Meaning of Quotes
Chapter 8
“Reese was concerned that too many in the south viewed the new slavery cases just as judge Speer appeared to, as a anomaly. To prove the broad scope of involuntary servitude in his jurisdiction, Reese planned to aggressively broaden his investigation. Just two days after Pace’s guilty plea, the prosecutors sent federal marshals back to Coosa County to arrest Laray Grogan, one of the Goodwater watch guards who had been so busy in the town’s trade in black labor.” (Blackmon. 223)
This quote stood out to me because we learned a lot about how once slavery ended there were still many cases that involved black Americans to be put in jail and forced into involuntary servitude positions. Even though it was against the law many white men found legal ways around having slaves and sometimes they got away with it while others times they would get caught but with very little punishment. A few of the judges knew that there should not be any loopholes around slavery so they would try and end it as a whole. Federal marshals had to be brought into to try and help completely end this new form of slavery, which shows us just how bad it was since there was always a way around enslaving black Americans.
“Instead he was arrested, then arrested a second time, on bogus affidavits by Haralson accusing him of disorderly conduct and fighting. Swanson was put through a sham trial by kennedy, the justice of the peace. Then Cosby pretended to pay Swanson’s fines in return for holding the worker at least fourteen more months.” (Blackmon. 223)
This section stood out to me because in class we learned that once slavery was over a black man could be walking down the street or even in his home and a white official could accuse him of doing something illegal and then arrest him. There were a whole bunch of petty crimes that a black man could be accused of such as looking at white women, vagrancy, playing dice, and selling cotton. If a black man got caught doing any of this then they could be arrested and charged a fine, but since they would not be able to pay that fine a previous ‘slave owner’ would pay the fine and the black man would be indebted. This signifies that Swanson was arrested several times and given an unfair trial which resulted in his indictment to another man for paying off the fines. The black men did not have a fair trial or a fair opportunity for allowing anything but being forced into involuntary servitude.
“They had learned through bloody experience the dangers of challenging the status quo of white domination, and also that in the inflexible rituals of southern racial interaction men such as themselves were expected to prostrate themselves before whites as proof that they too gave no credence to the inquiries demanded by President Roosevelt and Judge Jones.” (Blackmon. 225)
This is important to know that although many black Americans tried to gain their true rights and freedoms and be equal to the white man, there was still white domination which caused black men to be inferior. They would not get the same rights and privileges as a white man no matter how hard they tried. The quote says they learned through bloody experiences, which means abuse and countless beatings that they had to suffer. Although the black men were free they would still be treated as if they were slaves. Although the President and Judges demanded equal treatment of all U.S. citizens many white Americans believed that they could still do as pleased. I picked this quote because the Black men had to experience whipping and harsh living conditions to realize that white domination is a thing and because of that black Americans today are fortunate enough to not have go through that but are still aware that white domination exist
“The Civil Rights Act of 1866, passed in the wake of the war to formalize the ending of slavery, simply declared all persons born in the United States to be full-fledged citizens with the right to vote regardless of race or previous ‘condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.’ But it did not clearly state that the holding of slaves was a crime, and the disparate treatment of former slaves was only a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail.” (Blackmon. 227)
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 was supposed to be the biggest turning point at this time because it gave freedom to all persons born in the United States, it would not matter what your skin color was. This is important to know because that's what it was supposed to do but that is not what happened. As mentioned before white men found a loophole in that act because it did not mention anything about holding a person, which to them would not be considered slavery. Holding a person captive and slavery were two separate things to the white people even though they can be considered the same thing when closely looked at. Even if you were to get caught with still having slaves the punishment was very minor, which was a max of one year in jail. This is significant to know because we can see and imagine all of the ways that people got around this law and was able to get away with it. Also to see how corrupt this time period actually was for only getting a max of one year in jail for breaking the law.
“Judge Jones insisted that the facts proved Turner engaged in true slavery. ‘He purchased their liberty and services,’ the judge remonstrated as Turner stood emotionless before the bench. But Judge Jones was no naive young Republican prosecutor. Even as he lectured the unrepentant farmer still driving slaves forty years after emancipation, Jones knew hardly any jury in America, most certainly not one in Alabama, could be relied on in 1903 to convict the man before him. A new trial would accomplish nothing. He accepted the plea of guilty, levied a fine of 1,000, and the case was closed.” (Blackmon. 232)
This is significant to see how powerful white privilege actually is, part of the quote starts off with “proved Turner engaged in true slavery” just by saying that line Turner should already be guilty and put into jail. But then the quote goes on to say that even forty years after emancipation the judge knew that that they jury would not convict Turner especially since they were in Alabama. Turner pleads guilty and gets away with paying an 1,000 fine instead of being put into jail. This has happened so many times even today. White people will get off with less jail time or no jail time at all just because of the color of their skin. I picked this quote because I feel as if it fit so perfectly in to today's societies and still prevalent to what is going on today since it is the same thing.
Chapter 9
“On the Saturday before Turner’s surprise guilty plea, Alabama secretary of state heflin spoke to an annual reunion of Confederate veterans in the town of Luverne, issuing a ringing endorsement of how men such as Pace and Turner had nobly returned black workers to their proper position as slaves and attacking Reese and Judge Jones as willing to sacrifice the honor of southern whites in return for advancement under President Roosevelt. They were nest foulers and “nigger lovers,” cried supporters of the accused.”(Blackmon. 233)
Although times were supposed to be progressing away from slavery there were still individuals who believed that slavery was a good thing. This quote is significant because it is important to know that there were people who believed that black men would be put into their proper positions as slaves, even though slavery was over and illegal at this point. The white men would also ridicule other men for believing that slavery was wrong and think that they are going against their people.
“In Georgia, allegations surfaced in the court of Judges Emory Speer, in the cotton-dense version of that state’s Black Belt, that the family of state representative Edward McRee, one of the most prominent in the state, was operating a slave plantation ever more expansive and brutal than anything alleged in Tallapoosa County.” (Blackmon. 234)
I choose this quote because it stood out to me, although slavery is over there are still plantations that are operating under brutal conditions with black men as the victims. Slave owners still found ways around the system to control men. Many plantations were able to get away with their regular operations and if they were ever to get caught their punishments was just a fine that they would have to pay.
“The big nostrils, flat nose, massive jaw, protruding lip and kinky hair will register their animal marks over the proudest intellect and the rarest beauty of any other race. The rule that had no exception was the one drop of negro blood makes a negro.’ the book’s initial printing of fifteen thousand was immediately consumed. Soon more than a million copies had been purchased. Dixon instantly became one of the most widely read writers of the first decades of the century.” (Blackmon. 237)
This quote stood out to me because of the description of black people and the way that they talked about black people in the following sentences. I knew a couple of the descriptions and the way they talked about black people such as having big noses, but i never heard of the massive jaw so that was a first for me. Everything else were things that I have heard before. The way that we get talked about is impolitely because we are human. The quote goes on to mention the one drop rule, which is if there is any bit of black blood in you then that makes you black. Many people did not like that rule especially if they could pass as a white person.
“The new science of anthropology embraced the notion that quantifiable characteristics of whites, blacks and Indians such as brain size demonstrated the clear physical and intellectual superiority of whites. In May 1903, as Warren Reese’s Alabama investigation got under way, the atlantic Monthly magazine published a long tract titled “The Mulatto Factor,” written by an erudite planter in Greenville, Mississippi, Alfred H. Stone, arguing that presence of mixed race blacks with superior intelligence and leadership skills derived from traces of white blood was the cause of current race turmoil.” (Blackmon. 240)
This stood out to me because of what we learned about Blumenbach who was the German biologist who studied the skulls of all people and then categorized each skull based on the size and determined that the white race had the biggest skulls, which meant the they were the smartest while the negroes had the smallest skulls which meant that they were not. It was interesting to see another name appear in the same studied, which showed me that a lot of people probably did similar research to show that whites were superior. They also believed a mulatto baby would be very smart but only because it would have traces of white blood. My only question would be, who is to say what parent made the child become so smart? It could've been the white blood or the black blood.
“The New York Times opined in mid-July 1903 that “respectable negroes should ban the city’s bad ones. “There are in New York thousands of utterly worthless negro desperadoes,” the Times wrote ‘gamblers when they have money and thieves when they have none, moral lepers and more dangerous than wild animals.’ the newspaper followed up later in the month with hysterical coverage of racial disturbances in the city. ‘Negroes Attack Police’ blared a headline over an account of a fight that broke out on West 62nd Street after an Irish policeman shoved a “disrespectable” black man on a sidewalk.” (Blackmon. 245)
Out of all the quotes this has to be my favorite because I found it the most interesting. In the New York Times there was an article that was posted that said that the respectable negroes should ban the bad ones. At first when I read this I was shocked because I could not believe that someone would actually suggest a group of people turning on their peers. The articles went on to talk about how and why the negroes are so bad and called them gamblers and thieves. To me this was very shocking because I never thought of the discrimination being put in the media, I always thought of it as face to face and that everything was direct. But when I saw that things like that actually got posted for everyone to see it really hit home. It is significant to know these things to only get somewhat of an idea about what times were like back then for a black man.
