Argument

It goes without argument that it was a tough life for any dark-skinned person living in the south during the slave era. Harriet Jacobs was no exception. Growing up, she may have had it easy, but she was simply one of the lucky ones. Eventually, her luck wore out when she was six and she found herself serving Dr. Flint, the ruthless master who assaulted Jacobs violently, sexually, and verbally. Although she was still young at the time, she was not shown any mercy because she was a woman nor fully black. Being a female mulatto was certainly no easier than being any other type of slave.

Jacobs was brought up from a respected family. Her grandmother even had an obituary written about her when she passed away, which was an enormous honor as a black woman. Because Jacobs was not fully black, some may think she had it easier than fully black slaves. However, Dr. Flint definitely gave no attention to that matter and treated her evenly, if not worse, than everyone else. She was frequently beaten and scorned for petty things.

She was also shown no mercy because she was a woman. This is much more obvious, because men did not have to constantly ward off attacks from their masters. Women on the other hand were often being raped. Jacobs directly stated she was attacked sexually. Furthermore, it is presumed her mother was raped as well because she, a black woman, gave birth to a mulatto. Although women were rarely expected to do the physical labor of men, they were still expected to carry their part around the house as well as tend to livestock. Woman certainly did not have it easier than men, and because there was so much women had to look out for, I believe they even had it harder than men.

Evidently, it was hard for both mulattos and women living in the slave era. However, how bad could it be for a person who was a mulatto and a woman? This is one major argument in Jacobs’s novel, and her story definitely proves it was a very difficult life being a woman mulatto. The only thing which protected her was her family, but they were often owned by another person, so they could not help her too much. She relied mostly upon herself, which is why she is such a strong character.

Jacobs never got a rest from the brutality of her owner from the time he bought her to the time she ran away. The time between was misery and she was forced to suffer through it. She had no choice but to endure his torture, but when she was free, she definitely believed it was worth it. The life she had with Dr. Flint was without a doubt tougher than many other slaves’ lives. This was because she was not only a mulatto, but a woman as well. Dr. Flint made her life a nightmare because of these two qualities, but due to her determination, she eventually gained her freedom.

Bibliography

Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston:  Maria L. Child, 1861. Print.

Bibliography

Bellafante, Ginia. "The New Shades of Feminism?” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 November 2013.

Berry D. Channsin, Bill Duke dir. Dark Girls. Urban Winter Entertainment, 2012. Film.

Berzon, Judith R. Neither White Nor Black: The Mulatto Character in American Fiction. New York: New York University Press, 1978. Print.

Black, Jordan. “ASK A SLAVE Ep 1: Meet Lizzie Mae.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 9 Sep. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1IYH_MbJqA>

Drake, Kimberly. “Rewriting the American Self: Race, Gender, and Identity in the Autobiographies of Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs.” Melus 22.4 (1997): 91-108. EBSCO. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston:  Maria L. Child, 1861. Print.

Miller, Jennie. “Harriet Jacobs and the ‘Double Burden’ of American Slavery.” International Social Science Review 78 (2003): 31-41. EBSCO. Web. 12. Nov. 2013.

Samuels, Shirley. The Culture of Sentiment: Race, Gender, and Sentimentality in Nineteenth-Century America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Print.

“Slavery and the Making of North America.” PBS. Thirteen/WNET New York, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/gender/index.html>

 Winter, Kari J. Subjects of Slavery, Agents of Change: Women and Power in Gothic Novels and Slave Narratives 1790-1865. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1992. Print.

 

Black Women and Colorism

Themes of race and gender in Harriet Jacobs’ writing still have a strong presence in American society. Jacobs’s life experiences and struggles were a result of social views on blacks as well as women during that time. In today’s society, black women still face hardships that were present throughout the time of Harriet Jacobs’s writing. One of the issues that Jacobs discussed in her writing was that of being a mulatto. She wrote in her narrative that her life as a black woman was a bit easier than other slave women because she was a mulatto.

During the time of slavery mulattos were viewed as better than blacks because they possessed more physical similarities to the slave owners. In other words, they were whiter than the average slave; therefore they were given better treatment. In addition, when slaves escaped to freedom it was easier for mixed race/fair toned blacks to comfortably assimilate into white society because their features more closely resembled that of whites.

            A person of mixed race or fair skin receiving better treatment than a dark skin person is something that is still prominent in American society. Similar to the time of slavery, people of society today often find black women who are of a lighter skin tone and have more European features are more beautiful than women who possess a more ethnically African appearance. This ideal of mixed race or light skin women being more beautiful is still very prominent in our culture today, and has consequently created division within the black community. This idea of discrimination based on the shade or tone of the skin within a race is commonly referred to as colorism.

In September 2013 D. Channsin Berry and Bill Duke released a documentary about the issue of colorism in the black community entitled “Dark Girls.” This film interviews various black women of different skin tones and compares their life experiences. It also provides historical background and analysis of where these ideals originate from.  The findings of this documentary show how extremely divided the black race is because of the issue of color. Many people who participated in the documentary openly expressed how their shade of black has influenced their lives for better or for worse.

One of the main issues associated with colorism is how black women view themselves. Black women of dark skin tone in this documentary have expressed their grief with believing they are not beautiful because of their complexion. There was even a part of the documentary where a young black girl expressed that she was displeased with her skin color. This shows how deeply the issue of colorism is rooted into black culture.

The “double-burden” of being black and a woman is something that is still a very large issue in modern society. Harriet Jacobs often addressed these issues in her writing and we can see that the issues of her time are still relevant today.

Bibliography:

Berry D. Channsin, Bill Duke dir. Dark Girls. Urban Winter Entertainment, 2012. Film.

Perceptions

          Throughout her childhood, Harriet Jacobs was a naïve slave girl who was not even aware she was a slave until her mother died when she was six. After that, her entire life changed, forcing the realization of her real status. However, through the hardships she faced as a mulatto woman, her development of determination and endurance gave her a greater sense of rebelliousness, which in turn helped her gain her freedom.

Jacobs's determination was certainly what kept her going. She wanted to be free and nothing could stand in her way, besides Dr. Flint. He made Jacob’s life miserable, which only pushed her more to gain her freedom. Between Flint trying to rape her and his overall abusive attitude to everyone who served under him, Jacobs saw Flint as the only person repressing her as well as the only person standing between her and her freedom. If she could beat him, she could be free; she only had to endure what he tried to do to her.

In her early years, Jacobs had a good life, being cared for as though she was a white child, but through a series of unfortunate events which resulted in her being turned over to Flint, her life of ease was erased. Instead, she had to put up with constant brutality and him attempting to rape her. Luckily, she was strong and fought back. Because she was such a strong woman and simultaneously attacked and defended from him, she was able to make it through what he threw at her. She endured all the torturous things he did to her and he eventually gave up.

Her determination as well as endurance allowed her to develop confidence and become more rebellious. She had always wanted to be free, and because of everything she had been through, she certainly felt confident enough to run away. When Flint comes looking for her and is questioning Mrs. Dodge, she says “I have heard her say she would go to the ends of the earth, rather than pay any man or woman for her freedom, because she thinks she has a right to it” (Jacobs 297). Evidently, Jacobs feels as though she truly deserved her freedom and was not willing to pay anyone for it. She certainly deserved freedom by everything she went through to attain it.

Harriet Jacobs was forced through a lot while she was in the hands of Flint, and because she endured everything he threw at her and she was so determined, she eventually did get her freedom. In the conclusion of the book, Jacobs exclaims, “Reader, my story ends with freedom; not in the usual way, with marriage. I and my children are now free!” (302). Obviously, she is extremely happy with her choices and is in no remorse of what she has done to attain freedom. With everything she went through to get there, she certainly deserves it.

Bibliography: 
Jacobs, Harriet Ann. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Boston:  Maria L. Child, 1861. Print.