Breaking the Chains: Examining the Enduring Effects of Slavery on Black Women and Their Families Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

Drawing on the work of Black feminist scholars who explore the afterlives of slavery, alongside evidence of a history of state-inflicted terrors against Black women in the US, this work contends that the contemporary state induces reproductive injustices against Black women through surveillance and policing of their parenting and reproductive health access. The present-day “child welfare system,” which is entrenched within the legacy of chattel slavery, racism, and white supremacy in America, serves as a tool of hyper-surveillance policing, and punishment of Black motherhood. This system, which I refer to as the Family Policing system, due to its carceral underpinnings, continues the legacy of white supremacy and racism through its integral connections with the criminal punishment system. Exploring the work of the reproductive justice framework, I contend that the family policing system and the reproductive injustices that have ensued through the overturn of Roe v. Wade operates within the same racist logics that subordinate the Black community through inflicting violence upon Black women. This work aims to explicate the state reliance on infringing upon the reproductive rights of Black women through policing in order to uphold the “social hierarchy.” Therefore, I call upon the wisdom of prison abolitionists to imagine possibilities of motherhood that are divested from state-sanctioned control and instead prioritize welfare and community-based care. 

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                                                                                    1

Chapter 1. The Legacy of Subjugation of Black Women in the US                       10       

Chapter 2. The Legacy of Family Policing                                                                 30

Chapter 3. The Legacy of Reproductive Injustice through State-Sanctioned Control  44

Conclusion                                                                                                                      59

Works Cited                                                                                                                    64

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Women's Studies African American Studies History, Black
Keyword	Child Welfare System Prison Abolition Reproductive Justice Black Feminism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Sameena Mulla, Emory University
Committee Members	Stu Marvel, Emory University Linette Park, Emory University

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