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Reflections on Race and Displacement
- The University of Alabama Press
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reflections on Race and Displacement Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine transnational identity is not always dynamic within the discussion of race in the united States. however, the “race and displacement” symposium held at the university of alabama, tuscaloosa, in october 2009 incorporated this crucial aspect in the discussions. The symposium focused on the concept of racial diasporas—removals, migrations, colonial and postcolonial geographies , and transnational identities, both individual and collective. in order to begin with the premise of displacement, we must first recognize that there is an initial place where people belonged in order for them to be displaced and placed in yet another location. So, as an entry point into the discourse on displacement i examine the following definitions of place: (1) “any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space or appropriated to some definite object of use; position, ground, site, spot”; and (2) a “rarely unbounded space” (Merriam Webster English Dictionary 2004). i take particular interest in the second definition given that i come from the Gullah/ Geechee nation where we still live in what is considered “unbound space” or “open space.” The term is used to refer to planning and development as well as environmental protection for areas lacking buildings and gates. rural communities are largely spaces that are unbound and where there are minimal fences and boundaries from one area to the next. Gullah/Geechees have managed to preserve and perpetuate the african traditions of our ancestors by continuing to live in open and unbounded spaces that allow us the freedom to spiritually connect to and be bound with the land and the waterways over which we consider ourselves stewards. interestingly enough, the Gullah/Geechee culture grew from the soil of the Sea islands (located in the atlantic ocean off the coast of the united States from Jackson- 8 / Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine ville, north Carolina, to Jacksonville, florida) as a result of the displacement of numerous african ethnic groups from that continent to north america. africans from the Senegambia region down to angola, from Madagascar, and from inland parts of the continent were captured and kidnapped and then enslaved on the Sea islands, or what became the largest Carolina Gold rice, Sea island cotton, and indigo plantations of north america. Given the environment of the Sea islands and the extreme similarities of the marshlands to africa , enslaved africans brought to this region were largely able to continue many of the agricultural practices they had already known as well as sea work practices and architectural techniques. The fact that the africans rapidly became the “black majority” in the region, outnumbering the anglo people who were enslaving them, allowed them to preserve and maintain numerous africanisms instead of being assimilated into the mores of the european enslavers. in analyzing the history of the displacement of african peoples in the Sea islands, i examine the word displace, which is defined as “to take over the place, position, or role of (someone or something); force (someone) to leave their home, typically because of war, persecution, or natural disaster; remove from a job or position of authority against their will” (Oxford English Dictionary 2006). The roles africans had played in their homeland as leaders, heads of households, scientists, healers, and the like were changed to a uniform position of chattel by virtue of the transatlantic slave trade. The jobs and positions of authority that africans held on their own continent were not to be a part of their existence after they were transported across the atlantic ocean and sold on auction blocks in Charleston, South Carolina, which became the number one “slave auction block” in the British colonies of north america. in fact, the roles that africans played and the knowledge they brought with them were never acknowledged as they went from being african people to being “slaves.” This new marker was an attempt to force them to become merely farm tools, chattel, and breeders, and not to be considered as whole human beings. Those who continued to preserve their collective consciousness were able to reconstruct their villages on the Sea islands, or what is called now “family compounds.” These are the “places” and “spaces” in which the Gullah/ Geechee culture, language, polyrhythms, and heritage have evolved and flourished . even natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods have not dissolved these communities—many people merely migrated temporarily, returning to rebuild their compounds on the islands, which remain there to this day. as is...