The Mark of Slavery: Disability, Race, and Gender in Antebellum America Volume 1 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780252085703)

Exploring the disability history of slavery

Time and again, antebellum Americans justified slavery and white supremacy by linking blackness to disability, defectiveness, and dependency. Jenifer L. Barclay examines the ubiquitous narratives that depicted black people with disabilities as pitiable, monstrous, or comical, narratives used not only to defend slavery but argue against it. As she shows, this relationship between ableism and racism impacted racial identities during the antebellum period and played an overlooked role in shaping American history afterward. Barclay also illuminates the everyday lives of the ten percent of enslaved people who lived with disabilities. Devalued by slaveholders as unsound and therefore worthless, these individuals nonetheless carved out an unusual autonomy. Their roles as caregivers, healers, and keepers of memory made them esteemed within their own communities and celebrated figures in song and folklore.

Prescient in its analysis and rich in detail, The Mark of Slavery is a powerful addition to the intertwined histories of disability, slavery, and race.

Author: Jenifer L. Barclay
ISBN-10: 0252085701
ISBN-13: 9780252085703
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Language: English
Published: 04/13/2021
Pages: 264
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2021 pg. 100
Choice 03/01/2022