Was there a scene or a quote you highlighted? Why do you suppose it resonated with you?
One quote from Nella, (115) “I’m not certain there will be a united front of women. There are just as many women who didn’t want the right to vote.” This really resonates with because of our current political culture.
Another from W.E.B. (132-3) There is no better word. How else would you describe anything that was used by slave owners to maintain absolute control over the men they enslaved, knowing that an inebriated man would no longer need physical chains? His bondage came in a bottle. That brown liquid became a long-reaching whip, beating men into submission, removing the threat of that man ever having the desire to be free."
This resonated with me particularly because I see so many of the stratums of our society/culture existing in order to keep people stuck in their place. A silent caste society.
I bookmarked the same scene or speech that Karen_B1 did only I especially noted the conclusion of that statement: “While slave owners held back food, they allowed enslaved men to have unbridled access to liquor”
In all the books and articles that I have read over the years about American slavery, I have never heard that. For that reason, I have to question whether or not that was true or if true, was it true in all or most situations. Even in the book 1619 Project that was not mentioned and I would think that would be a highlight in that book.
From an article on prohibition in Politico:
“Published after he escaped to freedom in the north, Frederick Douglass’ bestselling 1845 memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave, vividly brought the inhumanity of slavery to life for American readers. But less well remembered is that his Narrative was absolutely swimming in alcohol. Time and again, Douglass chronicled firsthand how masters would strategically intoxicate their slaves to keep them stupefied, divided and disorganized. Liquor, he wrote, “was the most effective means in the hands of the slaveholder in keeping down the spirit of insurrection.”
A Google search brought up a ton of other articles on the subject, too.