population. To exemplify, colonialism, the 1876 Indian Act and the establishment of residential schools and Indian reserves, resulted in the loss of physical territory, cultural values and had a demoralizing and traumatizing effect on the indigenous peoples of Canada that extends to this date (Reading & Wien, 2009). Also deriving from colonization, were the losses of self-determination, power of voice and decision making as well...
Berlin, Ira. Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998.
To begin with, once the policy of assimilation came into effect, Aboriginals were subject to a new environment, resulting in the loss of their culture. It is due to this, that the rates of suicide for First Na...
After colonization began there were countless detrimental changes to the indigenous way of life that took place. Neu (2000) discusses these detrimental changes in detail. The author accounts for the lost of their land and natural environment, the discouragement of their lifestyle focused on hunting and gathering, the separation of families via the residential school system, and the punishment received for the usage of traditional customs and language. In many ways the colonists disrespected the Aboriginal people by disregarding their fundamental needs and wants. Additionally, the process of colonization implemented some drastic gender role changes into Aboriginal culture. Colonization imposed European patriarchy, accompanied by racism and sexism, on the matriarchal Aboriginal cultures. As a result, the Aboriginal women of Canada lost their sense of purpose and responsibility, burdening them with less respect and power compared to the men. This loss contributed to many negative effects for these women and made them feel a strong sense of cultural estrangement.
David M. Oshinsky’s book “Worse Than Slavery” brings to life the reality that faced slaves after the abolishment of slavery. It recounts the lives that these men faced daily and it made me question the humanity of all those who were involved and question how as a society we let this ever happen. From the convicts being leased out to people who didn’t care about their well-being to a life back on a state ran plantation, where life was worse than it was for them as slaves. It showed just how unfair the justice system was for a black prisoner compared to a white prisoner. Their lives were worthless and replaceable and only mattered when they were thought to be worth something to someone.
In order to understand the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal health; it is important to recognize their worldview or set of beliefs on health (Tilburt, 2010). They practice a “holistic” approach unlike the Western Biomedical model where health is centred on biological functioning (Lock, 2007). According to this model the essence of being healthy relies on the mental, spiritual and social well-being rather than the absence of an illness (Hampton & Toombs, 2013). It is closely linked to spiritual and environmental factors; the heart of which is country, tradition and kinship. Land is a source of identity and spirituality for indigenous people (Hampton & Toombs, 2013). Kinship manages connection to land as well as ceremonial obligations and interpersonal relationships (Hampton & Toombs, 2013). For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders a healthy person consists of physical and spiritual elements. It’s evident that colonisation eroded the structures upon which Indige...
The structure of a society is based on the concept of superiority and power which both “allocates resources and creates boundaries” between factors such as class, race, and gender (Mendes, Lecture, 09/28/11). This social structure can be seen in Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” The first pillar of white supremacy is the logic of slavery and capitalism. In a capitalist system of slavery, “one’s own person becomes a commodity that one must sell in the labor market while the profits of one’s work are taken by someone else” (Smith 67). From this idea of viewing slavery as a means of capitalism, Blacks were subjected to the bottom of a racial hierarchy and were treated nothing more than a property and commodity that is used for someone else’s benefit. The second pillar involves the logic of genocide and colonialism. With genocide, “Non-Native peoples th...
The film “Slavery by another name" is a one and a half hour documentary produced by Catherine Allan and directed by Sam Pollard, and it was first showcased by Sundance Film Festival in 2012. The film is based on Douglas Blackmonbook Slavery by Another Name, and the plot of the film revolves around the history and life of African Americans after Emancipation Proclamation; which was effected by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, for the purpose of ending slavery of African Americans in the U.S. The film reveals very brutal stories of how slavery of African Americans persisted in through forced labor and cruelty; especially in the American south which continued until the beginning of World War II. The film brings to light one of my upbringing