Slavery. Never-ending trauma, an ongoing cycle. A totalitarian government is defined as a form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of individual life to the authority of the state (britannica). Slavery began roughly 9,000 years ago. Til this day, slavery continues to be around in some states. While slavery ended in some areas in the 1860’s, modern day slavery still exists. Sex trafficking, child labor, forced marriage, domestic Servitude and more; all in which count as a form of slavery. While slavery existed in the U.S years ago, Black individuals experienced severe traumatic forms of treatment that those still around today, still remember. The book titled 12 Years A Slave by Soloman Northup highlights this well. Chapter nine expresses “I wanted to lie down, but knew I could not rise again. The ground was so parched and boiling hot I was aware it would but add to the discomfort of my situation. If I could have only moved my position, however slightly, It would have been a relief unspeakable. But the hot rays of a southern sun, beating all the long summer day on my bare head, produced not half of the suffering I experienced from my aching limbs” (Northup, 71). Here we see a slight glance of the suffering and the totalitarian system at hand that many Black enslaved experience. Individuals in this story discuss their experiences at the hands of White racists’ and conservatives, while discussing the horrific trauma associated with it. Slaves were beaten, abused, raped, and and given zero freedom. As a result, slavery was a totalitarian system, both in the U.S and internationally. Freedom was not given to individuals of the Black race, instead it was determined by the White race. Men decided when women had children, what clothes they would wear, and who they would date. Oftentimes, women were raped so that their children could be sold into slavery. This form of dehumanization was around for years and continues to be prevalent and around today.
Comparing such experience to Nazi’s and the Soviet Union holds zero weight to what many Black individuals had to experience However, a correlation may exist in regards to the form of treatment received by both parties. With that being said, the argument that slavery compares to Nazi Germany and Soviet union can to a certain extent, be true. The Nazi Party rose to power in Germany and forced labor on individuals, sending Jewish individuals to concentration camps and killed those not able to work. As a whole, this too is a form of totalitarian government where freedom was taken from individuals and forced to work during harsh conditions. Those still living today have PTSD from such experience; they still live in a totalitarian system within themselves. America’s foundation was built on the totalitarian system at the expense and exploitation of slaves. From economic growth to rises in the stock market. Slaves built this foundation from the ground up. Slavery was form of totalitarian government, and still exist to this day to a certain capacity Slavery. Never-ending trauma, an ongoing cycle.