Listen to Podcast 1619, Ep. 2: The Economy That Slavery Built
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Created January 6, 2020
Community? Engagements? Arts? Well, for starters this is a class taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY by professors Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde. The goal of this class is to form a relationship with the community by engaging in artistic projects with the community. The outcome of this will manifest itself in many ways, some recognizable and others not so much.
CETA 2020: Our first 2 emojis (of hundreds)
Created January 6, 2020
Individual Tasks
Collect addresses, make & write thank-you cards, design pronoun buttons--Anna Davis
Blog Manager--Paige Wessling
Recorder/archivist for This I Believe essays--Sarah Metcalfe
Social Media--Lydia Baggett & Garrett LeVan
Photographic Inventory (3 people)--Yousef Alsdudi, Sarah Bennett, & Faith Boles
Space, raw material, & tool inventory manager AND order enforcer--Emily Neat
Quality Control & Class Ethicist--Alex Toney
Software Design Team (3 people)--Shelby Barker, Emily Cecil, & Abby Pearson
Fabrication Team (3 people)--Brooklyn Greer, Will Hemingway, & Marissa Price
Finishing Team (4 people)--Nannie Baze, Emon Daneshmand, Ally Frederick, & Madison Phillips
Additional photographic documentation--Kremena and Kurt
Working with production design at Kre8Now Makerspace--Kurt and Kremena
Publicity for the class--Kremena and Kurt
Securing materials needed--Kurt and Kremena
Many people look at current American goals of building success, accruing money, and gaining power through the lens of a degrading society--that we as a society have sunk low as a group of humans in favor of these self-interested practices. However, episode 2 of 1619 tells us that humanity is humanity is humanity. That is, these self-interested practices are a cornerstone of being human. I come from a family which values hard work a great deal...to the point of crossing a threshold into toxicity. This threshold is difficult to observe on an individual basis. One would reason that this threshold is easier to recognize on a larger, economy-encompassing scale. As we have seen, however, it takes a bubble popping, a market crashing, and companies being called out on malpractice for toxic behavior to be realized. It is a shame that "hard work" and "strategy" cannot be pure values, that someone always gets taken advantage of eventually. So, I say it again, humanity is humanity is humanity. I learned this more tangibly today and realize the society we live in is not drastically worse than it was in the 19th century. I'd bet it is not drastically worse than it ever was as far as humanity is concerned.
ReplyDeleteYeah I hadn't realized the parallels between the 19th century and now until this podcast.
DeleteIt is sad that humanity thrives on taking advantage of the disadvantaged, but as you said, it's a constant thread throughout human history. Hopefully someday we'll change our ways.
DeleteMy family has always preached that if you work hard, you will be rewarded too
Deleteamerica was built by enslaving racialized groups and the elimination of indigenous populations. And that will forever be our shameful legacy.
DeleteThe emphasis on how slavery built the foundation of our extremely capitalistic society in this episode of 1619 was eye opening. When the guest speaker explained that the perception of a cotton plantation being made up of a handful of slaves, a guard in the field and the master in the house, is a completely unrealistic perception of slavery in the south, I was snapped into focus. Until this episode, I was not aware of the deep complexity of slavery in the south and how the global economy became so involved.I question, why this is the perception broadcasted to us? What purpose does it serve to portray slavery in the south as simple and mundane compared to the reality of what it became? Im sure there are many answers to these questions, but I assume in many ways it was to protect the white men who supported and participated in slavery. Lastly, I am struck by how embedded racism still is in our national economy and how apparent it becomes in moments of crisis. This episode highlighted how many parallels exist in our economy today to that of the slave ridden south, and it is a horrifying reality.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by how slavery was compared to the perception we have all been taught too.
DeleteAs a historian, I think your conclusion that slavery is portrayed as small scale to protect the white men involved is pretty much spot on. "Moonlight and magnolias" is a pretty pervasive and repugnant myth.
DeleteI was also shocked by the realization of how truly awful and complex slavery was. We were always taught as kids that it was wrong, but then again we were also taught that Lincoln was the most amazing slavery hating man as well. Truths in this country tend to become blurred.
DeleteFolks, it wasn't only white men. White women were totally complicit. In fact, their children were nursed by black women who, therefore, couldn't nurse their own children (Felice talked a bit about this), to name but one aspect of domesticity made easier for white women by the presence of black enslaved people. And yet, somehow, white women couldn't see the humanity of black people, the same people who nursed their children. How do we explain that??!
DeleteThroughout this poscast episode, the impact of capitalism was a main theme. The notion of the invisible hand leading towards slavery causes the question to ask how can we go so far as to make money but selling and using other human beings? Ally's mention of our current 'horrifying reality,' stricks me down with its truth as presented in the podcast. The economic racism is a form of structural violence.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you connected this to structural violence, which we hear a lot about in soc/anthro classes, and I agree that economic racism is a form of structural violence.
DeleteYeah I find that interesting.
DeleteI totally agree. It is heartbreaking to know that we still in our modern society are allowing racism to be prevalent.
DeleteI was definitely thinking about the pig emoji that we are creating during the episode!
DeleteYour last line is powerful and speaks volumes of truth. It is a form of structural violence that the US has never rid itself of.
DeleteI really like this podcast. It is so enlightening every time I get to listen to it. I thought it was very interesting to hear how much money cotton plantations produced for the economy. I knew that it was a big production especially for the 1800s but I had no idea that it was that big. I didn’t know that the Panic of 1837 was so parallelled with the global financial crisis of 2008. I think it is interesting that 200 years separate the economy can go through such similar dilemmas. The explicitness of the story read at the end was so saddening to hear. No matter how many times I hear stories like that I can’t help but cringe at the unreal amount of pain that the enslaved people were put through
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is truly devastating to be able to understand that America and all that we have gained was built on the backs of slaves. I wrote my comment on the story at the end, it really broke my heart as well.
DeleteI am so glad you are enjoying this podcast, Paige! I think it's amazing, truly engaging and enlightening.
DeleteI also thought the parallel between the Panic of 1837 and the 2008 recession was incredibly interesting and ultimately terrible.
DeleteWhile listening to this episode, I was shocked to see how slavery created our capitalistic economy, and I feel like hearing these truths makes our capitalist pig all the more fitting. As Paige mentioned, I was also saddened by the piece at the end. It made me shutter to hear the realities of enslaved people.
ReplyDeleteI thought about our capitalist pig during this as well
DeleteI totally agree. It is insane that an entire country was just like “yeah this is fine” for so long.
DeleteI kind of cringed when the podcasters said slavery created the capitalist economy here, as there is evidence of it existing in Britain before this and evidence of it existing in Mesopotamia before even that. Slavery was the same system exacerbated, but the logical consequence of a system rooted in racism and a belief that underpaying laborers to produce profit and capital in whatever capacity possible is a good cause. :(
DeleteIt was very interesting to realize how much slavery effected our economy.
DeleteMore and more capitalism seems to be the achilles heel to the US. The pig emoji truly epitomizes this.
DeleteI have always been astounded by how far reaching the cotton economy was in America. As the host said, I think we tend to think of the fields as kind of small, like a personal thing, and we neglect to realize how large and labor intensive every aspect was.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea before this podcast that much of the Native American genocides and displacements could stem from the need for more fields for cotton growth. And now that I know, I think about how coincidental it is that the first time I ever saw an actual cotton crop was when I went on a school trip to Andrew Jackson’s plantation in elementary school. I think back to that trip now and cringe at how they sanitized the history of slavery, and I remember thinking for years and years that the cotton gin made it easier for slaves to work because that’s what was told to me at the plantation. Imagine my shock when I figured out a few years ago the cotton gin greatly expanded slavery and the suffering of human beings.
Too often Americans think cotton was a Deep South thing, so only the Deep South is guilty. Of course, the entire economic system of America is guilty, as Desmond and Hannah-Jones discussed, people did not have to own slaves to make a huge profit from them, but they had to participate in the system and rationalize to themselves that what was happening was not wrong. It is just really astounding that to be radical then was to simply believe human beings deserved to be treated like human beings.
Agreed.
DeleteAnd right now "radical" means "leftist," which is the belief that our government should help take care of our most vulnerable, in fact of all of us. How radiacl really is that...?!
The entire economic system of the world was guilty. Places that found slavery atrocious were fine with setting the same capitalist demands that were not fitted to their needs. Somebody has to do the labor that is demanded when there is profit potential in a capitalist system by definition, meaning that so long as British or American people wanted more and were willing to buy more products, no matter their opinion on exploitation, somebody was going to have to make those things for them. Even today it is the same. People are enslaved currently. They make our phones and computers and clothes and food because we are willing to buy these things. So long as we are complacent in this, refusing to strike products or simply go without slave-made products, we are responsible in the same way as those mentioned in the podcast.
DeleteI had written a small paragraph about exploitation of labor in fashion, but I felt it was too long, so I totally agree, Shelby!
DeleteWhile listening to this, the section of the podcast that I think will stay with me for a long time, was the deep and tragic monologue at the end. Listening to this woman’s writing about what it must have been like for the men and women that were taken from their homes and families, tied up and exploited, raped and abused. It truly broke my heart. I believe one of the worst things about slavery, is knowing that so many people had their lives stolen from them. Everything they loved and cherished, gone because a white man wanted to make a profit. Even thinking about how many children saw their mother or fathers sold or were separated from their sister or brother, makes me sick to my stomach. The true evilness of slavery has been lost over the years. We no longer have people to tell us first hand accounts of what slavery was like, but it is so easily imagined. Yet, I think so many of us have chosen to forget so we can call America the greatest nation on earth with a free conscious. But the truth is, America was built on the blood of others, and that fact can not be forgotten or changed.
ReplyDeleteFaith, I totally agree with you. And I believe there are people who tell us about wslavery and what it meant and still means. They are writers, musicians, ordinary people. They tell us, over and over again. We *just* need to listen. And to hear them.
DeleteFaith, I also agree with the points you made, and I agree that the monologue at the end will stay with me.
DeleteI read a short piece by that same author a couple of years ago about the school to prison pipeline in relation to the New Jim Crow. She's a very talented writer and really captures the emotion in history!
DeleteNot only was the monologue heart-wrenching and horrifying, it serves as a reminder that we are not as detached from the institution of slavery as we sometimes consider ourselves to be.
DeleteThis podcast is very emotional and it breaks my heart at times to follow along. I feel so awful for Nikole’s dad, who never wanted to go back to where he grew up because of all the terrible things that happened to him. Even when I move away from Lexington, I will still always want to come back because of all the great memories I had here. The ending monologue really made me upset. The vivid detail that Jesmyn Ward was able to give about the night a man from Georgia came and attacked them. They tried to do whatever they could just to survive. It was a scary and awful time, and I can’t begin to imagine what they had to go through just to be with their families.
ReplyDeleteThat struck me too...also the ways that the memories are so woven into the land. Seeing a creek bed or a plot of land can bring trauma. Other people, often white, have stories of returning to their family's homes or old towns and feeling connections to the beautiful stories there. This is so different. Their homeland and its gorgeous features bring back trauma. It crushes me.
DeleteI was also heartbroken about her father not wanting to go back home. To not want to share where he grew up with his family and friends speaks volumes about the trauma that occurred there.
DeleteI always feel like people know a little bit more about me if I tell them about my hometown and the things I did there. I once got to show my hometown in eastern Kentucky to two good friends of mine from here at Transy who were originally from out of state. It was strange and really wonderful and I hate that there was no opportunity for him to do things like that
Every time I listen to this episode, I am struck by the fact that slavery and Jim Crow are not distant history, that there are many many people in our country who live with the trauma of racism, racial segregation, and racial violence. Nikole Hannah-Jones’ own father was born on a plantation where his family worked as sharecroppers in the same fields that enslaved people had picked cotton. The narrator’s Great-Aunt Charlotte won’t readily talk about where she is from because her memories are many and full of trauma. But eventually, she tells Hannah-Jones about her brother and a cousin, who were chased by a carful of white boys, barely escaping…who knows what atrocity, maybe lynching. And she remembers how a cousin had stood up to a white plantation owner, “and everyone understood what that meant. You could not stand up to white plantation owners in the South if you were black and live to tell that story.” History is not over and neither are racism and segregation. I wish more Americans would be open to understanding this fact and what it means.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I thought was really interesting about this podcast was the portion where they discussed the quota that enslaved people were forced to meet but be cautious not to exceed. It made me think of a job I once had-- I was once a member of Transy’s Phonathon team, a group of people who call alumni, parents of alumni, etc. to build rapport and request that they donate to the University. During my time there, we individually kept a tally of how much money we each got people to donate, and at certain dollar amounts, we would get a candy bar or something like that. I won’t complain about getting free candy, but I always thought it was strange because nothing I said could change whether the person on the other line has the money to donate or how willing they are. Some people are more likely to donate if they speak to certain people (like fellow sorority sisters, members of certain clubs, etc.) but largely it was out of my hands. Receiving these prizes always felt like a game of chance. We were always encouraged to get more people to donate, but no one was ever punished for not reaching a certain amount. It is terrible to me that that is not the case with other jobs and that it was not the case for enslaved people who were made to meet those quotas.
ReplyDeleteFun fact, quotas were made due to the Ford manufacturing plants, a man called Frederick Taylor came up with the idea of scientific method of how many items can be produced in X amount of time, it's called Taylorism!
DeleteWhat struck me about this episode is the role the global markets played in the early 19th century. The first time this comes up in this episode is when a scholar who Hannah-Jones interviews comments that, “you increase the price of the crop in Manchester, and enslaved workers are going to feel it in the fields of Alabama and Georgia back in the United States.” This kind of connection come up a number of times in this podcast. So the U.S. economy thrived as it did BECAUSE of the global markets. This kind of thriving was utterly immoral and cruel, but my point is that our country benefited in measurable ways from the global markets…and now we have a President who denies the significance of the global markets and insists our economy can grow if we leave them. It just doesn’t make sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree, It's never made sense! How does enslaved persons do all the work, yet never see any gain, but because of it doing well, they must work harder! A capitalistic society has always used a marytr, someone must drown while the others have their greed, but why must we have chosen someone based on their skin color? And why does it continue to this day?
DeleteThis was very interesting to listen to. From her finally learning about her family’s history to understanding how the cotton gin really affected slaves. Matt Desmon was right when he said, “You know, we all learn about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin at fourth or fifth grade as kind of a clever invention.” What they fail to tell us in fourth or fifth grade, however is how negatively this affected the enslaved. “Because overseers were tracking everyone’s haul, if you fell short of that quota, you were often beat. And these beatings are horrendous to read about. Enslaved workers passed out often from pain. They wake up vomiting.” It’s awful to think about and even more awful that slaverly was allowed to go on for such a long time and even encouraged. It is also absolutely revolting to read about taking out a mortgage on a human being like you would an object such as a house.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of information in this podcast that was left out of history books and classes is disturbing. There's so much that is swept under the rug.
DeleteI, too, was stunned about the part about taking out mortgages. I can't even begin to wrap my head around how awful that is.
I have a lot of different thoughts after hearing this week's episode. My first thought was about how potent of an argument for black people's positive effects on the development of the US. POC are often kept out of the narrative of nation-building here. Obviously, the US would not have the source of global power that it does without the stolen labor of enslaved black people. But then, I thought: wait...it is a dangerous route to take the argument for black people's inherent value is being seen through economic output. It's definitely a part of history, but it is a weird way to contextualize black people's value in this country. It gives me conflicting feelings.
ReplyDeleteI too get the conflicting feelings as you were saying
DeleteThis was a very powerful episode. I had many of the same thoughts that my classmates had about the education we were given about the cotton gin. What really made me think was the discussion about Nikole Hannah-Jones father being born on a plantation. Like Kremena said this seems like a distant history to us, but is not as far in the past as we believe. Her fathers connection to home really struck me. I was thinking back to all of the road trips I took to Florida and how many billboards I saw for plantation tours. It’s sickening to think that people want to profit off of a location that caused trauma for so many. They aren’t even used as educational sites, they are used to make a profit which is so sad.
ReplyDeleteThere have been times where I've thought about going to this former plantation in South Carolina with my brother and his wife because they host an art festival, but I just don't feel comfortable going to a place where there was so much suffering.
DeleteThis is the first I've ever heard of plantation tours and I can't believe people are trying to make a profit off that
DeleteListening to this episode not only made me think of the lives that were brutally hurt, but about the world overall. It is crazy to me that there was once a world where the economy was based so much off of enslaved people. In the episode "increased workers put a mortgage on enslaved workers to buy more enslaved workers" and "slavery allowed for a powerhouse and a culture ...that was brutal". The fact that you could put a mortgage on human lives truly is sickening. Slaves were not human beings to the world at the time, especially white men. Pregnant women were tortured, PREGNANT WOMEN. You're supposed to put pregnant women on a pedestal. In general, you are not supposed to ever treat people like that, but it did happen. My question is: Is there still a form of slavery today? Or, does history still play a role in contemporary time, in regards to white privilege or socioeconomics?
ReplyDeleteI definitely think an undeclared "slavery" exists within the social class structures. There's a barrier between each one, though less perceivably stratified that it might have been in the early 20th century, which keeps certain groups general racial minorities "contained" much like the chains of slavery did
DeleteThe subordination and exploitation of racial groups through restrictive policies and abusive rhetoric in this country is completely astonishing. its important to remember that this country was founded on the subordination of radicalized groups long before there were black slaves.
ReplyDeleteIndigenous elimination is foundational to U.S. settler colonialism. Elimination through genocide, enslavement, forced removal, confinement to reservations, and intricate biological and cultural assimilation programs that striped Indigenous people of their culture and replace it with settler culture. Black slavery is merely a the reiteration of how our “founders” founded this great country.
It's such a powerful example of "othering" and the way othering someone or a group strips them of any inherent value or right to power...simply because they are unlike the majority
DeleteLike the previous episode, this was interesting and powerful, yet tragic to listen to. The section I found the most interesting were the parallels drawn between the financial states of the 1830's and the 2000's, especially the intentional exploitation of black people and the bailing out of King Cotton/the housing market. Under capitalism, black people have always suffered. Since the founding of this country, capitalism has forced black people to provide valuable labor without the chance of ever seeing any riches. Slavery allowed the United States to turn into a capitalistic colossus. This same colossus still exploits black people's labor (and all workers' labors) because, like this episode so poignantly points out, our economic institutions are still rooted in slavery.
ReplyDeleteListening to the end was so tragic and devastating. It was tough to listen to and imagine what it was like in the moment
DeleteI can never truly empathazie, but my heart hearts so much for them; like Garret, I can only imagine what that moment must have felt like.
DeleteYes. It really astounded me to hear how our current markets were steering the minority communities toward poor investments.
DeleteI... would like to make a reminder of something.
ReplyDeleteThe actual text of the Thirteenth Amendment reads as follows:
SECTION 1: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
SECTION 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Did you notice the loophole? the "except"? that it is legal to exploit another's labor as punishment for a crime? Think about that.
Nikole says that the modern capitalist society of the United States was founded upon a backbone of slavery, and I'm going to argue that's more literal than it sounds. What do you think will be the result of allowing unpaid servitude is as a punishment for a crime? Think about all the black people who are currently incarcerated, who are constantly kept in loopholes of punishment after punishment. Does it make sense now, why the prison system of today is so brutal?
Just things to think about.
I think you're entirely correct Alex! There are have been multiple people that have theorized that prision is our modern verison of enslaving people of color! It's so heartbreaking and I wish I could do something
DeleteI am glad you included the exact text from the amendment! I never knew that punishment for crime was overtly stated as an exemption in that amendment.
DeleteWhat an interesting thing to think about, as you say! "Except as punishment" is a great way for subjectivity, wrongful conviction, and the power to coerce systems to affect how a law is interpreted
Delete