Posted: Wed 03 Jun 2009 03:07 Post subject: Antebellum Boston and the Elizabeteh Bright case
Frank wrote about the first case (Robinson kidnappers) in his book. The "black" child was predominately white and the Robinsons (with the assistance of the AA community) were pure kidnappers taking the child away from her adoptive parents. She was not a slave.
Quote:
The Fugitive and the Community
The participation of blacks in action to abolish slavery and overcome racial injustice intensified the feeling of community among Boston's black people. One of the most important activities involving large segments of the black population was aiding fugitive slaves. Sometimes fugitive aid in Boston was an individual effort, but more often it was a group concern. In 1827 John and Sophia Robinson were convicted of withholding a five-year-old black child, Elizabeth, from her white guardian whom they feared would sell her into slavery. The Robinsons, who were part of no organized antislavery group, received four months in jail for this act,
but the child was never recovered, having "disappeared into the black community." 1 A similar case arose in 1836 when blacks were successful in convincing the court to withhold a six-year-old black girl from Mary Slater of Louisiana. Mrs. Slater's husband was owner of the child's mother, and Mrs. Slater had claimed the right to return the child to Louisiana. Individual blacks, most of whom were not involved formally in organized abolitionist action and whose names do not appear on membership lists of local antislavery groups, were instrumental in bring
ing this action and in sheltering the child. 2
The Peculiar Kidnapping Case of Elizabeth Bright
Anne Marie Reardon
The Massachusetts Historical Review, Vol. 8, (2006), pp. 34-71
(article consists of 38 pages)
Published by: Massachusetts Historical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25081204
It's surprising that they only got 4 months in jail.
The problem the authorities had was in retrieving the little girl. The kidnappers and their friends had kept her for over a year, passing her from one house to another, always a step ahead of the law. In the end, a reduced-charge deal was worked out. Return the girl and everybody walks. They returned the girl and everybody walked.
BlackHaze wrote:
Question for Frank. In the essay you wrote that one hypothesis denies that Latin America has passing literature. What do you mean by that?
"Passing" literature is about someone who, although born into the Black community, looks completely White and does not consider himself or herself Black. The conflict in such literature is between the person's appearance/self-identity on the one hand, and their secret hidden Blackness on the other. No such literature exists anywhere outside the U.S. because everywhere outside the U.S. if you look White, and consider yourself White, then you are White, socially and legally.
To see this, just imagine a U.S. novel about a short boy born into a tall family. Upon reaching manhood, he considers himself short due to his appearance. According to the novel's narration, he is really secretly tall (because he was born into a tall family) and just passing for short (because he is physically short). The novel's tension is that he might be found out, and his shortness revealed to be a lie. Halfway into the novel he is recognized by a tall friend or relative. Will the tall person keep his secret (that our hero is just pretending to be short)? Or will the tall person betray him, revealing that although he is physically very short (under 5', say) he is actually invisibly tall, thus causing his humiliation and expulsion from short society,
Sounds silly, doesn't it? It certainly would not sell.
'
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