Comprehensive Study Notes: African History, the Middle Passage, and the Social Construction of Whiteness
Administrative and Exam Review
Midterm Schedule:
The midterm exam will be held this coming Sunday.
A physical study guide was distributed during class on Wednesday; no electronic copies will be provided. Attendance is mandatory to receive one.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), the class will watch the fourth movie required for the midterm.
Group Project:
Instructions for the group project will be introduced next week.
Midterm Essay:
The exam includes an in-class essay based on one of the four movies shown.
A student asked if citations are required; the professor stated that all specific instructions regarding the essay format and requirements will be included on the exam paper itself. There will be no advance specific details provided on the study guide.
Exam Performance Statistics:
Distribution of grades: 15 (A range), 3 (B range), 3 (C range), 1 (D range), and 3 (F range).
The professor emphasized that everyone can still achieve an A in the course, provided they perform well on the upcoming midterm.
There was a three-way tie for the highest score of points between Sam, Christian, and another student.
High scores on the previous exam were achieved by Rain and Rebecca.
Exam Content Breakdown:
Question 1: Identifying the richest (Answer: B).
Question 2: External factors for African decline (Answer: Foreign invasion).
Question 3: Symbol the heart is weighed against in the moral/ethical guide (Answer: Truth/Maat - though transcript just refers to it as "a symbol").
Question 4: European confusion regarding African education referred to as the "mystery system" (Answer: Educating women and children).
Question 5: Which is not a factor of identity (Answer: Education).
Question 6: Source of early rulers of Kemet (Answer: Nubia).
Question 7: Second leg of the colonial European trade route (Answer: Middle Passage).
Question 8: The "four r w method" in The Ingram (Answer: Read, recall, retain, and a fourth element designated as "d").
Question 9: Requirements to graduate in Greek Hebrew (Answer: Memorize the Quran and learn multiple languages; attending school between AM and PM was noted as incorrect because the actual hours were to or to ).
Question 10: Modern country never colonized (Answer: Ethiopia).
Southern vs. Northern Cradle Characteristics:
Land as collective property: Southern Cradle.
Children inherit from fathers: Northern Cradle.
Women cannot divorce husbands: Northern Cradle.
"Mom picture spots" (Matrilineal): Southern Cradle.
Excess babies discarded: Northern Cradle.
Short Answer Requirements:
Ankh (Onc): Students had to draw and label this symbol. It consists of three parts:
The top loop (opening): Motherhood.
The vertical line: Fatherhood.
The horizontal bar/notches: Children.
Nile Valley Contributions: Five contributions required, such as time, astrology, mathematics, education, and metalworking.
Dynamics of Domination: Six dynamics, with students required to use three to describe how someone is dominated:
Erasement.
Dressing culture.
Teaching white supremacy.
Preventing parents from socializing their own children.
Denying or breaking the "will" or "welcome power" of the individuals.
Keeping groups separated.
Extra Credit:
Fill in the blank: "Education, because of its standing, cannot be neutral."
Student Janae correctly identified the concept of "good or bad" being tied to this neutrality.
The Middle Passage and the Economics of Slavery
The Voyage and Arrival:
The Middle Passage lasted approximately and covered .
Captives arrived at major ports including New Orleans, Louisiana; Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia.
Accounts from former captives like Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince detail the humiliation of being stripped, hold down, oiled, and inspected multiple times like livestock.
The Sales Process:
The Auction Block: Brokers would shave the heads and beards of captives to hide gray hairs and use palm oil to make everyone look middle-aged and healthy.
The Scramble: A method where up to captives were confined to a pen. Buyers would rush in all at once and grab individual Africans to take to their corner. This is the origin of the term "to corner the market."
Quantitative Data and Pricing:
George Washington purchased a male slave in for .
In , he paid for another slave, complaining that prices were rising.
The professor calculated that in the s is approximately equal to today.
By the mid-, healthy slaves sold for over , which is approximately in modern currency.
Legal Prohibitions and Smuggling:
Britain declared the slave trade illegal in .
The United States followed one year later in .
Illegal smuggling continued via ships with sails painted black to avoid detection; these ships landed in Brazil, Cuba, and the American Eastern Seaboard until .
The final slave ship from Africa is believed to have sailed for Brazil in , which was after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Cultural Preservation:
Runaway slave advertisements from the s and s frequently mentioned that the individuals spoke Arabic, French, or specific African languages, proving they were not "without culture" as often claimed.
Mesoamerican History and Global Navigation
The Olmecs:
Predate the Mayans and the Aztecs and are considered their ancestors.
Civilization flourished in Southern Mexico states like Veracruz and Tabasco.
The professor argues the Olmecs were West African in origin, citing high linguistic similarities, identical bird customs, and crop rotation techniques.
Scientific Evidence: The specific rock formation used in Olmec colossal heads comes from a quarry not found in Mexico; it has been traced back to Africa.
Global Contact and Navigation:
Africans were circumnavigating and mapping the world long before the people of Mali began their famous explorations.
Christopher Columbus utilized Moroccan intelligence to choose a route that used currents to travel faster, rather than simply sailing straight.
The Taino: These were the native inhabitants of the Caribbean encountered by Columbus.
The Line of Demarcation:
Pope Alexander VI arbitrarily drew a line dividing the world between Spain and Portugal.
Consequently, everyone below the line (e.g., Brazil) speaks Portuguese, and everyone above/west (e.g., Mexico) speaks Spanish.
These are considered colonial languages, as no one in those regions spoke them prior to contact.
Conceptual Framework: Enslavement vs. Slavery
Definition of a "Slave":
In this academic context, a slave is someone who has no identity outside of being a slave. It is viewed as their natural state or nature.
Example: Alfred Pennyworth from Batman. He identifies as a butler by nature and heritage ("for centuries, my family has served the Waynes"). He does not challenge the role; it is his identity.
Definition of "Enslaved":
To be enslaved is to exist under a social condition or construction while constantly challenging that condition.
Examples include Harriet Tubman and the Africans taken during the Middle Passage.
Enslavement occurs through four primary methods:
Warfare.
Trickery.
Banditry.
Kidnapping.
The Commercial Transaction:
Those engaging in the trade viewed humans as numbers and commercial transactions to avoid the moral reality of their actions.
The African Holocaust and Global Economic Shifts
Holocaust Definition:
A morally monstrous act against humanity that affects not just the victims, but all of humanity.
It involves the loss of life, the loss of culture, and the loss of future possibilities.
Example: The Native Mono people of the current local land have lost much of their original language and heritage, though descendants are working to reconstruct it.
The Dynamic of African Decline vs. European Rise:
African Decline: Caused by massive depopulation reaching into the millions. The loss of mostly men resulted in a loss of skilled labor, food progress, and economic disruption, leading to permanent underdevelopment.
European/American Rise: Achieved overdevelopment through enslaved labor.
Key industries fueled by slavery: Textiles (Cotton, Indigo), Tobacco, Sugar, Rum, Banking, and Insurance (e.g., Lloyd's of London, which started as a coffee house).
The Development of Whiteness and Colonial Structures
Colonialism Types:
Settler Colonialism: Extending an empire by sending families to settle permanently (e.g., British in America developing "New York").
Exploitative Colonialism: Entering a country strictly to take resources without settlement (e.g., British in India).
Imperialism Types:
Direct Imperialism: "Boots on the ground" controlling the government daily.
Indirect Imperialism: Setting up a puppet government and installing someone who will do what the imperial power wants.
Social Engineering of "Whiteness":
Whiteness was an invented social category used to build a national identity and justify control.
At various points, the Irish and Italians were not considered "white" because they did not fit the desired mold.
Identity was shifted from individual cultural ethnic origins (German, Italian, etc.) to a loyalty to the state.
Christianity as a Tool for Control:
Used to differentiate between those who were "civilized" and "sinners/non-Christians."
The Bible was used to justify social hierarchies including sexism and xenophobia without necessarily changing its literal words.
Questions & Discussion
Discussion on "The Book of Eli":
The class watched two scenes where the antagonist, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), desperately wants a Bible to use its "words" to control the masses in a post-apocalyptic world.
Student Reaction (Diamond): Expressed shock that movies like "The Book of Eli" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" (where Jack Sparrow is shown freeing slaves) hide actual history in plain sight while audiences focus on the action.
Professor's Response: Confirmed that the military and war departments review movies before they are released; film is a powerful engine for conditioning and influencing the public.
Discussion on Xenophobic Christianity (20 versus 1 Video):
The class watched a video of a woman advocating for xenophobic nationalism rooted in "white European Christian identity."
Professor's Analogy: Challenged the "Melting Pot" idea. If everyone is forced to assimilate, it's like a salad where even the lettuce and tomatoes are made to taste like onions. The professor argued that society should be like a salad where the onion tastes like an onion and the lettuce tastes like lettuce, but they are mixed together to create something better while maintaining individuality.
Discussion on H-1B Visas:
Question: What are H-1B visas?
Answer: They are professional visas for individuals with expertise (like Master's or Doctorates) brought into the U.S. to fill needs that Americans are not meeting.
Example: Most nurses in the U.S. historically and currently are Filipino because nursing schools in the U.S. were once under-filled, and the country imported labor to bridge the gap.
Student Reaction (Diamond): Questioned why the colonizers chose to steal people instead of learning how to do things themselves, noting they relied on Africans for agricultural knowledge, cooking, and metallurgy.
Professor's Response: Confirmed that historically, Africans felt a responsibility that everyone should be educated and shared their information, which the colonizers then exploited.