The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

Content Warning: This section discusses slavery within the United States and the violence enacted against enslaved people.

In her introduction to the collection, Virginia Hamilton provides historical context for folktales, writing,

American black folktales originated with peoples, most of whom long ago were brought from Africa to this country against their will. These peoples were torn from their individual cultures as they left the past, their families and their social groups, and their languages and customs behind (ix).

As enslaved people were brought to the United States, they were not viewed as human by the white landowning individuals who purchased them. Instead, they were seen as property within the chattel slavery system, owned forever by those who purchased them, as were their descendants. This system was reinforced by the United States governing documents, as the 1788 Constitution defined enslaved people as “three-fifths of a free individual.” This dehumanization paved the way for millions of enslaved Black people to be legally abused, brutalized, and murdered. In addition, millions of enslaved people continued to be separated from family and loved ones as they were bought and sold to increase a white enslaver’s capital, to intentionally demoralize them, or for other insidious reasons.