FFW (5 min): What is the difference between saying "slaves" vs "enslaved people?"
What does each term imply? How do you know?
What do you see?
There is a text panel in the Orientation Gallery at the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters that reads, “Words have Power. They express meanings, ideas, and relationships. They impact how we relate to the past and one another. As we share this history, we strive to use words that are empathetic to those whose history has been marginalized. For example, we use phrases like "enslaved woman," rather than "slave."
The noun slave implies that she was, at her core, a slave (definition: a device, or part of one, directly controlled by another). The adjective "enslaved" reveals that though in bondage, bondage was not her core existence. Furthermore, she was enslaved by the actions of another. Therefore, we use terms like "enslaver," rather than "master," to indicate one’s effort to exert power over another.
Why, then, does the sign in front of the building where enslaved people slept still say, “Slave Quarters”? Well, as the panel says, words do have power, so we’ve debated this one at length. It is important to acknowledge humanity where it exists, assign agency when it was present, and keep language useable and understandable. At the end of the day, the correct terminology would probably be “living quarters for the enslaved people.”
Social Emotional Check-In
The WHY:
Why is it so important to honestly discuss the history of enslavement today?
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