Ar'n't I a Woman: A Book Discussing the Perils of Black Women in the South

Being an African-American and being a woman, these are the two principle struggles thrown at the black woman during and after slavery in the United States. The black woman has a unique story to tell, a story of struggle, solidarity, and passion. Deborah Gray White explains her view by categorizing the hardships and interactions between the female slave and the environment in which the slave was born. First speaking of the mythology created by whites to describe the female slave, she then moves on to differences between male and female slavery, the mobile and frustrating life cycle, the self created network amongst the female community, the associations and customs of the slave family, and the arduous trip from slavery to freedom. 

The author supports the mythology of the female slave by lending the specific examples of the “Mammy” and the “Jezebel”. Using first hand accounts retrieved from the period, a picture is painted of the false images created by whites in the South. Images of the obedient subservient house slave with her life so much more pleasurable then most as well as the dark portrayal of the sexually free “Jezebel” sheds light on the some of the hardships and prejudgments thrust upon the African- American women of the time. White uses numerous written accounts in order to dispel these racist myths and then to portray the horrid consequence of rape, jealousy, and constant inspection inflicted due to the myth. 

For slave women discrimination did not end with the color divide. Different systems were created, one for the man and the other for the woman. The female slave was expected to be productive in many fields of labor. Often the women slaves were made to do field labor as well as working with textiles, all while being pressured to have children and care for them in the mean time. (White, 69) Due to the fact that women were needed to care for the children, most did not attempt to flee to the North.