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A review by savaging
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
4.0
Reading this book, I felt like I wanted to create the opposite of an inspirational calendar, for white people to read. Those who benefit from a system of White Supremacy could have daily historical reminders culled from this book, like:
-When enslaved children died because of poor conditions, coroners would usually blame the mother for smothering the child in her sleep.
-Raping enslaved people, including children, was not considered a crime. The only time it would be considered in the courts was as grounds for a white divorce.
-Some of the first examples of maternal-fetal conflict were when slave-owners would dig a hole in the ground before whipping a pregnant slave, so her fetus could be 'protected' from the abuse.
-Several mothers, about to be sold to slave-owners far away, drafted a letter to the enslaver recommending that he instead look into several nearby plantation owners, so they could stay in contact with their families.
-Very few mothers escaped from slavery, because they were dedicated to protecting their families.
-The first Nazi sterilization program was drafted from a program in California.
-While white feminists have been fighting for freedom from the family, many black feminists have been fighting for freedom to have a family.
Because when you hear these things, it becomes impossible to listen again to that old explanation that black people's problems are the fault of poor parenting.
I found the historical chapters, which focus on slavery and the eugenics movement, to be extraordinary. The other chapters, focused on modern reproduction issues, were informative, but since Roberts wrote this in the 90s, I'm not entirely certain if the specifics were what's most relevant for this political moment. I really encourage other white feminists to read this.
-When enslaved children died because of poor conditions, coroners would usually blame the mother for smothering the child in her sleep.
-Raping enslaved people, including children, was not considered a crime. The only time it would be considered in the courts was as grounds for a white divorce.
-Some of the first examples of maternal-fetal conflict were when slave-owners would dig a hole in the ground before whipping a pregnant slave, so her fetus could be 'protected' from the abuse.
-Several mothers, about to be sold to slave-owners far away, drafted a letter to the enslaver recommending that he instead look into several nearby plantation owners, so they could stay in contact with their families.
-Very few mothers escaped from slavery, because they were dedicated to protecting their families.
-The first Nazi sterilization program was drafted from a program in California.
-While white feminists have been fighting for freedom from the family, many black feminists have been fighting for freedom to have a family.
Because when you hear these things, it becomes impossible to listen again to that old explanation that black people's problems are the fault of poor parenting.
I found the historical chapters, which focus on slavery and the eugenics movement, to be extraordinary. The other chapters, focused on modern reproduction issues, were informative, but since Roberts wrote this in the 90s, I'm not entirely certain if the specifics were what's most relevant for this political moment. I really encourage other white feminists to read this.