African American families were affected by slavery in various ways. Belonging to another person brought restrictions and grievance, which can be portrayed in marriage. Although marriage in 1976 was legal, Dana and Kevin's decisions to get married still made people uncomfortable, and was not supported by their loved ones. But when Dana travels back in time, where interracial marriage was neither legal or accepted, it became a whole different story due to the fact their safety was jeopardized, especially in Dana's situation.
According to the article, enslaved people could not legally get married in any states due to the fact they are considered properties, and not legal people who are allowed to get involved in legal actions such as a marriage (second paragraph). This fact was seen in Kindred when Dana told Rufus that she was married to Kevin, a white man, which of course was disapproved by Rufus when he told Dana a Kevin that "niggers can't marry white people (pg.60 of Kindred). Because marriage was illegal in this time period, Kevin and Dana had to pretend in front of other people, such as Tom Weylin and Margaret Weylin that Kevin is the owner of Dana instead of her husband, which goes back to the fact that slavery brings restrictions and grievance to enslaved families.
Great connections between How Slavery Affected African American Families and Kindred. Do you think the fact that that Dana and Kevin's marriage still made people (including both of their families) uncomfortable in 1976 can be traced back to any of the historical facts discussed in How Slavery Affected African American Families and/or Kindred?
ReplyDeleteOne topic that doesn't seem to be addressed in either How Slavery Affected African American Families or Kindred is whether free African Americans could legally enter into marriages with other free African Americans. If I remember my US history correctly, I believe that they *could* do so in some states, not others - and, given the precarious status many such individuals had, being constantly obligated to "prove" their freedom or risk becoming slaves, I would imagine that, even in states when their marriages were recognized, that recognition was precarious to say the least.