Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 November 2005 — Page 7

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

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My intake on slavery

By Stephen Robinson Broad Ripple High School Recorder Intern Slavery was a hard time for African Americans. Slaves had to work long hours picking cotton and perform farming duties every day. Whatever their master told them to do they had to do it or be beaten, whipped, raped, or locked away. The master usually carried around a whip that they used to beat the slaves. If a slave would slack off or stop working his master would whip them on the back. There were few strong slaves who would stand up to their masters no matter what the consequences were. These were usually the ones to plan an escape off the plantation. Such a leader and the most

recognized of all is Harriet Tubman. She led hundreds of slaves to freedom. Back in the slavery days there were two different types of slaves. The majority of slaves worked out in the fields picking cotton and farming. Then there were house slaves who stayed in the house and did chores for their masters. If I had been born back then, I probably would not have been a house slave. I'm not the type of person who would be able to do my job well for a person who doesn't like me. Carrying out whatever type of orders the master told me to do with a smile would not fit my personality. The master doesn't even like you deep down in his heart. In his eyes you are still someone who is not worthy of being treated like any other white man. They feel you are beneath them. I think masters were fools. In their minds they

considered the slaves to be dumb. The master did not want slaves to learn. If a slave had a book or someone trying to teach them how to read they would get beaten. They kept slaves down mentally and physically. I feel that because the master didn't understand slaves, he feared them. Because he feared them he would beat them to show his power over them. The master was not alone on the plantation. His family would live in the house with him. The master would have other white men to help order around the slaves. Sometimes even slaves that were the master's friend would help keep the slaves in line. I feel the masters were very disrespectful and too much hatred toward people they never took the time to understand. If I had been born into slavery I think I would best fit out in the fields. I would be able to handle the work because

young 16-year-olds did this work all the time. I would have grown a strong body to be able to work under those conditions. I feel I would be best out in the fields because I just can't picture myself being na'ive, thinking that the master really loves me when I know he doesn't. I would be a hard worker. I think I would have been the one to try to plan an escape from the plantation and gather who I could to go with me. I wouldn't be able to stand all the beatings, wondering when I will eat again, the yelling, and the overall hardship they had to go through. Though I'm glad I wasn't born back in slavery I still recognize and appreciate all the things they did for me to be free.

Seeing the stars

By Alyse Robinson Broad Ripple High school Recorder Intern . - . There is a brilliant I program at 4- I Conner Prairie 1 Museum called I Follow the North 4 I Star, which the I JAWS interns and I attended. When ™ we began our journey late that evening, none of us knew what lay ahead. We would soon find that our entire outlook on slavery would change. When you first arrive you enter a small room to watch a video. This one small film sets you up for the rest of the evening. You are now a runaway slave from the South, who has escaped and entered Indiana in the year 1836. As we left the tiny, well lit room I began to feel different. I knew I was not the person I was when I came here -1 was now a slave. I remember asking the volunteer who started us on our journey, if there would be dogs and real guns. She replied no, they're just sound effects. I was told to meet my master along with the other slaves in my group. The man we met walked out of the darkness and began to

yell,

"Get in a straight line." I was really startled and did exactly what I was told. The man belittled me in every way possible. I was told that I could not, and better not look a white man in the face. One of my colleagues was even threatened. I was then forced down a hill and put first in line to be bought. The line was for women only. We were called breeders. We stood next to the "bucks" or men. I was then asked what I could do. I replied, " I cook sir," the slave buyer asked me what I could cook. I replied "any thing you want, sir." After that response I was pretty much left alone.

We were then put against each other as one of the breeders was called to the front and told to yell at us, "Move the wood!” We did just that. I ran and moved the wood. It was a continuous circle. As we moved the wood to one pile, the bucks were moving it

back.

Two women who didn't want us to be there found us. They didn't like me, but they hid me for fear of being caught. One woman put us in a barn and told us directions, to the home of someone who could help us. The entire time I sat there I was worried. I could hear footsteps outside the walls of the barn. As we left I could really see myself as a slave. Because I feared of being caught and beaten. I felt a total lack of respect and I felt as if I were being made to feel as if I were nothing. I don't think I could have handled being a slave. But during the rest of the journey my mind would change. We were dropped at a road and told which way to go and who not to talk to. There were two signs for people who would help us. One was a red scarf on the fence, and the other was a candle light in the window. And when approaching a house we were never to go as a group, but to send only one person. I chose to be that one, the responsibility made me feel better about my chance to survive. We started walking and we went a couple of feet and we were met by a man and his gun. I was nervous. He started asking some of the people in my group what they did and how much they were worth. He blamed us for the death of his wife. Then he said he needed help, he left us saying wait right there. Big mistake. I knew then it was time to run. I ran until I saw a light ahead of me. Since I and another man stopped everyone stopped. We weren't sure if this person was a friend or foe. We soon heard our safe sign.

“ I am a friend of a friend." The woman told us to come forward, so we did. She pointed to a house up on the hill that contained a Quaker family that would help us. I being the chosen slave to knock on the door did just that. I went ahead of the group to the back door of the house. My heart jumped as I saw the shadow of a man. I ran to the door and almost refused to go back and get the rest, when I found out it was safe. I soon learned the shadow I saw was that of the son in the family. We entered the house and were offered food and were told of the danger of us being here. We were given directions and the son soon was told to lead us to the next house. We didn't make it very far, just to the front of a store. A man who claimed to be a cattle rustler encountered us. He told us to come into his shop where we were then told we were being sold. But he first had to convince the Quaker son to help him. And luckily the son bought him off for $10. That was good for some of us, but not all. One lady was chosen to be left behind. As we left I felt really bad about leaving her there. But we had to move on or we all could have gotten caught. I was in front again, but I was not afraid. Our next house was that of a free Black woman. She talked to us, gave us directions and then sent us on our way. Our final stop was with a prophet. She told me that I made it to Canada and lived to be prosperous. That was the end of my journey. I think I would have made it in slavery. Mainly because I had the courage to stand alone. And I felt totally different after the night was over. I had learned what we as a people had gone through. And I was proud and happy about how far we have come. I would recommend the program to everyone.

A slave’s personality

By Auguste Thompson Arlington High School Recorder Intern

There are many slaves that fell into the masses of oppression, passivity, and submission. African Americans today feel that the personality they've developed in a society of freedom is the same behavior that they would've acquired in a society of bigotry. Perhaps we could explore how our current qualities would've adapted to the conditions of a slave.

• A passive personality in today's society would've made for a slave who got lost in the cotton fields of the muggy South. How can one stand up to that which they are reluctant to acknowledge? The slave owner would've degraded such a person and they would've looked down and proceeded to their daily asks without hesitation.

• One who was assertive would've held steadfast to any dignity that they were exposed to. Strong individuals can be targets for criticism and praise. While they have gained the respect of their peers, they would also bear the burden of the slave owner attacking their integrity and ultimately trying to break them. • An aggressive personality is comparable to that of Nat Turner who led an uprising to rid him of that which he saw as unjust. On the plantation, an individual with an outspoken personality would have been made an example of. If our current personality characteristics are any indication of the type of slaves we would've made, then one would venture to say that the attitude that today makes one say that they would've slapped the slave master, inadvertently is the same attitude that would've made them the muse for Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit." Every African American has the right to freedom as long as it's not taken that way.

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Life of a Slave

By Kree Thompson Lawrence North High School Recorder Intern

ROW, went the shotgun that was only several feet away from us. "Get in a line, all of you lowlife people. Get your eyes down!!" This is how the journey of becoming a slave started. We were treated as if we were nothing and just a bunch of useless people. We were bossed around by different people that we didn't know that expected us to respond by saying, "yes sir/ma'm and no sir/ma'm." First, we had to walk in a straight line to a place where we had to pick up wood from one pile and put it in the next pile, only to bring it back to the original pile. One of the masters turned a slave against the rest of us by making her yell at us by saying, "Move the wood." This was done just to tire us out and break us down. Since we were runaway slaves, nobody wanted to really keep us for a long time for the fear of them getting caught having us. For example, after we moved the wood we were caught by two sisters who hid us in their barn for a little while then rushed us out and led us to a dark dirt road surrounded by cornfields and a brick house. As we were walking down this road, we were stopped by a man who made us get around his fire and started accusing us for the death of his wife. He would spit by our feet and yell at us. I felt very angry and wanted to spit back at him but I didn't. The man left for a quick second telling us that he would be right back, but the minute he did that we ran for our lives. Upon running, we found a woman who gave us a lantern and led us to a house where we could get help. We had to be very quiet and still so that no one else would hear us coming. One person out of the group had to go up to the house to ask for help and say, "a friend of a friend sent me." They had to say that so the people knew that they could trust us. When it was safe, we all went in. We were treated like normal people and were told not to be afraid. These people were

called Quakers. They fed us corn bread and talked to us so we could rest for a little while. We couldn't stay long, so they had their son to lead us on for more help. We were stopped again by a man that had just moved to the town two weeks ago. He ordered us to go into his house and stand against the wall. He wanted to sell us to make some money but the Quaker gave him an offer of $10 to let us go free. He agreed but kept one of our people. We had to leave her behind and as we were walking there was a gunshot followed by a scream, which led us to believe that he had killed her. She ended being at our next destination, which was at a Black person's house who gave us directions to a free county where we could all fit in and nobody would think we are runaway slaves. Before we got to the free county, there was a prophet woman that told us about the North Star and how that would lead us to freedom. Before agreeing on going, she told us what was going to happen to us while trying to make it there. A couple of people tried to swim across a river but drowned and died, some people were caught the first time, but made it to freedom the second time, some people were free without any struggles, and some people got hurt on the way and stayed with a very nice family that took good care of them. We agreed to go and made it out. This experience was so realistic and scary. It makes you really appreciate the time you live in now and to be happy that Blacks are now respected and have rights. People like Oprah Winfrey, Russell Simmons, Jay-Z, and other successful Black people prove this. It was a very sad time during the slavery days. What we went through wasn't even half of what the real slaves went through. They were beaten, killed, raped, sold, and all sorts of things. My decisions wouldn't have been the same if I were a real slave rather than just pretending to be. I don't like how they talked to us and how we were being treated. This mad me angry that those people really thought that they were better than us. Even though it was scary, I am glad that I had that fun experience.