Notorious in the Neighborhood: Sex and Families across the Color Line in Virginia, 1787-1861

by Joshua D. Rothman

Description

This text examines interracial sexual relationships under slavery. While laws militated against interracial sex in Virginia before the Civil War it was ubiquitous throughout the state. The customery toleration of sex across the colour line both supported and undermined racism.

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LoisSusan 882 reviews

There's excellent research and historical data in tbis book. It is a bit harrowing but an excellent way to look at how Enslaved and Free Blacks were treated during the 90 years the book covers.
I found the reading to be easy and accessible to lay amateur studiers of history like myself.
My problem lies with the authors treatment of Enslaved Black Women. He seems to conflate sex with non violent rape. Rape is not about violence it's about consent. Enslaved Women were forced to have children, we know this from slave narratives and the journals/letters/records of owners. Even if an Enslaved Woman persued her white owner sexually it's not consent. White owners had the power to free her and any potential children. That's not consent. Slavery show more removes the mechanism by which the enslaved have the power to consent to sex with those who own or manage them.
The author ignores this with Enslaved men who were assaulted by white women owners. They had no agency to decline sex. It's almost like the autjor thinks slavery is similar to being a servant and it is NOT! show less

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