Still Property

[...] in all of Baby’s life, as well as Sethe’s own, men and women were moved around like checkers. Anybody Baby Suggs knew, let alone loved, who hadn’t run off or been hanged, got rented out, loaned out, bought up, brought back, stored up, mortgaged, won, stolen or seized. So Baby’s eight children had six fathers. What she called the nastiness of life was the shock she received upon learning that nobody stopped playing checkers just because the pieces included her children.

Children being ripped away from their parents was a common theme during slavery. “Rented out, loaned out, bought up, brought back, stored up, mortgaged, won, stolen or seized.” if you weren’t given any context you would think that this sentences describes property. Based on time period this book was written this sentences perfectly describes how slaves were seen as, property.  Slaves were regarded and treated as property. It wasn’t until Uncle Sam’s Cabin came out that slaves were regarded as something other than property.

In today's world you can make the argument that the great grand children of slaves specifically  minorities are still treated as property. Obviously this is a big claim to make but if you look at the prison complex and it disproportionately affects minorities. People are moved around and sentenced as if they were property. Even though the US is 5% of the world's population it accounts for 25% of the world prison population.  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the NAACP for short, reports that African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of their white counterpart. In 2008, African American and Hispanics made up 58% of all prisoners, despite making up only approximately one quarter of the US population. Many former inmates face challenges trying to reenter into society when they are released. They are legally discriminated against for employment and housing. I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be legal to discriminate, I’m saying that it’s understandable to believe why someone would make the argument that African Americans as well as other minorities are still treated as property.