Inequality For All The Story of Dana’s Enslavement

Inequality For All: The Story of Dana’s Enslavement The novel Kindred by Octavia Butler tells Dana Franklin’s story of becoming a slave for ancestors as she traveled back in time to the 1800’s. Dana struggles throughout the 1800’s as a slave while having to work harder than she ever has and having to protect her ancestor, Rufus. Dana experiences the typical slave life and realizes that being a woman in the 1800s was truly frowned upon. Despite the fact that all enslaved African-American men and women were treated unfair, men had far more rights than African-American women slaves did because of the ongoing abuse and harassment women suffered. Female slaves who lived on the Weylin Plantation constantly had to face harsh emotional and psychological abuse. Alice was one slave who constantly faced these hardships. Rufus, a slave owner, was in love with Alice and although Alice did not love him back, she still had to deal with the consequences. Alice faced judgment by other slaves and dealt with verbal abuse. Sarah, a mother and slave who lived on the plantation said, “Then Marse Tom took my children, all but Carrie. And, bless God, Carrie ain’t worth much as the others ‘cause she can’t talk. People think she ain’t got good sense” (Butler 76). Sarah had to tragically thank God that there was something wrong with her daughter, Carrie, just so she could keep her child. Sarah rarely mentioned her other children because of the pain and hurt she suffered. Dana was called a derogatory word by Rufus even when he was a little boy. The name calling and abusive language towards Dana continued as he grew older. Being raped, stripped out of your clothes and beaten, or sexually abused was fairly common if you were a woman. Female slaves were viewed as sexual objects by their masters. Not only did Alice have to deal with emotional abuse, but she also dealt with sexual harassment. She was torn away from her husband and was raped by Rufus. He eventually drove Alice to commit suicide because of his actions. The relationship between Alice and Rufus shows how he saw her as a sexual object. Dana thought, “I saw that someone was hanging there. Hanging by the neck. A woman. Alice” (Butler 248). Although Rufus was Dana’s ancestor and had stated that he was not attracted to Dana, he still attempted to rape her. “I could accept him as my ancestor, my younger brother, my friend, but not as my master, and not as my love. He had understood that once” (Butler 260). It was highly unlikely for an enslaved man to be sexually abused by his master, but it was a frequent occurrence for a woman to be abused by hers. Dana had to deal with sexual harassment, emotional abuse, and violence just like the other female slaves did. Black women and men were whipped, beaten, and treated poorly, but women were beaten more often and sometimes for unexplainable reasons. Not having supper ready on time, not working fast enough, or refusing to teach were a couple of ways to get beaten. When Alice attempted to run away with her husband, she was attacked by dogs and beaten so terribly that she lost memory and could hardly move. “He led me to the wagon where Alice lay bloody, filthy, and barely alive” (Butler 146). Male slaves were whipped as well, but being whipped did not happen as often as it did to the men than it did to the women on the Weylin Plantation. If the term ‘intersectionality’ were a word in the 1800’s, then African-American slaves would have agreed that the term should have been used in court to protect themselves, argue for their human rights, and argue for emancipation. Not only were African-American women treated poorly because of their race, but because of the plain truth that they were women. Dana admitted that protecting Rufus, a white man, was outrageous because of who she was. “A black to watch over him in a society that considered blacks subhuman, a woman to watch over him in a society that considered women perennial children” (Butler 68). African-American women were at the bottom of the totem pole. Sometimes slaves had to accept their lives as it was. Slavery had to be accepted by slaves because of every single day that they painfully endured. Not accepting slavery, or trying to run away, made life even more of a living hell than it already was. “She had done the safe thing- had accepted a life of slavery because she was afraid” (145). The lives of African-American men and women slaves were similar, but they did not lead the same exact lives. Dana’s travels to the 1800’s in Kindred verified that women were treated far worse than men were. African-American slaves lived an extremely challenging life due to unpleasant circumstances on their plantations. All slaves faced hardships such as brutality, violence, and horrible living conditions. Women experienced a much larger amount of misfortunes including violence, emotional and psychological abuse, and sexual harassment than we can ever imagine. Through history books and the novel, Kindred, we can begin to grasp our heads around the gruesome lives that African-American women slaves lived.