Slave narratives, such as “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, are evidence that tells how realistic slavery was during the eighteenth and nineteenth, century. Some slave narratives are fiction and others are non-fiction. They reveal the horrors,ordeals, and how slaves were treated as personal property and even classified as different species instead of being treated as equals to the white community. Slavesalso had to endure stereotypes, racial slurs,hardships, and the living conditions they were under (some slaves had to sleep on thefloor, for example). It was illegal for slaves to read and write.
In the slave narratives, the slave’s grammar was extremely different from the modern grammar in which we speak today. They show us the openings of complex dialogue between whites and black people in America. Slaves even called themselves “niggers” because that was how they were labeled when they cameto this country. Slave narratives also reveal the struggles for black people in the so-called “states of freedom” in the North. The Northern states were just as racist as the Southern states.
Slave narratives should be taught and shown to students in American Literature and United States History because they are important stories about former slaves and slaves who escaped struggling to get their freedom and rights in the southern states in America. They teach African Americans about their heritage and who their ancestors were during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Reading slave narratives goes into a deeper level as regarding to lecturing to students what slavery was about. I guest schools don’t allow slave narratives to be read to students because of the graphic racial slurs,violence, and sexual situations between masters and slaves.
BUT if teachers and college professors are going to goto this “deeper level” ofteaching about slavery, everyone MUST be prepared ofthe emotions and conflicts that will arise. There are dozens and dozens of slavenarratives on the web, such as “An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives”(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html). You can choose which state you want to select. I’ve read slave narratives from the state of Alabama, some from Mobile, Oak Grove, Prichard, Fairhope, Monroeville, Bay Minette, Orchard, Montgomery, and Birmingham. The slave Narratives also come from other states as well.
When I read these narratives, I felt that I was robbed of a certain part of education that the text books failed to mention. I thought there no limits when it comes to learning, not only on slavery, but a lot ofother things in history aswell. But I guest that’s just a lie that shields all children, teenagers, and even adults away from the truth of how things really werein the past. If teachers are going to teach something, why won’t they teach the truth? I don't think it is fair to lie to the students.These slave narratives were like stories like Huckleberry Finn or Gone With the Wind.These narratives are real true stories that actually happened from ex-slaves that were interviewed by the people of WPA (Works Progress Administration). These stories explain how slavery REALLY was. The website below contains narratives and photos of ex-slaves.
Born in Slavery: Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html
When you reach this link above, you can select the following:
Search by Keywords, Browse Narratives by Narrator, Volume, Browse Photographs by Subject, or Browse All by State.If you click on "Browse All by State", select the following names or titles of narratives that are numbered, the click on "View page images" in order to see the slave narrative.
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