1 / 12

The Plight of tom robinson

The Plight of tom robinson. White male anxiety over black male sexuality pre and post reconstruction. Tom Robinson. What has he been accused of? Why is this a big deal? Why were black men so frequently accused of this?. Let’s start at the beginning. Slavery

dyan
Télécharger la présentation

The Plight of tom robinson

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Plight of tom robinson White male anxiety over black male sexuality pre and post reconstruction

  2. Tom Robinson • What has he been accused of? • Why is this a big deal? • Why were black men so frequently accused of this?

  3. Let’s start at the beginning • Slavery • The first African slaves were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The English settlers treated these captives as indentured servants and released them after a number of years. This practice was gradually replaced by the system of race-based slavery. As servants were freed, they became competition for resources. Additionally, released servants had to be replaced. • This, combined with the still ambiguous nature of the social status of Blacks and the difficulty in using any other group of people as forced servants, led to the relegation of Blacks into slavery. • Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery in 1641. Other colonies followed suit by passing laws that passed slavery on to the children of slaves and making non-Christian imported servants slaves for life.

  4. Africans in America • Differences between Africans and Anglos were pronounced. This led to • Hyper sexualization • High need to assert power/dominance • When slaves were sold in auctions after arriving on ships, how were they displayed? • What was valued in women? • In men?

  5. The Auction block • The slave owner's exploitation of the black woman's sexuality was one of the most significant factors differentiating the experience of slavery for males and females. The white man's claim to the slave body, male as well as female, was inherent in the concept of the slave trade and was tangibly realized perhaps nowhere more than on the auction block, where captive Africans were stripped of their clothing, oiled down, and poked and prodded by potential buyers. The erotic undertones of such scenes were particularly pronounced in the case of black women.

  6. Exploitation of assets • Women were prized for their fertility. • How was this exploited? • One drop rule and matrilineal descent? • Men were prized for their size and strength. • How was this exploited? • How might this be problematic?

  7. Male strength: • In order to maintain control, white males slave owners asserted their own dominance over black male slaves as much as possible. • “Sir” or “Master” vs. “Boy” or “Son” • This still occurs in hip hop/rap today (men are boys, or “L’il” boys) • Mate approval • No control over families • The inability of the slave husband to protect his wife from violation points to another fundamental aspect of the relationship between enslaved men and women. It created a sense of parity between husbands and wives. • Whippings • Immasculating chores • Agricultural labor was always the woman’s work

  8. Post Slavery • The point of most Jim Crow laws: • Prevent blacks from voting (gaining power) • Protect white “women and children” • During this time, a black man might tremble with fear at the thought of passing a white woman on the side walk or accidentally making eye contact with her. • These laws to protect women were advocated by men. • Why?

  9. Lynching • Illegal hanging of a transgressor by a mob. • Usually preceded by some variation of torture. • Also refers to burning at the stake or shooting. • Frequently if the transgressor is male and the accused crime is sexual, the clothes are removed from the victim and the genitals are severed/mutilated. • Used to punish, but also imitate and control. • Approximately 3,500 black males were lynched between 1882-1968. • Most occurred between 1882-1920

  10. Lynching • Before Reconstruction lynching was used as a means to reinforce white supremacy. • After Reconstruction, lynching continued to occur to attempt to frighten African-American males from exercising their newly granted right to vote. • The Klu Klux Klan is said to have facilitated at least 400 lynchings when they were still operating.

  11. Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, accused of killing a white man and raping his girlfriend. Marion, Indiana 1930

  12. Examples • Emmett Till • Lynched in Mississippi for “flirting” with a married white woman • Nat Turner’s rebellion • They killed approximately 60 men, women, and children • 56 former slaves were executed and 200 more were tortured and killed • Tom Robinson • Trayvon Martin

More Related