America’s History: Sexual Abuse of Black Slaves
By Reetika Gupta, Contributing Writer
When people were kidnapped from Africa and forced into slavery in the American colonies starting in the 16th century, they were exploited to work as servants and produce labor in the production of crops like tobacco and cotton. European settlers in North America saw enslaved Africans as a cheaper and better option than indentured servants, who were mostly poor Europeans.
Historians have estimated that 6 to 7 million enslaved people were imported during the 18th century alone. These enslaved people included men and women. Slaves held almost no rights. In fact, just as there are limits in most societies on the extent to which animals may be abused, so there were also limits on how much a slave could be abused.
Let’s Talk About Sexual Abuse
Unsurprisingly, slaves endured not only physical abuse but also sexual abuse. They were often harassed, raped or forced into concubinage by largely white slaveholders and overseers. Enslaved women were forced to submit to the sexual advances of their “masters.”
But this abuse was not limited to just women. There is a long history of Black men being sexually abused as well. However, the issue is virtually ignored in the news media and in most histories. But many scholars have researched and produced numerous instances of rape and sexual assault of enslaved men and boys.
Sexual abuse was more about power and less about sex. Corporeal punishments functioned as displays of power that constituted sexual violence against enslaved men. Though many slaves tried to fight back and resist, it resulted in bad outcomes. Furthermore, court records and letters from the 1800s reveal that white women, not just men, took advantage of their power.
In "Rethinking Rufus: Sexual Violations of Enslaved Men," historian Thomas Foster thoroughly examined how the conditions of slavery gave rise to sexual violence against enslaved men and women. Foster researched sexual violence, physical assault and coerced reproduction through a wide range of sources, including early American newspapers, enslavers’ journals, court records, visual art, etc.
Foster also notes the trauma of coerced reproduction, a form of sexual violence where enslaved men and women were forced to bear children in order increase the population of enslaved people. Using interviews and testimonies from formerly enslaved men, he highlights that those who had high reproductive capabilities were often singled out from their communities and relocated to different regions. They were then forced to couple with multiple partners. These men were excused by masters from performing certain types of laborious activities as they feared it could negatively affect their reproductive capabilities.
Why Is This Subject taboo?
Because evidence for the sexual abuse of male slaves is harder to come by compared to that of females, the topic has largely gone unexplored. Also, society tends to define rape along gendered lines, which makes both victims and perpetrators reluctant to discuss male rape.There has been a long and painful history of sexual abuse and exploitation of black men and women under slavery in this country, but it has largely gone untold. Stories of sexual assault have not been fully explored by historians, although passed down in oral histories and traditions.
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Resources and Further reading
This Day in History: First African Slave Ship Arrives in Jamestown