You can look at the previous “Sign of the Timez” by searching my profile for;
- Child of the Cave
- Were you there?
- Princess Hostage
- Gods Bride
- Satans Witch
I was sitting on a porch drinking lemonade. As I looked around, I noticed that the house was big. There were no other houses that I could see. There was a fancy garden and I could see fields of what appeared to be cotton. As I looked down at myself, I could see that I was wearing the most beautiful dress that I had ever seen. It was white with lace and a nice purple ribbon belt. At least the magic book now sent me to a place where I would not suffer too much. I figured that I was on some farm that was in the 19th century.
I noticed a girl sitting next to me. She was talking and talking, She was a bit older than me, and wore a dress that was as beautiful as mine. Besides I realized that she talked a lot, I also guessed she was my older sister. I also knew that she had a high opinion of herself. She seemed to like to talk about how pretty and talented she was. I was being polite and nodded as she boasted and thought that she was God's gift to humankind.
I asked the black boy that was standing next to us if he did not want to sit down and eat some breakfast. This made my sister laugh and she slapped him across the face and ask why would a slave eat with us. They should eat with the animals! This made me mad. She slapped the boy that was doing his best to serve us. She was racist! He was black and that did not make him subhuman! He could be smarter than we were. She had no right to say what she did and she had no right to treat him the way she did. I wanted to console him and hug him.
Then it hit me. The book transported me to a time in America when there were slaves. Black people were kidnapped from Africa and sold as slaves in America. These slaves were often treated worse than animals. The magic book had sent me to places where my life was often in danger and I was the victim. This time it would be harder. I would not be the victim. I would be the person that victimises others. This would be impossible for me. I could not be dominant and boss people around. I was not racist! How would I survive here?
When my sister slapped the boy, I told her that there was no need to do that. I tried to convince her that we had to respect everyone despite their colour. This made my sister laugh and said that he was only a slave. When he was too slow or did something wrong, then the only thing that he understood was a slap. It also reminded him of his place in the world. I could feel the rage build inside me. I shouted at my sister that she should keep silent. Then a man who I guessed was our Dad came towards us. He asked me if the heat was getting to me and If I felt sick. At any rate, he suggested that I rest inside today and not be out in the sun.
I did what he said. I decided that I would do my best to best to avoid my sister. I did not like her at all. She was a racist and evil in the way she treated others. The thing was that I found out my whole family were this way. My mother just sat around painting or doing some creative things while she ordered the slaves to satisfy her smallest desire. She would also get mad at them if they did something wrong. I saw her throw a cup at one slave! This world seemed to be inhumane. It was scary and it was so wrong.
There were several things that I noticed. While we were in pretty clothes made of the finest materials, the slave wore old dull clothes. They looked so tired and so afraid. It made me think that the slaves were once happy and proud people that had a good life in Africa. They were free and had their own traditions and customs. Now they lived here in and were treated as animals. They were no longer free. They were my parent's property!
My first day in this world was a day full of shocks. I was happy that night when it was time for me to go to bed. I could dream of my real family in 2020. I could dream of a time when there were coloured children in my class. Some were smarter than me and they were great friends. I never thought of them having a different colour than me. They were free and equal. This is the way that it should be!
It turned out that I had my own slave. Her name was Alice. She did not say a word and always looked down. She was tidying and then told me that she would help me get dressed for bed. This surprised me a bit and was a bit embarrassed. I told Alice to sit on the chair. I did not need her help getting dressed. She looked terrified when I said this and asked if was mad at her. I smiled and told her of course I was not.
My sister came in and ordered Alice not to be lazy as she should be working. Then she looked at me and asked me what was wrong with me. She told me that I was being too soft and reminded me that I had to follow the rules, customs and traditions of society. I had to have southern pride. This meant I had my place in society and Alice had to know her place. If I let Alice think that she was more important than she was, then it would only be bad for both Alice and me. Alice would be punished and everyone would think that I was an abolitionist, which would bring shame to the family.
I did not care what my sister thought. I knew that I was not a racist and had I had no wish to be the owner of any other human being and did not think that because I was white, this made me better. Still, I knew that I came from 2020 and after a civil war in the USA and countless interracial tensions, most people thought in a different way. This was not the case in the 19th century. White people thought they were created in God's image and had the right to treat people that were not white as inferior.
I had to see for myself. So the next day, I did not say a word to my parents or my sister. I did not show any anger when they treated a slave harshly. After breakfast, I told them that I wanted to take a walk. Dad told me to take Alice with me. When Alice and I were walking, I told her that I did not consider her my slave. I wanted her to be my friend. Alice did not trust me and did not know what to say. She was silent for a bit and then told me that she could not be my friend as that was not allowed. Alice was afraid of what would happen if others found out.
I asked her to take me to the place where the slaves lived. So we walked through some fields where I could see slaves working with cotton. They were of all ages from very old people to small children. I could see that they were working very hard. They looked so sad and some looked afraid. They especially looked afraid when a man on a horse carrying a whip came close to them. If they were not working hard enough, they would get a lash with the whip. Alice explained he was the overseer and everyone was afraid of him.
The slaves lived in small shacks. They were poorly built and very small. Alice showed me where her mother lived. She was out in the fields, but her grandmother was there. She was taking care of a small baby. Alice told me that she had 9 brothers and sisters and they all lived here. Alice had to sleep on the floor in my room so she missed them. I did not say anything as I was shocked. There was hardly any furniture in the shack. It looked so inhumane that I wondered should a dog even be kept in a place like this. The shack was smaller than my bedroom. How could 8 children and Alice’s mother, father and grandmother live here? At the same time, I could see that they had pride. They did their best to make it look like a home. From what Alice told me, what they lacked in material ways, the house was filled with love.
As we were walking out of the shack, I saw my Dad that was on his horse. He was not happy to have seen me. He ordered me to go back to the house. Later he wanted me to stand attention and want to know what I was doing in the slave camp. I tried to explain that I just wanted to see it. This got Dad mad and told me it was not a place for his child to be. Under no circumstances, was I allowed to visit the slave camp again. I did not understand why but I knew that it was very wrong of me to go there, as he was mad and Alice was punished.
I wanted the magic book to take me from here as well as Alice.
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