Stanley Elkins sees the African American slave as the lazy Sambo, but failed to examine the reason behind such behavior. Slaves often "played dumb" and worked slowly as a form of resistance to their masters, causing them to fall into the Sambo role.
"The one doctrine of my mother's teaching which was branded upon my senses was that I should never let anyone abuse me. "I'll kill you, gal, if you don't stand up for yourself," she would say. Fight, and if you can't fight, kick; if you can't kick, then bite"
Dangerous Memories, pg 100
Slave resistance took on many forms. Each for of resistance had itŐs own scale of severity and risks. It ranged from day to day resistance and went as far as planned revolts. The day to day actions against a master would include playing dumb, breaking tools and working slow. Such behavior would be expected from Elkins's Sambo, but with out the justified reason that a slave has. Harriet Jacobs, an escaped slave who wrote a narrative, would pretend not to know how to read to avoid abusive notes from her master: "I let them pass, as if I did not understand what he meant." (pg31). She would ignore her masterŐs signs as a way of maintaining some control. Minor resistance, like Jacob's "ignorance", would not remedy her situation, but it would force the master to work harder to dominate the slave. This challenge to her master would register a small unwritten disgust with his treatment and with her situation.
Another step on the resistance scale was education. Although most slaves were not allowed to be educated, they would teach themselves how to read and write. Some generous masters granted selected slaves the privilege of an education, usually household or urban slaves. When Fredrick Douglass's mistress "who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else." (pg59). Douglass's lessons were finished when his master disapproved, but Douglass resisted and would seek the "hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge." (pg60). "Classes" on a plantation were often held at night and in secret. A slave woman, Milla Granson, would hold a class teaching her fellow slaves to write. By blatantly resisting a master's order, slaves were able to feel like they had some power over their own lives.
Elkins depicts a slave who is lazy and ignorant, but fails to see why. He refused to give credit where credit was due. He did not believe that slaves were capable of handling an education, or think rationally about resistance. Slaves behaved so to assert some power over their master. Maintaining a slave's ignorance was a logical step by the master, but defying a master was possible for the slave. The day to day resistance of slaves was usually very impulsive, but some resistance was carefully planed (i.e. School, the underground railroad). One of the most carefully planned forms of resistance was a rebellion. The most famous of these: Nat Turner.
Introduction Page, Stanley Elkins, Next Page: Nat Turner's Rebellion
All page numbers refer to each narative respectively: