South Carolina

At twelve stories, it was one of the tallest buildings in the nation, certainly it towered over any other structure in the south. The pride of the town.

Industrialisation of South Carolina, its focus on money and Capitalism. Bessie (Cora) is not used to this kind of environment at all.

She walked down the sidewalk as a free woman. No one chased her or abused her. Some of Mrs. Anderson’s circle, who recognised Bessie as her girl, sometimes even smiled.

Cora is free now, but still metaphorically ‘belongs’ to somebody else. The fact that a bare minimum ‘smile’ is seen as particularly friendly or rewarding reveals how even though Cora is not technically a slave anymore, she is still treated as lesser.

“Think I’m gonna spend a quiet night in the quarter, miss Lucy,” Bessie said.

“Dormitory, Bessie. Not quarter.”

“Yes, Miss Lucy.”

“Going to, not gonna.”

“I am working on it.”

Reveals how in South Carolina, Bessie (Cora) is being re-taught how to speak in more “standard” American English, more how like white people spoke at the time. This can further demonstrate how although South Carolina had more progressive attitudes towards POC, they still tried to change their behaviours and language, almost like subtly erasing their identity.

“South Carolina is like nothing you’ve ever seen.”

Said by Sam, ambiguous statement. Avoiding stating how their experience is exactly going to be, creating more of a mystery for Cora and Caesar to discover.

“You’re runaways,” Sam said. “This is who you are now. You need to commit the names and the story to memory.”

Cora and Caesar have to change their identity and let go of the past in order to be free. Reveals how even though they have escaped, their identity will always be tied down to being slaves.

They would have to learn how to walk like freemen.

New beginning for Cora and Caesar.

In the old days, her mother had told her, that half-language was the voice of the plantation…The words from across the ocean were beaten out of them over time…All the words except for the ones locked away by those who still remembered who they had been before. “They keep ‘em hid like precious gold,” Mabel said.

Reveals how slaves’ identities were completely erased, and the ones that remembered had to keep it secret, like something precious.

She hated her. Having tasted freedom’s bounty, it was incomprehensible to Cora that Mabel had abandoned her to that hell.

Cora feels deeply resentful towards her mother, as she left her in the Randall plantation whilst she escaped.

The intelligence test was brief, consisting of playing with wooden shapes and a series of illustrated quizzes.

Infantilising, all doctors would assume that POC were unintelligent and child-like just because they had not been educated.

The exam was painful and made her ashamed, the doctor’s cold attitude was doing nothing to ease her discomfort.

Intrusive, almost violating medical exam Cora has to do, yet she cannot question it.

“My babies, they’re taking away my babies!”

All onlookers including Cora believed the woman to be having a flashback of a traumatic episode on the plantation. However, it is later revealed that his woman was unknowingly sterilised, revealing the systematic racism that operates in South Carolina.

Cora didn’t know what optimistic meant…She decided that it meant trying.

Reveals how many slaves weren’t taught about optimism because they had no reason to on a plantation; most would be stuck there forever.

The first room was scenes from Darkest Africa.

When Cora has to work in the museum, the slavery exhibitions she has to take part in are very inaccurate about slave experiences, and don’t teach the truth of American history and the slave trade. Instead, a very polished story being presented, revealing how people were not properly educated about the true experiences of slaves.’Darkest Africa’ also implies that Africans were underdeveloped and came to America willingly, when actually, they were captured and forced to migrate.

She had numerous suspicions about the accuracy of the African and ship scenes but was an authority in this room. She shared her critique.

Her concerns were not listened to, Mr. Fields genuinely believed that this was the truth.

She burned with shame twice a day when she stripped and got into her costume.

Humiliating experience for Cora, she doesn’t enjoy it. Feels like a spectacle to be looked at instead of a survivor of slavery to be listened to. It also reminds her of the plantation.

The children banged on the glass and pointed at the types in a disrespectful fashion…

As if Cora is a spectacle to be ridiculed and mocked.