Opening Activity
Read the following passages:
Passage 1
The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so
intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there
for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on
the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo
were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The
closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to
the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had
scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This pro-
duced copious perspirations, so that the air soon became
unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and
brought on a sickness among the slaves. . . .
—First-person account of conditions on a slave ship
during the Middle Passage, from Olaudah
Equiano, The Life of Gustavus Vassa
Passage 2
The pungent aroma of backed-up toilets, unwashed bodies,
decaying food, mold and who knows what else. Sweltering
heat. An awful din. Rumors of unspeakable crimes. . . .
“I can’t stand to even look at pictures of that time,” said
Terrie Green, 41, who went to the Superdome with her three
children and infant granddaughter on Tuesday, August 30,
after being rescued from their flooded Ninth Ward home.
By the time we got out of there we were all sick. Sick from
the heat, sick from that stink that was there. Just worn out.”
Because of the heat—outside temperatures soared into
the high 90s, and it reached an estimated 125 degrees inside
the Superdome—the family, including little Alea, only 2 days
old when the storm hit, moved to the concourse that runs
around the exterior.
The heat took a toll on the baby, who developed a rash
and became dehydrated. After they evacuated to Houston,
the infant was hospitalized for a week.
“She’s still kind of sickly,” said Green, who remains in
Houston looking for work.
—Description of conditions in the New Orleans
Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, from Mary
Foster, “There was the fear, the heat, the misery,
but most of all—the smell,” Associated Press,
August 27, 2006
Questions:
1. What similarities can you identify between the description of conditions in the two passages?
2. Do you think the comparison of the two situations is valid? In other words, is it accurate or acceptable to compare the two situations? Why? Why not?
3. How might your views on the evacuation of Katrina victims be different, if this hadn't happened in New Orleans, but in a place that had little history of slavery?
4. Would your views be different if you were from a different racial, or ethnic group? If you were poor, rather than middle class? If you were a man, rather than a woman, or a woman, rather than a man?
5. CLICK HERE. Read the account of life for Katrina survivors in the FEMA trailer park known as Renaissance Village. In what ways might conditions in this trailer park be similar to conditions in quarters inhabited by slaves? Is this a valid comparison? Why?
