Thomas' Response #2

Dear Tom,

They enslave us--hold us captive against our wills, treat us as mere objects--property to be bartered like goats or bags of sugar, and often subject us to both physical and mental torment--but then have the nerve and audacity to frame us as the villains of the life story.

If all the world's a stage, I am the hero, the martyr. I am Romeo and Juliet and Mercutio. I am a victim to an unjust world that I fought to the last minute to free myself from. Give me liberty, or give me death. I didn't make that up.

By any means necessary. I didn't make that up either.

They would have us believe that our gifts, talents, and abilities are merely the evil workings of uppity negroes. On the contrary, areour flexibility--our ability to mold ourselves and reveal that we are full-ranged people and not 2-dimensional objects that they can do with as they please is what makes us free. You cannot take away a man's freedom unless you take away his mind.

It is likely that your means of escaping your cruel and unjust fate were not as extreme as mine, but we are one in the same. In a world where white men can buy and sell our children and family away--you and I are the beacons of virtue.

Sincerely,

Babo

1. In "Reading the Runaways," Waldstreicher spends a lot of time talking about the underground world of runaway slaves--using trickery and cunning to get by. This reminded me very much of the modern day world of "hustling" or making money through not entirely savory, legal ways. How do you think the two compare? Did the runaways establish this system of a literally black market that continues into today? Is the ability to fool and trick others a necessary part of resisting an oppressive system?

2. How does Benito Cereno complicate our ideas of "good" and "evil", especially in terms of race and identity?