Even before watching “12 Years A Slave” I was surprised after listening to people talk about it and reading their reactions to it. It’s amazing how many Black people don’t have a clue about our history and how common the capturing and kidnapping of Black runaway slaves (as well as free Blacks) and taking them into slavery was, and the years of controversy it created in this country over it.
Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1793, but because it had been weakened by various states and other laws, and the fact that the number of runaway slaves was increasing every year into the hundreds, the Southern plantation owners turned up the heat on the president and Congress to pass a stronger fugitive slave law or they were going to secede from the union. They simply could not run their business of slavery profitably with so many slaves escaping to the north every year.
So in 1850 the Fugitive Slave Law was passed as a part of a compromise stating that all escaped slaves upon capture be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in the law. It penalized officials who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave and made them liable for a $1,000 fine, which equals $28,000 today.
Law enforcement officers were required to arrest persons suspected of being runaways on as little as a claimant’s sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. Any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
Officers who captured a runaway slave were entitled to a hefty bonus. Slave owners needed only to supply an affidavit to a Federal Marshall to capture an escaped slave. Since any suspected slave was not eligible for a trial the law resulted in kidnapping of free Blacks into slavery because suspected fugitive slaves had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.
This led to bounty hunters and others seeking fast easy money by simply finding a Black person close to the description, claim they were the runaway and thus take them back into slavery and get the cash.
It also opened the door for even more of the Solomon Northrop incidents where free Blacks were tricked into slavery because of the still open slave trade on the eastern shores of the Southern states. The Northrop incident occurred in 1841 during the height of the fugitive slave battle between Southern Slavers and Northern Free-Soilers.
No, Solomon Northrop was not an exception to the rule. He was one of many free Blacks who were captured and sold into slavery. Most had been free all their lives. Unlike Solomon who only spent 12 years as a slave, most captured Blacks had to spend the rest of their lives in bondage.
Many people said they don’t like movies like this because it makes them angry. Well, maybe we need to be made angry, even mad, sometimes, because this was part of our history, part of this country’s history, and we, Blacks and Whites, especially our young, need to know about it. We need more movies that make us think.
After this law, the Underground Railroad, and other anti-slavery groups had to take runaway slaves to Canada because it was no longer safe for them in the northern and eastern states.
Thank God enough of us, Blacks and Whites, supported this movie and our responses were so positive that the movie industry saw fit to give it the Oscar as the Best Movie of the year, Lupita Nyong’o received the Best Supporting Actress award for her great performance, and Chiwetel Ejiofor was nominated as Best Actor. This should open the door for more movies like this.
I agree it deserved Best Movie because it entertained as well as educated. If you haven’t seen it, you need to.
2013 was a great year for Black film and “12 Years A Slave” was just one of many outstanding films featuring Blacks.
“The Butler” starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey was another great movie depicting the Jim Crow system, which was slavery in another form.
For those of you who are still upset after watching those two just pick up “Django” starring Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson. You will get some satisfaction from that one.
Other movies to watch on DVD are: “Winnie Mandela” a great movie starring Jennifer Hudson; “Olympus Has Fallen,” Morgan Freeman; “Think Like A Man,” all star cast; “White House Down,” Jamie Foxx; “The Colony,” Laurence Fishburne; “Steel Magnolias “ all star cast in this Black version; “Just Wright” beautiful love story starring Queen Latifah and Common; “Mister & Pete” a touching story of a Black kid and Asian kid surviving the streets of New York City with no parents; “Contradictions of the Heart” very different; “Endless Summer” no name cast of kids spending their summer break; “Tower Heist” Eddie Murphy; “Not Easily Broken” Morris Chestnut; “Preacher’s Kid” no name cast; “42” a classic; “After Earth” a terrible movie starring Will and Jaden Smith; “Star Trek—Into Darkness” with Zoe Saldana; “Red Tails” about the Tuskegee Airmen; “2Guns” starring Denzel Washington; “The Samaritan” starring Samuel L. Jackson. Tyler Perry has several offerings with all but “Madea’s Witness Protection” being outstanding. They are: “Alex Cross,” “Good Deeds,” “Temptation,” and “Peeples” all great.
One that’s coming soon will be “Black Nativity” starring Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker. Angela won the NAACP’s Image Award as Best Actress for her role in it. It was excellent. “Mandela” which is still playing at theaters will soon join this list. But the best of them all is “The Best Man Holiday” which is as good as the original “The Best Man” which is a classic. The all-star cast returned and was even better than before.
(Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
