Slavery at Oak Alley || Kalyani Rama

Too many intoxicating Southern magnolias were in bloom all around me this morning, and I was thinking of Billie Holiday’s song, “Strange Fruit”-

 “Southern trees bear a strange fruit

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant South

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

The scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck

For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop

Here is a strange and bitter crop.”

 

We were in the deep south today, in Vacherie, Louisiana. We went to see the Oak Alley sugar plantation. I had not seen any slavery site before, and looking around the plantation and listening to the stories of the slaves, I was extremely sorrowful. From its 28 Oaks to the vast open landscape, Oak Alley told us a story of a plantation, written with blood and whips.

 

Jacques and Celina Roman were the owners of Oak Alley and had 106 slaves. A human being, a slave, was bought with money like any other animal. The price of a 52-year-old slave, Adeline, was $50. 

 

 

They explained the difference between slaves that were considered Creole and those who were considered American. Creole women were born in Louisiana, spoke French, and were knowledgeable about the Sugar plantations. American women were born outside of Louisiana, spoke English, and were not very knowledgeable about sugar plantations.

 

The house slaves had lighter color skin whereas the field slaves had darker skin.

 

 

Slaves owned little to no posessions, and lived in dismal conditions. They did not even have any toilets before emancipation.

 

 

 

I was looking around the slave quarters and was thinking about all the abuse and torture they had to go through. Tears were swelling up in my eyes.

 

I started thinking about the maids and servants we have back home still today. In Bangladesh and India, in every middle class, upper-middle-class, and upper-class household, maids and servants do not get to eat the same food as the owners of the household. The rice they eat will be coarse, not as fine as the rice which other members of the house eat.

The maids sleep on the floor, and eat from tin plates, never those made of glass.

They are forced to use separate bathrooms. These bathrooms are typically in the Indian style where there is no commode. Instead, they use a pan- a person's body does not touch the pan.

They are not allowed to sit on any chairs, beds, or sofas in the house; they just dust them. 

They cook, clean, wash dishes and clothes by hand, water the plants, look after the children, and basically work day and night like a machine for very little pay. Normally, nobody fetches a glass of water for themselves in a household, or switches on the ceiling fan; they wait for the maid to do it for them.

In America, we get cleaning ladies for $30 an hour, which is reasonable labor; and they are paid that much for cleaning the house only.

If we were to give a good salary to the maids and servants in Bangladesh and India, the situation could be tolerated. But what we have right now is little better than slavery!