Author: a.louke

Briggs, Laura. Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico

Whalen, Carmen Teresa and Victor Vazquez-Hernandez, The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Historical Perspectives

Carol Oja, “West Side Story and The Music Man: Whiteness, Immigration, and Race in the US during the late 1950s.” Studies in Musical Theater

By, PETER K. “Woes of Puerto Ricans in City found Increasing.” New York Times (1923-Current file)Jul 25, New York, N.Y., 1968.http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/118298716?accountid=8500.

By, PAUL H. “City’s 2d-Generation Puerto Ricans Rising from Poverty.” New York Times (1923-Current file)Apr 23, New York, N.Y., 1968.http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/118211815?accountid=8500.

By, PETER K. “Flow of Puerto Ricans here Fills Jobs, Poses Problems.” New York Times (1923-Current file)Feb 23, New York, N.Y., 1953.http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/112606466?accountid=8500.

Option 1: West Side Story

White Zombie (1932) tells the story of a young woman, Madeleine, who has the intent of marrying her fiancé Neil in Haiti, but is transformed into a zombie at the control of an evil voodoo master, Murder Legendre. Charles is a wealthy plantation owner who houses the couple upon their arrival in Haiti, and he is immediately taken by Madeleine. He wants her to leave her fiancé and marry him instead, so he seeks Murder’s otherworldly assistance. The only way for Murder to help Charles is by turning Madeleine into a zombie with a potion. Madeleine and Neil get married but shortly after the wedding, the potion works and Madeleine dies. After her funeral, Murder and Charles dig up her grave and revive her as a zombie. Because she lacked emotion and was non-communicative, Charles felt remorse towards her transformation.

The film accurately depicted the characteristics of zombies, which were a representation of how slaves were. The correlation between zombies and slaves is that they are both lifeless beings; slaves were subjected to their masters’ rules and did not have much of a say in their own lives. In The Magic Island, it says, “The zombie, they say, is a soulless human corpse, … beating it like a dumb beast if it slackens.” (93) This excerpt shows how slaves were conveyed and viewed by their masters. Slaves were basically dead and made to walk and act as if they were alive. Masters abused their slaves and placed difficult tasks upon them. If they were stagnant, they were treated lesser than humans, and had no rights.

The film and the text are both accurate portrayals of slavery in Haiti. Slaves were made to work and endure harsh circumstances. They could not have minds of their own, were dehumanized and essentially possessed no human characteristics.

On Tuesday, November 1st, I visited the African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan. Finding the visitor center wasn’t too difficult, and we had to go through an airport-like security check. The indoor exhibition was interesting and there were artifacts that could be interacted with, which I found eye-catching. Aside from the content given on plaques and on the walls, I also received an informational pamphlet.

The exhibit offered many intriguing facts about Africans in early New York and information about the sacred ground. I learned that in 1626, the first enslaved laborers were brought to the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, today’s Lower Manhattan. When England took control in 1664 and New Amsterdam became New York, slavery codes became far more oppressive, and about one quarter of colonial New York’s labor force was enslaved. From 1626 through the late 1700s, Africans and African descendants gathered when they could to bury their loved ones. The original “Negroes Buriel Ground” covered 6.6 acres and it was the only cemetery for most of the Colonial era. Colonial laws made African funerals illegal; enslaved Africans were not allowed to hold burials after sunset, and they could not gather in groups of 12 or more.

The African Burial Ground closely relates to Brown’s “Icons, Shamans, and Martyrs” from The Reaper’s Garden in that both described the significance of the way the slaveowners treated their slaves. Slave masters went out of their way to try to achieve fear in order to maintain control over the enslaved by using physical force. They also “terrorized the spiritual imaginations of the enslaved.” They harassed slaves by giving them “unbearable workloads, physical punishment, and incessant hunger” which caused the Africans to commit suicide. When the bodies were dug up at the burial ground, it was evident that the Africans were treated atrociously; many of the bodies were of children’s, which meant the survival rate was remarkably low.

Within Atlantic systems of slavery the “dominion of the master had to be absolute…but that absoluteness made the master something other than human as well.”

 

When Colin Dayan says this in Égalite for All, he is arguing that the control of the slaveowners had to be strict and supreme, and due to this conduct, they ended up behaving in such a way that they were perceived as barbaric and demonic. The masters treated their slaves with indecency and in the most inhumane manner, as if they were animals or objects. I agree with this argument, as it is evidently shown in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845). In the narrative, Douglass describes the fright and fear of being a slave. He speaks of one of his two masters, “Captain” Anthony, and recounts him as a “cruel man, hardened by a long life of slave- holding. He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave.” He also states that he was often awakened at dawn “by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood.” [8] These quotes alone shows how beastly the masters treated their slaves, without any mercy or remorse. This argument can also be supported in the Dred Scot Decision, where it states, “It is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration …” As stated from this quote, this shows that the slaveowners brutally treated their “property”, therefore they were seen as inhumane.

 

“When I set that portion at one-third of the net revenue, I assumed that you would work six days a week. You want to cut back on Saturday. From the first, I already told you that you have authority to do this; but look at the results.” (p. 140)

I found this quote from the text particularly interesting, as it is a crucial part of the rules that slaves on the plantation had to abide by. When you think slaves, you think hour-long, back breaking work with little to no breaks, and bad treatment. However, this quote goes against that belief. The text states that slaves were not forced to work, and were basically given complete freedom. If they did not want to work and instead wanted to rest, they could. They could “rest on Saturday, on Monday, every day of the week”, if they wanted to. The African slaves had every right to not work if they pleased to do so, but the only catch was that it was their own responsibilities to be fed and kept in order. The quote above is followed by calculations of how much milliers the slaves would be losing, had they chose not to work. Sure, the slaves had freedom, but if they chose to not work, then no money would be made. This meant they would not be able to support themselves financially, as they would have no share in the profits of the plantation. Polveral makes sure to emphasize to the slaves that they have freedom and rights but he also thoroughly explains the consequences of not working. This may lead the slaves to think about their actions and decide what is better for their well-being, which causes them to work more on the plantations.

“I hear frequent rustlings among the leaves; and being pretty sure they were snakes, I expected every instant to be stung by them.” (p. 50)

 
By this point of the narrative, the atmosphere began to shift into something more foreign and grim. Having been separated from his sister and extradited into parts unknown, the quote illustrates the narrator’s anguish and forthcoming sorrow. Having now finally realized the extent of his desolation at these alien captors, his acclimation to the journey ahead can be best exemplified by the tone of paranoia and fear surrounding the quote. As the narrator continues his account of the events unfolding, he tries to find any semblance of familiarity through the search of his sister. The narrative establishes a clear sense of danger and confusion through the narrator’s journey of slavery, incorporating the emotions tied to the perspective of a slave. The narrative also draws contrast between familial ownership and foreign ownership, and it is in this sense of continuous trade and transition that contributes to the narrator’s sense of endangerment – never knowing the next destination, the severity of his master, and the absence of stability.       

 

“Lord Montezuma, I cannot imagine how a prince as great and wise as your Majesty can have failed to realize that these idols of yours are not gods but evil things, the proper name for which is devils.” (p. 237)

This sentence is prevalent to the context of the story in that it highlights both the Spaniards’ interest in this new culture as well as their belittlement of Montezuma’s foreign beliefs. Within the text Cortez often described these foreign deities with a sense of horror, disgust, or confusion, something that strongly contrasts the testaments that Cortez’s offer for the more normative areas of Montezuma’s assets such as the armories, houses, and aviaries. The importance behind this can be quickly illustrated by the tone shift proceeding the ritual sacrifice. Montezuma regarded the rituals to be sacred, which led him to hold great offense when mocked by Cortez’s captain, who criticized them jeeringly, showing that the Spaniards sees these idols as something blasphemous and almost laughable. The negative connotations associated with Cortez’s testament regarding the small idols and ritualistic objects scattered throughout the text further encapsulates his view. This facet of Montezuma’s culture, combined with the Spaniards’ religious self righteousness, as exemplified through Cortez’s appeal using Adam and Eve as an objective fact, would go on to set the premise for the cultural tension between the two groups.