Frederick Douglass in his autobiography noted that slaves were given a week's holiday from the day after Christmas until the New Year's Day. During this time, masters induced slaves to drink, in fact, encouraged them to abuse it and frowned upon slaves who preferred to work and earn a little bit of money, and on those who were preferred to be sober. Masters placed bets on which slave could drink more than any other and encouraged rivalry among slaves. Douglass noted that sobriety and useful work were thought to awaken rebelliousness. On the other hand, masters believed that giving slaves a false sense of liberty by indulging them to excessively drink would by the end of the week disgust slaves that they would gladly return to "arms of slavery".
Padma Manian
San Jose City College, San Jose, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: S Powell
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: liquor as white privilege
For what it is worth, I am of the impression that during the period of American Slavery in the deep south, the slaves were not "permitted" or at least given alcohol because the slave masters worried about their behavior when intoxicated. I seem to remember there were exceptions to this on the plantations but for the most part it was generally desirable to keep alcohol away from them.
This would certainly lend to a sense of "whiteness" and privilege in Antebellum Southern American White Culture. I cannot speak to the Canadian culture...
As for sources, I am on the road and do not have access to sources...
Regards,
Steve Powell
Odessa Pictures, Inc.
View our Demo Reel Online at:
http://odessapictures.com/
Tel: +1.716.316.6710
On May 28, 2006, at 12:48 PM, Robert Campbell wrote:
Hello,
A colleague of mine has asked about secondary literature on liquor as a white privilege, particularly in the Canadian context. My work certainly has assumed that privilege, but it does not discuss how access to alcohol can be part of the process of creating "whiteness."
Regards,
Robert Campbell
Robert A. Campbell, Ph.D.
Department of History
Capilano College
2055 Purcell Way
North Vancouver, BC
Canada V7J 3H5
604.986.1911 x2477
FAX 604.990.7838
[log in to unmask]
|
