I read this short little book a couple of weeks ago. It was a very sad story. I tend to steer clear of sad stories. But, every once in a while I think I could reap some benefits from reading a true story even though it can be depressing. People really have suffered and are still suffering today. Reading a true account of a mistreated individual can help me to be empathetic and also keep me from getting an unrealistic view that all is sunshine and roses. Of course, it is not good to dwell on these things all of the time.
Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson is an autobiography told in the form of a novel. This book was originally published in 1859. My copy is a reprint with the font and typeset true to the original style.
Harriet Wilson uses the name Frado for the character in the story who represents herself. Frado was abandoned by her mother as a small child. She was left at a neighbors house and her mother never came back. These neighbors took Harriet in as a slave. The family lived in the North but that didn't keep them above treating a human as an animal. Neither did being in the North make Frado free.
Some of the family members were friendly to Frado. (I use that word lightly. Harriet portrays these family members as friendly, but anyone who can stand by when another person is being abused is not "friendly" in my book.) The family members with the most influence and power were very wicked. They beat and severely mistreated her.
Thankfully, one of the characters takes the time to share the gospel with Frado. Frado feels the need for a Saviour. She finds it hard to believe that Heaven can be for blacks. Her master thinks that blacks have no soul and that they are no better than animals. Having these lies pushed at her makes it hard for Frado to believe the truth. In the end she is able to speak with a minister who assures her that the gospel is for all races. Frado clings to comfort she finds in the scriptures through her hardships.
Once she was finally able to leave the oppressive family her health was so broken by the years of abuse that she was unable to support herself. She suffered with poor health for the rest of her life.
Our Nig does not have a happy ending nor can it. At the time it was written slavery was still an institution sanctioned and protected by law. Blacks did not have equal rights, not even in the North. And, just because a household was abolitionist politically didn't mean they would welcome a black person to stay under the same roof as themselves. In many peoples minds black individuals were thought of as second class citizens.
Times were bleak for our darker colored brethren during those times. Reading accounts like Our Nig can be depressing. I am glad that we live at a time in our country when the law grants and protects every citizens rights, regardless of race.
Acts 17:26 +27
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
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