House or Field?

House nigger.

There are few, if any, words that are an instant fight started.

A put down from go. This term originated during slavery. It was re-popularized after folk watched Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X.”

For the uninitiated, the argument is as follows: during slavery, lighter skinned, more favored slaves worked in the house, where, supposedly, duties were easier, caring for the master and his family.

Darker, supposedly more aggressive slaves toiled in the fields. Conditions were brutal. For punishment, a house slave may be sent to the field to work for a short period. This would remind them of how good they had it being the master’s personal servant.

In modern times, to be referred to as a house slave (man, I hate that other word), is to be accused of seeking the favor of the oppressor. Often at the expense of your fellow oppressed.

It is implied that house slaves were the reason slave rebellions were squashed. Afraid they would lose their “cushy” jobs, these Negroes told on their brethren.

I want to address some of this silliness from a historical perspective.

For starters, slave revolts were often planned by slaves that could read, as well as organize. Denmark Vessey and Gabriel Prosser come to mind. Historically, the slaves that learned to read were those who were in close proximity to Massa. Vanity Fair did not get delivered to the fields.

Secondly, the slaves who passed on information to other slaves about the goings on in the real world were those who worked in the house. In close proximity to Massa. Where they could get the info. It is easier to want to revolt if you know there is something bigger and better out there.

Finally, many of the house slaves were women. Why? Easy. They did most of the domestic work. Massa rarely had to worry about coming home and finding Bell doodling Missy. Also, Massa often had to work out his own perverse needs. Unless Massa was same sex oriented, it made more sense to have Bell work the kitchen than Kunta.

What were the field workers planning? Negroes who worked the field were usually either fresh off the boat, so they didn’t speak the language. Those born into slavery often never left their area. Kinda like the hood now. They were not aware that life could be, for Black folk, anything other than the horrific work-for-no-pay conditions they saw everyday. Kinda like the hood now. What these field slaves did know, however, was that they, too, could curry favor. Not with Massa, but with his overseer. Field slaves who often sold each other out were appointed to assistant overseer positions. Needless to say, the stories are they were even harder on the other slaves than the white overseers. Kinda like the hood now. Hmmmm…

“Ain’t gon’ cross that gun line, Boss!”

Harriet Tubman once said she freed a thousand slaves. She would have freed a thousand more, had they been willing to recognize that they were slaves.

I wonder who had a harder time remembering they were slaves? Petty men intent on whipping the cotton picker that made them jealous? Or women forced to bind down their teenage daughters’ breasts. This was so the master wouldn’t notice development and engage in perversities with their own daughters.

In light of the fact that Black women were at the forefront of every demand in our history to be treated equally, I guess that’s a foregone conclusion.

Find some records. I think it was field slaves who sold out the rebellions. In Alex Haley’s “Roots”, a well researched historical novel, after one revolt, a master screams at his slaves that “trustin’ ya’ll got us into this mess”.

Who was Massa trusting? Kembo, whom he didn’t know, or someone in his own house?

History aside, I think the time has come to end the insults whether we were of house status. The false pride in claiming field status is equally insane. We have bigger things to worry about, and no one reading this has picked any cotton except out of a bottle of aspirin.

Someone called me a House, ah, “N” on my last job. I am Black. My bosses were Black. I worked with Black children, having forsaken a lucrative private sector career to do so. Couldn’t figure out just whom I was selling out.

Then, I had to consider the source. A woman with a shoulder length curl who figured she was down because she wore “Educated Black Woman” t-shirts and an Africa medallion. She looked like the guy left off the Jungle Brothers' demo. She had not finished high school. Although considerably well off, she made it clear she had no intention of visiting Africa. So many revolutionaries value symbol over substance. For the record, Massa wouldn’t have had her in the house. She wouldn’t have met one of those criteria I mentioned earlier. She would have been in the field, keepin’ the other dudes from crossin’ that gun line.

She was one of those ignoramuses that would ask, almost weekly, what folks were claiming. Kinda like South Central LA.

“House or Field?” she demanded of me.

That was easy. Didn’t even have to think about that one.

“Runaway.”

She didn’t like me after that. More slaves would have been freed had they known there was no honor in any type of slavery.