My recent (and continual) textual saturation of slave narratives and literature has brought about thoughts regarding the very notion of slavery. I’ve been reflecting fairly heavily about an idea that came to mind: I think a fundamental part of the human psyche is very prone to slavery (to be enslaved, and to enslave). More specifically, the idea is that our noetic structure is ingrained with selfishness and that the egotistical mind seeks to trump and conquer all things that seek to rule it.

While the blacks were enslaved physically, the Whites were just as much enslaved to certain notions that probably wreaked just as much havoc on their souls, in the long run, as physical slavery wreaked on the bodies of the blacks. I want to begin delving a little deeper into the religious aspect of this as well, arguing that both black and white acknowledged God and his power and morality, yet both, to a certain extent, enslaved God to their own predetermined causes and ideals. (adapted excerpt from a paper proposal of mine)

Of course, for you readers out there who are Christians, this really just points back to the fall and highlights the perpetual tendency towards self-deification (making oneself god). Indeed, I believe it is the desire for temporal things that brings slavery. When we long and desire for things that WE can give ourselves, we become trapped in a vicious cycle of destructive behavior. This destruction is tangibly evident in the lives of those around us due to our willingness to sacrifice them for our own end, but it is also destructive in an internal sense as we trample the remnant of our soul that still seeks to be made whole, that seeks to be fully restored to God’s image.