06/18/2020
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๐Trigger warning ๐
Hello White and Non-Black POC Community,
Do you know this history of breastfeeding and slavery? Itโs a painful demonstration of the intersectional exploitation that Black women endure. Itโs also the part of slavery that White Women lead.
In the 18th century, breastfeeding was perceived as demeaning and uncultured. White mothers tried to avoid it to maintain their stature. Meanwhile, children enslaved women grew healthy, while many white babies were dying. And so, enslavers found another way to extract resources from enslaved womenโs bodies: breastmilk. White women timed their pregnancies with that of their Black wet nurses, forcing Black mothers to dedicate the majority of their milk to their white children, neglecting the health and nurturing of their own. Enslaved others were often taken away from their babies for long periods of time. They tried to keep their children alive by feeding them substitutes for milk - (cow milk and dirty water) - but inevitably the death rates of enslaved babies began to rise.
Being a wet nurse created additional trauma for Black women, on top of traditional forms of slave labor. It separated them from established kinship networks, made it difficult to bond with their children, created complex nursing relationships with white babies who would grow up to own them, they were often rejected by their husbands, especially after the death of their own child and they were at increased risk of being r***d by enslaver masters and their sons.
White women managed this part of the slave trade, capitalizing on black breast milk for their own children and determining market value for Black wet nurses. They graded Black wet nurses based on their breastfeeding skill level, whether the white children they nursed in the past ended up healthy, and whether or not their milk was โfresh.โ Freshness was determined by the age of the enslaved wet nursesโ infant. The older their infant, the less valuable their milk. Enslaved wet nurses whose infant died soon after childbirth were considered most valuable, because they could give more time and resources to white children.
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