Education – American History to 1877

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While watching the web series “Ask a Slave,” I was pleasantly surprised by Lizzie Mae’s witty comebacks and the humor she used to educate others. The short videos are based on an actress’s experience posing as a slave at Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. In the series, Lizzie Mae answers questions people ask her. Often time these questions are offensive and almost, if not all, are based on ignorance. I was particularly struck by a homosexual couple who compared their own marriage to the marriage Lizzie Mae faced as a slave.

While there may have been some similarities, like the illegality of their marriage, there are also vast differences. For instance, slave families lived with the constant fear of being permanently separated because of their master’s desires and had to obey their masters or risk death. They were controlled by another human being who thought of them as nothing more than property. The lack of thought or knowledge behind the questions asked to Lizzie Mae, although not entirely surprising, shocked me all the same.

As others have mentioned in their posts, the humor Lizzie Mae used to answer the questions asked of her was enjoyable but should not hide the message behind her videos. These videos point out the general lack of knowledge others possess about history and present a need to show others what helped create the land they now live in. A knowledge about dates is not necessary, rather people need to know of the lifestyle others had and consider the emotions behind the predicaments they faced. Thinking about how others may have felt can greatly change one’s perspectives on an issue.

The Ask A Slave web series offers a humorous yet eye-opening look into how present day Americans view the institution of slavery. In addition to highlighting the ignorance of those asking questions, the series suggests that their completely misconstrued assumptions and queries also reflect poorly on the way slavery is taught. Furthermore, the equally uninformed people asking these questions demonstrate how myths about slavery have lasted over time and that more attention is needed in correcting these problematic misconceptions.

As Rebecca alluded to in her post, one misconstruction that a character had was that Lizzie Mae’s position as a slave was one that she applied for and that it had its own Human Resources department. While this character’s question shows a lack of general historical knowledge as well, it ultimately undermines the hardships that slaves had to face by equating their struggles to a job in present-day corporate America. A similar connection between slavery and employment is wrongfully made towards the end of Episode five in Season one as a young woman asks if slavery is as hard as her job at Forever 21, which she claims is “like slavery.” This comparison is completely inappropriate as it collates the brutal treatment of slaves to a job, which gives monetary compensation and other benefits in exchange for an employee’s work. Both of these examples exhibit primarily how misguided some Americans are regarding the history of slavery. Additionally, these examples indicate a flaw in the manner in which people are educated relating to slavery in this country.

While Ask A Slave is an inherently funny web series due Azie Dungey’s acting prowess and the absurdity of the questions asked, it is important that the work’s overall message does not get lost in that humor. The piece displays the Americans’ generally misinformed position on slavery, but it also begs the viewer to ask how people would ever conjure up such ridiculous questions. While I believe that Americans certainly do have a responsibility to be informed about their country’s history, part of the blame should be put on the nation’s primary, and in some cases secondary, schooling that tends to hide our blemishes and promote our successes. Ask A Slave is therefore an example of the consequences that can arise as a result of Americans being misinformed on an important historical issue.

Tag: Education

Ask a Slave

Ask A Slave’s Critique of the American Education System