I have always known that slavery is wrong and that it was abolished later than it should have been. Harriet Jacobs’ narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, as well as Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, made me realize that what I had imagined was nothing compared to how horrible life was for slaves. Although Jacobs hid in the garret uncomfortably for seven years, and was oppressed by her old master, she seemed to have had life easier than most. In the narrative, she said “Christmas was approaching. Grandmother brought me materials, and I busied myself making some new garments and little playthings for my children”. She had never been worked tirelessly, always been kindly treated, she was around her children, she was also under the care of her kind grandmother while others such as Douglas, have been brutally beaten and rarely had the chance to feel loved by family. Douglas and Jacobs, as well as most slaves, were similar in that their masters all broke or attempted to break their minds and spirits. However, they are also similar in that they did not give up hope, and continued to strive and endure hardship in order to gain their freedom.  

Hearing both stories made me question my faith in humanity because how can one person inflict such pain upon another? Not all slaveholders were entirely malicious, but even the gentle ones were eventually taught to treat the slaves with such cruelty as if they were not people, but animals and property. To me, people such as slaveholders are either sociopaths or psychopaths because no sane person would be able to whip another person until they have pools of blood beneath them.

Part 2

Upon research, I learned that modern slavery may not be the same form of slavery as it was before, but it consists of many human rights violations. I learned that if someone is being forced to work, someone that is being controlled or owned by another person, or someone that is being dehumanized, it is considered modern slavery. Human trafficking  and sexual exploitation are probably one of the more severe forms of slavery. One issue that I read about was a woman who held two Korean students captive District Attorney, “The siblings also endured physical and emotional abuse and were forced to work after school at Queens supermarkets and turn over all the money to Park — who told them that they owed her the $10 an hour they made because their mother wasn’t sending her anything to support them”. I learned that the reason that the kids were saved was because of my old high school assistant principal because this very incident happened in my neighborhood.