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  • WH(R)I(C)T(E)E, or, Threshing/White/Rice
  • Sun Yung Shin (bio)

Due to the omission of this crop in their European culture, English colonists who settled the rich North American land lacked the expertise required for the production of rice. Thus, the huge task of cultivating, processing, and packaging rice on South Carolina Plantations was commonly assigned to slaves.

From the lesson plan "The Role of African Slaves on South Carolina Rice Plantations," Teaching American History in South Carolina*

omission settled the rich
north American
land lacked European culture
what is required is expertise
enterprising colonists
cultivation of the Golden Seede from Madagascar
carolina colonies of the Cape Fear region of America
attorney general call him Sir Robert Heath
lords proprietors of the proprietary of the proper property
proper eaters of poverties
black water river of Cape Fear spent with ye Indians turning up against ye wind
because labor was scarce in the region
region was scarce in the labor
because the crop by hand by
because the climate similar to where the slaves
because the crop was grown in the same
payment of rents to the British Proprietors
so much depends on ponds and hands glazed with rain water
rising forced fresh water
by 1700 south carolina was exporting 400,000 pounds of rice
the end of slavery caused serious problems for the U.S. rice industry
the war caused a serious lack of capital
the end of war A Serious Lack
because the hands a crop a
because pounds of
because red isn't always a wheelbarrow
because to eat upon
fields of
white thus the huge task

[End Page 34]

Sun Yung Shin

Sun Yung Shin is the editor of A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, the author of the poetry collections Unbearable Splendor; Rough, and Savage; and Skirt Full of Black (all from Coffee House Press), a coeditor of Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, and the author of a bilingual illustrated book for children, Cooper's Lesson. She currently lives in Minneapolis.

Footnotes

* http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/TheRoleofAfricanSlavesonSouthCarolinaRicePlantations.html

Note: Other facts in this poem are taken from Steven Linscombe's "The History of U.S. Rice Production – Part 1" on the website of Louisiana State University AgCenter (http://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals/our_offices/research_stations/rice/features/publications/the-history-of-us-rice-production—part-1), the "Cape Fear River" Wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CapeeFeareRiver), and "History of Rice" on the website of American Rice, Inc. (http://www.amrice.com/6-0.cfm). [End Page 35]

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