GWST 1502 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Afua Cooper, Code Noir

• School: York University
• Department: Gender and Women's Studies
• Course: GWST 1502
• Professor: Kristine Klement

Document Summary

Afua cooper, the secret of slavery in canada (h&r, pp. Patriarchal slavery- (1) extended family structure and (2) white men"s ownership and control of the woman and her body. Code noir- proclaimed slaves as property allowing them to be bought, sold, and traded. I n our everyday lives, we invoke the metaphors of slavery. For example, if you feel you are being exploited you might say, "i am being treated like a slave. " yet few people actually know about the slavery that they constantly refer to – the transatlantic trade in enslaved africans. Recognizing the marginality of the slave experience in western historical discourses and consciousness, the un has expressed concern that it has taken the international community 200 years to acknowledge slavery as a crime against humanity. The silence, i believe, is directly connected to the fact that during the period when these heinous activities took place, black people were turned into objects.