This is a touchy subject but I feel as if the oral histories of black families descended from slaves are often overshadowed. My own Mestee grandmother’s family were enslaved, but later passed themselves off as “white enough”. I am not black, so it was interesting hearing random remarks from my grandmother regarding her family in those days, though sadly most of the oral history was purposely forgotten.
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No not slavery per say but there were stories of what came after like segregation and share cropping and how they used to have to call all white people Mr such and such and Ms. Such and such no matter how shitty of a person they were.
How they got talked down to and how the White people would call the grown men “boys” to their faces and never their names, even when they had their own sons with them. Being the hired help and not being able to eat in the same areas as the white people they worked for, even if they cooked for them. Not being able to live around them, not going to the same places of worship.
My grandma tells us about how they use to call black folks niggers flippantly. How they couldn’t have much of anything better than white folks or they would find a way to take it away or how they poisoned their dogs because they would be mad at something our family did. Not being able to go to the same schools. They still have some of the little shacks that slaves used to stay in during slavery, you can go see.
A lot of older black men were abusive and drunkards and were especially harsh to their wives and children because of the trauma and experiences that they had to go through living through those times and you can see the effects of it til this day with my own family that’s for damn sure. How they would treat their sons were especially hard and cruel, no outward emotional showing of feelings, beatings etc.
I could go on for ever but I won’t. It was really fucked up though.
My grandmother was a slave. My grandfather stole her and fled north to the United states in the 1920s.
Some other family members were able to escape, don’t know where they went but i know one of my great uncles died in chains.
Mine doesn’t. A matter of fact, I thunk the only oral history I know are form the family member telling their life story themselves. I think the oldest was great grand aunt at 80 something.
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My grandfather’s family were born in the sticks of South Georgia and they did farming for business, and occasionally cutting wood. They couldn’t read or write. But anyways, the house they inherited was a large plantation and each close relative of my granddad was given a piece of land for them to do whatever. Most just farmed. My grandfather was sick of the country life I suppose and moved to Miami eventually (he ended up being a pimp but anyways….) but yeah, my grandfathers mother or grandmother was blind and taken advantage of, so she had many biracial children. My grandfather claims he got a shitty piece of the land (very swampy according to him) and just gave it to one of his cousins. But yeah, not necessarily slavery but that’s what I got for you. Then there’s lots of like segregation racism stories I could tell but yeah. He was taught things to not look at white women and not even talk to white people unless you absolutely have to. Don’t make eye contact with white People and unless you’re doing business you have no reason to associate with white people. Don’t look at them in their face if you’re walking by. Move out the way if they’re walking past you. Don’t greet them unless you have to. In a nutshell, don’t talk to white people unless you have to. And if you do have to associate, make it a pleasant experience for them. Unfortunate reality back then
On the Afro latino side of the family, there’s WAY more oral history. My family changed their last name because my great great grandfather (or third great I think tbh) was from Africa (nothing in depth cause he was a slave ofc but I postulate from the area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ) and he had a slave certificate with characteristics about his hair and build etc. but anywho, his last name that was given is associated with a tribe / civilization in central Africa. He was taken and didn’t speak a lick of Spanish and people just said he “spoke African”. He did eventually learn Spanish but never learned to read or write in Spanish. He kept his last name and had kids and the last name stayed for 2 generations I believe before my great great grandfather dropped the last name. My family there did work with sugarcane on the coast and he (great great great grandfather) was owned by a couple with a kid, the last name was Vasquez is all I remember. My grandfather did have issues when he came to mainland USA because he said places would not allow him to get his drivers license or ID because he was a black Hispanic. Essentially, they told him to mark that he was white because he was Hispanic even though he could never pass as white or mixed in any sense. So people wouldn’t process his paperwork for his ID because he wouldn’t put that he was white. I find that very interesting because questioning the blackness of black Hispanics is very common because people don’t understand the difference between ethnicity and race. Or don’t care to know or consciously do it. So Since he was Hispanic, people just defaulted him as not black even though he is. Hispanic is just the ethnicity
I asked why the last name was dropped and i could’ve guessed but it was simply just not having an association with Africa and having a Spanish last name. Assimilation basically. It’s genuinely CRAZY to me, to think, you’re taken from somewhere, given a name, don’t speak the language, and you end up having a somewhat normal life as you can. Marrying and having kids and speaking a completely different language. Like I can’t imagine the cognitive dissonance to realize how different your life could’ve been but you might be somewhat happy with what you have now (he ended up being free over time). Kinda reminds me of ROOTS where kunta kinte highlighted how different the mindset of black people born into slavery versus those who had a life in Africa before they were enslaved. Like they were more willing to escape for their freedom and fight because they understood what freedom was while those born into slavery didn’t have that concept and just labeled Africans as high spirited or something. For example, (just assuming you have watched it), the scene where kunta enslavers whip him for not saying that his name is Toby, the name they gave him. And the black people born into slavery were genuinely confused as to why he couldn’t just accept his new name was Toby and not kunta kinte
Also, idk if I made it clear but just in case. I am talking about different grandfathers. One being African American and one being Afro latino from Puerto Rico.
Sometimes I just have surreal moments around my grandparents to think, I don’t have to hypothesize or guess what happened to their parents or grandparents. I mean we learn it in school but it’s way different when the story is personalized to YOU. Like it happened, there’s nothing for me to speculate. Idk how to explain it, but it’s a very strange feeling. Kinda guilty in a way because I think about how much I enjoy life and how unenjoyable life must’ve been for them. I mean they probably would’ve want their offspring to go on and be in better circumstances, but the flip side, they probably would I’ve thoroughly enjoyed not being enslaved too.
Ok post over, thanks for reading. The power of knowing is very… powerful lol I think everyone should know about their ancestors if they can. Unfortunately, things get lost over time and people can’t always know
In short? No.
No one knows anything beyond my great grandmother’s time. That’s all there is to my family’s history that anyone is aware of.
Its pretty frustrating.
I’m not black, but I come from what used to be a very prominent family that helped create this country. Needless to say, we legitimately fought each other to the death. Anyway, I remember my great-grandmother telling me about how our family even helped in the underground railroad. I remember asking her about how that was long since slavery ended, by decades. And she told me no, it was still kinda around, and she remembered them lighting candles as a little girl, but only sometimes. And when they did, she couldn’t leave her room. But she saw some shadows and lights going from the barn and back. Then she was told later in life it wasn’t exactly slavery they were helping these people escape, but Jim Crowe laws.
Nope, but they occasionally talk about random racism they’ve encountered. My mom casually dropped that she went to a segregated school until middle school. She’s only 58.
Yeah, it is definitely a touchy subject for many families. In my own family, the stories about slavery have been passed down through generations, though they’ve become somewhat less detailed over time. My great-grandparents had some stories from their grandparents about the struggles they faced as slaves and the resilience they had to overcome those challenges. However, like you mentioned, some of those stories were purposefully forgotten or not shared as openly with younger generations in an effort to protect them from the harsh realities of our family’s past.
Nowadays, while we don’t have a deep knowledge of our family’s experience during slavery, we do try to honor our ancestors by acknowledging their strength and determination to push through such a dark time in our history. It’s an important part of understanding our roots and maintaining a connection with the past, even if some of the details have been lost along the way.
No
nah, but the best man at my parents weddings father brought this case https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_v._County_School_Board_of_New_Kent_County
Nah just stories about segregation
No mine doesn’t. Nobody knows, can only go back a few generations
yes. My family has roots in Eastern NC and Virgina and South Carolina. Pretty much in every coastal Southern state. Many of my ancestors mixed with white people early and moved to major cities such as Baltimore and DC after the Civil War. I have some Ancestors who fought on both sides of the war. Some black people are in fact mixed with white people down the line. I can trace my heritage to the colonists and to the English before colonization. For many of us, going back to the earliest of slave roots is hard because slaves werent written down as people, moreso than property. Please PM of you would like to know more! I love talking avout this stuff.
Excellent question. I wonder about this, but never knew how to bring it up in a conversation.
Yes. I’ll make it really brief… My great grandmother’s grandmother didn’t have finger tips because she fell into a fire as a young child while her mother was busy doing slave chores. A baby sitter in those days weren’t all that important….
If they do, they’ve never told me about it. I really don’t have any history beyond my grandparents. I’d have to imagine that they could tell me some stories about segregation though.
I guess we have some, but on both sides we have it documented where some of our lineage came from slavery. On my mom’s side, we know that one of the slaves freed on Juneteenth is an ancestor and on my dad’s side we know that [Bass Reeves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves) is an ancestor.
Sort of . All my family is originally from the South. Alabama and Tennessee. It’s hard to keep track of who’s who and what happened before the year 1900 roughly. Families are messed up and all scattered.
Not really.
Even though a lot of my family is into tracing family history, the stories never go past the last generation that was born in slavery. And even when they’re discussing them, my family pretty much only tells stories of what they did after they gained freedom rather than their time as slaves.
None that I am aware of, but if I asked an elder, they’d know. I do know some of the sharecropping days (slavery by another name) and the Jim Crow Era, though. You got me thinking about how my grandma lived through segregation, and when it was illegal for her to vote, then seeing the first black president. Man, what a lifetime.
No I do not believe so
Yes. My great granfather was born a slave to his mother, who was a slave, and his father who was the “Master”. “Master” was actually quite in love with my great-great grandmother. He had three sons with her, he loved his children and, although it was illegal, he had his children educated. Once “master” died he, again, illegally, willed his estate to his 3 sons, and also freed them. Now, of course, “master’s” wife disagreed with his wants and contested his will. So of course, she kept everything. She kept my great-great grandmother a slave, but did free the three boys, who used their education to gain wealth. They bought their mother, but she had been severely mistreated and didn’t live long after being freed. The thing is all three boys were white passing, and they used that to their advantage, but it was really dangerous for them because they weren’t supposed to know how to read or write, much less have their level of education. So they had to step lightly here in the south. (Louisiana)
Anyway, my grandmother was incredibly pale skinned (white passing father) and she had 8 children (although she was “barren”), and more than half of our family come out pale with pale eyes. To be fair my grandfather’s grandmother was white passing woman of Irish descent. So between the two of them our family has a particular look, and although no one in the family has mixed with “other races” (my grandfather’s mother was Blackfoot Native American, she beacme Christian, and left her tribe for my great grandfather, a black man, who didn’t look black because of the Irish ancestry), we still come out looking like at least one of us has a white parent. It’s strange to me how “master’s” and Rachel’s (Irish great-great-great grandmother’s) genes are so strong and we’re still popping out light skinned and light eyed.
Papa Lee has land all around this state and when Big Mama (my grandmother) died her eight children and 20 something grand kids found out that some of the land was bought for his mother to live on when she died and it was close to the plantation Papa Lee was born on. My mother and aunt have been trying to dig up more information because Big Mama didn’t like talking about the past. So alot of these documents that are telling the story, are really surprising.
I’m not black but I met a black man in his 80s a while ago while working as a substitute and he was too, he was telling me what it was like when he was young living in a segregated world and how traveling staying in hotels was, getting work and surviving. He was telling me some about how his grandfather had been a slave and his father lived through him crow era. I’m assuming the people who will retain these histories the most are the ones who are in their late years like this man was.
My mother and I are our families historians. We know who are enslaved ancestors were, but not much about their lives.
My great great grandfather escaped on the Saltwater Underground Railroad from a plantation in North Carolina and headed down to Florida. The old folks always said that and it never made sense to me. I didn’t learn about the Saltwater Underground Railroad until I was in my late 20’s. I always wondered, why would they run South to escape slavery.
I have family from Georgia and the Carolinas. There isn’t even much discussion about segregation and discrimination in the 20th century let alone slavery.
I don’t believe I have met anyone in my life who does have history dating back to before their great grandparents.
Only thing we have is my dad’s side said they were owned by the Cherokee, which is true, I found them listed as freedmen on the Dawes rolls. Mother’s side not much about slavery but they were one of the earliest families to move during the great migration.
No, but we have some written artifacts on my mom’s side, like provenance documents for a slave cradle my grandma’s family has had for generations (though we recently donated it to a museum after she died) that was originally given to them by their owners (who got it from another slave-owning family).
I’m American but my family is from the Caribbean, the only story we have is that my great great aunts used to say we are “Congo people”. When I did the ancestry dna test I came up as 9% from the Congo area so maybe there was something to that.