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Identity

Formerly enslaved man's response to his 'master' wanting him back is a literary masterpiece

"I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters."

GOOD

A photo of Jordan Anderson.

In 1825, at the approximate age of 8, Jordan Anderson (sometimes spelled "Jordon") was sold into slavery and would live as a servant of the Anderson family for 39 years. In 1864, the Union Army camped out on the Anderson plantation and he and his wife, Amanda, were liberated. The couple eventually made it safely to Dayton, Ohio, where, in July 1865, Jordan received a letter from his former owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson. The letter kindly asked Jordan to return to work on the plantation because it had fallen into disarray during the war.

On Aug. 7, 1865, Jordan dictated his response through his new boss, Valentine Winters, and it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial. The letter, entitled "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master," was not only hilarious, but it showed compassion, defiance, and dignity. That year, the letter would be republished in theNew York Daily Tribune and Lydia Marie Child's "The Freedman's Book."

The letter mentions a "Miss Mary" (Col. Anderson's Wife), "Martha" (Col. Anderson's daughter), Henry (most likely Col. Anderson's son), and George Carter (a local carpenter).

Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee


Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jordon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy, — the folks call her Mrs. Anderson, — and the children — Milly, Jane, and Grundy — go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,
Jordon Anderson

Learn more about Jordan Anderson here.


This article originally appeared on 11.03.17.


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Education

Ever heard of 'drapetomania'? Why every American needs to learn about this 'disease'

Dr. Cartwright's 1815 explanation of the "malady" and its "cure" sheds a disturbing light on the "kind" treatment some enslaved people received.

Public Domain

Dr. Samuel Cartwright invented an entire mental illness to explain why Black slaves repeatedly ran away.

If you've never heard of drapetomania, you're not alone. It's a disease that doesn't exist anymore. In fact, it didn't even exist when it was coined, but plenty of people in the Antebellum South believed that it did.

After all, a renowned, well-respected doctor defined "drapetomania"—combining the Greek words for "runaway" and "madness"—as "the disease causing Negroes to run away" in 1851.

Dr. Samuel Cartwright was the first president of the Mississippi State Medical Society and a leading expert on diseases and medicine in the Southern states in the mid-1800s. He was also an unapologetic white supremacist. In a short paper titled, "Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race," Cartwright managed to pathologize the normal human desire to not be enslaved and even prescribed a "remedy" for it.

To be frank, Cartwright's explanation of drapteomania, its causes and its cures is a nauseating read, but it's also an important one. Slavery minimizers often try to argue that "not all masters treated their slaves badly," insinuating that the enslaved person's experience wasn't always terrible (as if being enslaved in and of itself is not terrible). But reading a doctor explain how to cure the "disease" of wanting to escape slavery highlights how even "care" and "kindness" toward enslaved people were often deeply steeped in racism.

I'm sharing the four paragraphs that explain drapetomania in their entirety because reading primary documents is a big part of a full education. (If you want the TL;DR version, it's basically, "Holy blatant white supremacy, Batman.")

Again, this came from one of the most renowned doctors in the American South at the time:


"DRAPETOMANIA, OR THE DISEASE CAUSING NEGROES TO RUN AWAY.

It is unknown to our medical authorities, although its diagnostic symptom, the absconding from service, is well known to our planters and overseers...In noticing a disease not heretofore classed among the long list of maladies that man is subject to, it was necessary to have a new term to express it. The cause in the most of cases, that induces the negro to run away from service, is as much a disease of the mind as any other species of mental alienation, and much more curable, as a general rule. With the advantages of proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many negroes have of running away, can be almost entirely prevented, although the slaves be located on the borders of a free state, within a stone's throw of the abolitionists.

If the white man attempts to oppose the Deity's will, by trying to make the negro anything else than 'the submissive knee-bender,' (which the Almighty declared he should be,) by trying to raise him to a level with himself, or by putting himself on an equality with the negro; or if he abuses the power which God has given him over his fellow-man, by being cruel to him, or punishing him in anger, or by neglecting to protect him from the wanton abuses of his fellow-servants and all others, or by denying him the usual comforts and necessaries of life, the negro will run away; but if he keeps him in the position that we learn from the Scriptures he was intended to occupy, that is, the position of submission; and if his master or overseer be kind and gracious in his hearing towards him, without condescension, and at the sane time ministers to his physical wants, and protects him from abuses, the negro is spell-bound, and cannot run away.

According to my experience, the 'genu flexit'--the awe and reverence, must be exacted from them, or they will despise their masters, become rude and ungovernable, and run away. On Mason and Dixon's line, two classes of persons were apt to lose their negroes: those who made themselves too familiar with them, treating them as equals, and making little or no distinction in regard to color; and, on the other hand, those who treated them cruelly, denied them the common necessaries of life, neglected to protect them against the abuses of others, or frightened them by a blustering manner of approach, when about to punish them for misdemeanors. Before the negroes run away, unless they are frightened or panic-struck, they become sulky and dissatisfied. The cause of this sulkiness and dissatisfaction should be inquired into and removed, or they are apt to run away or fall into the negro consumption. When sulky and dissatisfied without cause, the experience of those on the line and elsewhere, was decidedly in favor of whipping them out of it, as a preventive measure against absconding, or other bad conduct. It was called whipping the devil out of them.

If treated kindly, well fed and clothed, with fuel enough to keep a small fire burning all night--separated into families, each family having its own house--not permitted to run about at night to visit their neighbors, to receive visits or use intoxicating liquors, and not overworked or exposed too much to the weather, they are very easily governed--more so than any other people in the world. When all this is done, if any one of more of them, at any time, are inclined to raise their heads to a level with their master or overseer, humanity and their own good require that they should be punished until they fall into that submissive state which it was intended for them to occupy in all after-time, when their progenitor received the name of Canaan or 'submissive knee-bender.' They have only to be kept in that state and treated like children, with care, kindness, attention and humanity, to prevent and cure them from running away."

Apparently, the idea that an enslaved person might want to escape because they value their own liberty—literally the idea the U.S. was founded on—never crossed the doctor's mind. Clearly, the "Give me liberty or give me death" rallying cry didn't apply to Black people.

But what's most striking about this paper is how grossly manipulative it is. First, the claim that white supremacy is God's will, which is always disturbing to see written plainly, and then the calculations of exactly how nice you have to be to your slaves in order to "cure" them of the "malady" of wanting to run away from you while still keeping them "submissive" and "governable." The dehumanization of Black Americans, even while talking about treating them with "humanity," is striking.

The other big kicker: This was a medical doctor, so a highly educated man. And it's not like he had zero experience or education outside of the South, either—he attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. Often, we associate racism with ignorance, which is a logical (and often accurate) connection. But this doctor's words are a reminder that, for some people, racism is a conscious decision arrived at through twisted, academic-ish reasoning.

It's also a reminder that we live in strange times. We have the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips and all the resources to understand the horrors of race-based chattel slavery in the U.S., and yet we also have state authorities trying to limit what can be taught about slavery in schools. Even when an accurate history of slavery is taught, the idea that runaway slaves were thought to be suffering from mental illness might only be given a sentence or two in a history book. But diving in deeper, seeing where the idea came from and understanding how it was perpetuated by educated, respected members of medical institutions is really eye-opening.

And it's exactly the kind of thing that should not be ignored, minimized or excluded from education about the U.S. and its history.

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Top Splash

It's Black Breastfeeding Week. Wondering why? One gut-wrenching poem says it all.

"I wish I dried up..."

Parenting Decolonized/Facebook (left), Wikimedia Commons (right)

This article originally appeared on 8/28/19

It's Black Breastfeeding Week, a week set aside in the U.S. to celebrate and encourage Black breastfeeding parents.

Some may wonder why such a week is necessary. After all, that's a pretty narrow niche, isn't it? Aren't Black moms included in all breastfeeding awareness and education campaigns? Is there something special about Black people breastfeeding?

The answer is yes, there is something unique about Black breastfeeding. Several somethings, actually, but one reason for Black Breastfeeding Week is summed up in a gut-wrenching poem by feminist author Hess Love.

I wish I dried up

I wish every drop of my milk slipped passed those pink lips and nourished the ground

Where the bones lay

Of my babies

Starved while I feed their murderer

I wish I dried up

So the missus babies would dry up too

And be brittle

So I could crumble them to dust

Return them to the ground

Where all children of my bosom lay equal

- Hess Love

As Parenting Decolonized points out, Black parents have only been able to raise their own children for less than 160 years in America. That's basically two 80-year-old grandmothers living back to back. For most of U.S. history, generation upon generation upon generation of Black families were torn apart. Black mothers were often not allowed to nourish and raise their own babies, but were forced to nourish and raise the babies of their enslavers. For most of U.S. history, Black breastfeeding meant wet nursing white babies, sometimes at the expense of a Black woman's own children.

And when I say "most of U.S. history," I mean that literally. Slavery was the standard for close to 250 years on our soil, compared to the 154 years since slavery was legally abolished (and almost 100 of those years still allowed legal discrimination). The impact of that reality doesn't just disappear because slavery ended and the Civil Rights Act passed.

However, the historical effects stemming from slavery are not the only reason Black Breastfeeding Week is important. Black mothers face higher maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S., and according to the CDC, there are "substantial" differences in breastfeeding rates between Black mothers and white mothers.

Add in cultural and social issues surrounding Black women's bodies, ongoing negative perceptions of breastfeeding, and a lack of representation in the lactation support field, and the answer to the question "Why Black Breastfeeding Week?" becomes apparent.

As Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez wrote on Scary Mommy,

"National Breastfeeding Month, which is observed the full month of August, addresses a few of the social concerns associated with breastfeeding, such as the mental exhaustion, the anatomical challenges, and the lingering stigma. But it doesn't address the ways each of these uniquely impact Black women.

The discourse that developed from Black Breastfeeding Week met me where 'regular' breastfeeding concerns left me struggling. It was a resource that tackled what it meant to nurse in public when your body is already hypersexualized. Black women and girls have some of the highest reports of sexual assault, as society seems to believe our bodies are community property- a message taught during slavery."

I know there will be people in the comments saying, "Slavery ended more than 100 years ago. Get over it." They don't understand the far-reaching effects of historical trauma. They don't understand that centuries of violent oppression followed by another century of blatant, legal discrimination impacts generations, and that the racism at the heart of all of that is still present in the health statistics of Black mothers and infants in America.

This is why Black Breastfeeding Week is needed. For more information, see www.blackbreastfeedingweek.org.

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Heroes

A Black nonprofit got a 6-figure direct payment from someone whose family enslaved people

Change Today, Change Tomorow/Instagram

The non-profit group Change Today, Change Tomorrow got a surprise six-figure donation this week, with a heartfelt message to go along with it.

According to NPR, a white descendant of a Kentucky man who enslaved six people has donated a large portion of their family's inheritance to the organization, which helps Black and marginalized communities in Kentucky, as a form of reparations. The anonymous donor sent a written statement along with the money, explaining that they had recently received the inheritance on their 25th birthday and began looking into the family history to see where the money came from. That search led to the discovery that their great-grandfather had enslaved six Black people in Bourbon County, Kentucky.

"He inflicted the trauma and violence of slavery on six people for his own monetary gain," the donor wrote, "and did not even bother to record their names. Although no amount of money could ever right that wrong, their descendants deserve repayment for what was taken."

The donor is a graduate student who lives in the South but has never lived in Kentucky. Since the donor couldn't track down specific descendants as recipients for the reparations, they decided to donate to an organization that helps Black Americans in Kentucky in general.

Nannie Grace Croney, deputy director of Change Today, Change Tomorrow, said in a press release that the donor was "aware of how hoarding wealth is a huge contributing factor of inequity in this country, they decided that they should give most of it away."


The donor also explained in their statement why they chose to remain anonymous.

"As white people we all unfairly benefit from racism," they wrote. "We have to be willing to part with what was stolen, and do so without expectations of praise or control over how the money will be spent."

The donor also said it was their first payment of reparations, but would not be the last.

The leaders of Change Today, Change Tomorrow were almost in disbelief when they received the message from the donor, until the money arrived by wire.

Andreana Bridges, an administrative associate at the nonprofit, told NPR, "We are very grateful on one hand. But on the other hand, we understand that the work that we do requires this type of investment in order to be sustainable."

Bridges said the money will be used for the people the organization serves, who are mostly Black and low-income. "We don't have the luxury to kind of just sit on it," she said, "so it's literally money that's going to go right back into the community."


The idea behind reparations is that the enslavement and legal oppression of Black Americans has had a lasting economic impact on the Black community, directly preventing the creation and passing down of generational wealth for many. "Reparations" refers to money or other economic settlements meant to repair that damage. Some also see reparations as a repayment of a debt owed to the descendants of those whose labor was stolen to enrich enslavers—and the U.S. in general—for generations.

As Trevor Noah points out, the bigger conversation about reparations is one that Black Americans need to have with the U.S. government. But more and more individuals, churches, and organizations are recognizing how they have benefitted from the historical oppression of Black people and making moves toward reparations themselves. The "who" and "how" questions are always tricky to navigate, but considering how long and how egregiously Black Americans were had economic opportunity deliberately withheld from them (not just through slavery, but through Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, redlining, etc. that followed) the reparation question is worth exploring.

This anonymous donor's reparations offering is just one example of how it can be done.

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