To Micheaux

Mr. Micheaux,

In depicting the plight of the African-American woman in each of America’s spheres post-civil war, you reveal the many facets of black women’s lives and the continuities that existed regardless of region, as Sylvia lives out her life in both the North and the South. I am curious about why high socioeconomic class was a factor in the making of your movie, and if you favored light skinned actors for roles to better convey Sylvia's status or because of the nature of the industry in general. Did you wish to communicate a message that both elevated Sylvia as a determined, active, self-sufficient African -American woman? Or were you making a point to depict the sexual, emotional, and physical violence she is subjected to through men regardless of what part of America she is in?

Esther

On the Visibility of Lynchings

Dear Oscar Micheaux,

Your film boldly displays multiple lynchings of Black Americans. In these portrayals, the town's mob of white folk gather around what is, to them, a spectacle of sorts. We see white people from all walks of life: children, women, multiple socioeconomic classes, etc. What strikes me about your theatrical depiction is, ironically, the lack of theatrics. That is to say, while performative nuances may have been added for the sake of your film, they simultaneously accentuated the performative nature of actual lynchings. Indeed, white people from all walks of life gathered seemingly gleefully to take part in such an event as a public murder: in fact, the publicity of lynchings (via photography or video) served as a critical tool in showcasing the strength of racial hierarchy in the postbellum era.

In other words, if one takes a photograph—which is fallaciously considered as an objective truth by many—and is thereby witness to the smiles that blatantly span across many whites' faces, the limp body of the murdered Black person, and the sheer strength in numbers of the white people, then this "objective" image serves to solidify extant white supremacist ideology. Such propaganda, when targeted at specific audiences, could prove to be efficient rallying calls for white supremacists to mob terror tactics. In this way, the stage for the photograph of a lynching had to be set with care, with all actors in place and all props manipulated accordingly.

Were you ever considering this as you included lynchings in your film? What was the particular light you were hoping to shed on such occasions? That is, what were you most hoping your audience was to pull from those scenes?

Dear Ned

Dear Ned,

You do not deserve to preach in the lord’s house. You are a sinner. You preach to an audience who laps up your very word like a cat drinking milk, yet you preach such vile things! Why is it, that such an intelligent man like yourself would choose to lie to our black brothers and sisters just to kindle friendships with our oppressors? You say that education is for the white man. You say that this country is for the white man! Yet you know well that these are dirty, pitiful lies. You know in your heart, that we, members of the black race are equal to the white race in physical and intellectual ability. With education, we have the opportunity to make better lives for our children and our children’s children. Why Ned, do you stoop down so low to bow at the white man’s feet? Why is it that you feel such a strong desire to kneel before your white friends and express a sense of inferiority? Speak up for your black brothers and sisters who have spent too long toiling under the tyranny of the white man. Speak up so that we will continue to be able to vote and so that the next generations of black children will be able to go to school and learn and not live the same lives that we do. Ned, I beg you to speak the truth. It is not too late to save yourself. Correct your wrongs and preach about the blessings that education brings. Preach about the beauty and intelligence that exists in our black brothers and sisters and stop belittling such a strong race of human beings.  

Sincerely,

Rev. Jacobs.

Dear Sylvia

Dear Sylvia,

How did you manage the ramifications of your racial identity seeing as you lived in two vastly worlds in different parts of your life? Mixed race identity is something I’ve been interested in my whole life, and you lived as a mixed race individual in a black family, but still were able to pass in white society. I want to know how this affected you psychologically. Did you feel like you fit into the worlds you inhabited or did you feel like an impostor? I always feel a little uncomfortable with my level of blackness and my level of whiteness. I feel like I have a hard time feeling comfortable in either race group in homogenous situations, and I wanted to know how you countered these issues, or how your identity played a role in your life. I am deeply sorry about the tragedy that struck your life when you lost your family, but I am impressed by your willingness to continue to fight for education for Black children and equal treatment.  It was an interesting experience to learn about your experience as a child, and then your adult endeavors and passions that you were able to pursue even as a mixed race women in the early 20^th century. I am glad I was able to gain some insight about what you went through, and I hope I can learn about myself from your existence. 

Slave Patriotism

Dear Oscar Micheaux,

As a fellow pioneer of African American creative works during a time in which the institution of slavery deemed us as exploitable and inhuman due to the color of our skin, I commend the magnificent piece of film you directed, "Within Our Gates". You have portrayed and exposed both the petty and grand practices of slavery, from cheating slaves of their money due to their illiteracy and lack of educational attainment to the atrocity of lynching. Ellen and I especially admired the construction of the film's plot in featuring a strong-willed African American woman, Sylvia Landry, as the protagonist without subjecting her to the typical lovestruck damsel in distress. Just as Ellen undertook enormous courage to disguise herself as a white male slaveowner when we escaped the South, Sylvia stayed virtuous and brave in her pursuits to gain sponsorship for her school; indeed we were surprised (yet somehow perhaps not all that surprised) that the ultimate sponsor was a white female philanthropist! We enjoyed your film very much, and it is truly a masterpiece that is worthy of representing both the African American struggle and the African American female struggle.

Worthy, all except for the last scene, unfortunately.

"Be proud of our country, always!" Where in the world did this scene come from? There had been no context whatsoever of patriotism as an African American, nor can I call this an appropriate transition from Sylvia's history that contained such cruel oppression we African Americans, enslaved and free, are subjected to in the very "country" your character speaks of. Ellen was also upset by the closing line that supposedly is a declaration of Dr. Vivian's love for Sylvia, in saying, "In spite of your misfortunes, you will always be a patriot - and a tender wife." For all the accomplishments and independence that Sylvia gained throughout the film, it concludes with the almost Hollywood-like trope of a "happy ending" for the female protagonist; law-abiding and servile. Do you forget that the only way for Ellen and I to finally find freedom without fear of being sent back into slavery was by leaving the United States once and for all? Was this a desperate last minute attempt to somehow not have your film censored by "our country"? Ultimately, your film was still censored, and I believe the least you could have done is persevered in doing our race justice for all that we have suffered.

Regards,
William Craft

Dear Ellen Craft

Dear Ellen Craft,

This narrative was incredible, inspiring, and shocking. And I struggle to think of how shocking it must have been to any reader in 1860, as so many of the notions of race, class, and gender are utterly turned on their head. Your journey must have taken incredible strength; yet, there’s a sense of ease to it. While the logistics were certainly difficult, I can imagine any Southerner of the time reading this and feeling like a large number of slaves could pursue the exact same thing. It must have scared not only white Southerners, but Northerners and abolitionists too. Your journey and eventual freedom shows how an entire society and an entire system can be subverted through the act of passing. Whiteness and blackness, masculinity and femininity, poverty and wealth: these were seen as absolutes, and yet you’re able to adopt the opposite status overnight. Once the color of one’s skin and one’s gender is no longer an absolute, the idea that some people are inherently less than others no longer has any credence. In that way, the system set up for the benefit of rich white men begins to lose the tiniest shred of power.

Thank you, Oscar

Dear Oscar Micheaux,

Thank you for Within Our Gates.

Thank you for illustrating the importance of sharing those untold stories of important, strong, unique women.

Thank you for placing the importance of the film on Sylvia's help with garnering funding for the school instead of placing the importance on her relationships.

Thank you for writing Sylvia to stand up for herself against her fiancé.

Thank you for showing depth in your female characters.

Thank you for bringing Sylvia to the foreground.

Thank you for writing such loud silences in the depths of your work.

Thank you for being real.

Thank you,

Camille Dawson

A Sold Birthright

Dear Old Ned,

During your conversation with your white "friends," you agreed with their assertion that Negroes were pushing to hard for equality and that they were still an inferior race. Afterwards, you left the room stating that you had sold your birth right and were going straight to hell. Clearly, your reference to Genesis 25 is an indication that you believe you were not strong enough to stand up for African American rights. You traded respect for immediate financial gain. Esau, in a moment of extreme hunger, sells his birthright to Jacob in order to satiate his immediate desire for food. In the passage, this is looked upon as a foolish and hasty decision, but is your situation really applicable?
This dilemma that you waded through is still a highly contested dilemma today. Should one sacrifice respect for practical necessities or desires? Is it better to assimilate to survive or to openly resist degradation?
This dilemma is also examined in a movie entitled The Butler. The butler faithfully serves in the White House without any protest when he is overlooked or treated disrespectfully. He does what he has to do to support his family. All the while, he is convincing the white people around him that he is respectable and equal because of his civil conduct. On the other hand, his son fights for equality and civil rights by loudly protesting and drawing attention to his cause. He angers the people around him and is persecuted while he protests, but ultimately his movement makes a difference.
At the end of the day, I am not much of an extremist, so I believe that there is a time and a place for both and that both forms of activism are absolutely necessary. Respectability politics are complicated and highly contested, but I appreciate your voice in the conversation.

Best regards,
Taylor Wright

Letter to Ellen Craft

Obviously being white passing helps with a person's status in society, especially a slave society, but to what extent does it influence the way you view yourself and the ways in which you identify? Something that I have always struggled with is how black I am. It's a weird question to ask because how can we really even say I'm half this or half that, but I think that identifying with a particular race and not immediately appearing that way can be hard. Although there are definite privileges to having lighter skin or being white passing, I think there are large impacts on the ways that we view ourselves. What kind of dynamic is there, for you to be a slave as a white passing person, but be surrounded by black people that appear to be black? Is there resentment within the black community?

I think there are a lot of similarities (to a less extreme extent) between the dynamics between white passing black people and black people that don't pass as white.

I think a lot about this notion of "passing" too. This rhetoric perpetuates the idea that white is the normal or desired thing to be.

It's interesting to think about what the dynamics were like between people who were white passing and who weren't, especially for people who were in relationships. What was that power dynamic like being a white passing woman with a dark skinned black man?

Complaint to the U.S. Supreme Cort

(Disclaimer: If William Craft did actually write a complaint to the Supreme Court after the Dred Scott v. Sanford decision in 1858, it more than likely would not matter. For the sake of creativity, we shall act like his complaint would matter. He hashes out multiple diatribes against our antebellum American laws and judicial decisions throughout the narrative, and I'll attempt to capture it.)

     My name is William Craft. My wife Ellen and I fled the "mighty United States of America, the greatest and freest country under the whole universe" to escape the wretched system of American slavery. Slavery inflicted my wife and I with such horrible conditions. I became so desperate for freedom, a human right, that I asked Ellen to guise herself as a white man and my master in order for us to escape. Imagine having to resort to asking your wives to strip themselves of their femininity and treat you as subhuman. Imagine having no other choice, but to place a constant anxiety on the one you wish to comfort the most.
     Justices of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land,  you all support such an inhumane system. You can lay idle and deem robbery, rape, and murder constitutional. Regardless of your views on the humanity of people of color, your morality should beckon you against robbery, rape, and murder. Your decision in the Dred Scott case made the idea that black men and women were property rule of law. Still, I can only see such a perception of black people as an excuse for your immoral, greed mongering, tyrannical slavery. You feel shame for your evils and sought a way to rationalize it ex post facto. You make a mockery of the title "justice." You damn our "good Christian nation." You shame the level of scrutiny your Yankee legislation should have and the check and balances. I pray God has mercy on your souls.

William Craft

Letter to Ellen Craft

Ellen Craft,

I can’t imagine how it was for you to be born in the image of someone who would be considered free, yet still had to live the life of one who was enslaved. When you and your husband came up with up with a plan to claim the freedom that was rightfully yours, you had to consider the fact that you couldn’t even escape as a woman, because you weren’t seen as human, just as a piece of merchandise. I understand your apprehension to assume your disguise, as it must not only have been terrifying, but also painful that you had to assume the appearance of the very people you were trying to escape from. You had to pretend to be in a position where you owned the man you loved, where you were perceived as human and he was perceived as nothing more than your slave. How were you able to keep your composure with all the hate around you? The extent of relief you felt when you no longer had fear and you knew your children would be free is one I can never begin to imagine.

Exposing Hypocrisy

Dear William Craft,


Thank you for sharing the story of your escape from slavery. You and your wife were so brave, and I’m almost certain that your resolution in your rightly held beliefs, and your astute awareness of the hypocrisies in southern culture allowed your convince the many different people that tried to prevent your journey to Philadelphia of your disguise. I especially appreciated your opening statement: “Without stopping to write a long apology for offering this little volume to the public, I shall commence at once to pursue my simple story.” You immediately struck me as humble yet unapologetic about sharing your story, no matter how many unpleasant details whites may have to discover are their responsibility and a result of their inhumanity and criminality. You rightly explain how all white people, both northerners and southerners, men and women, are to blame for the oppression of your people: “In the Southern States of America...I believe there is a greater want of humanity and high principle amongst the whites, than among any other civilized people in the world.” You further elaborate on how “it always appears strange to me that any one who was not born a slaveholder, and steeped to the very core in the demoralizing atmosphere of the Southern States, can in any way palliate slavery. It is still more surprising to see virtuous ladies looking with patience upon, and remaining indifferent to, the existence of a system that exposes nearly two millions of their own sex in the manner I have mentioned, and that too in a professedly free and Christian country.” When your master sold a dear brother and sister, and both of your parents, you rightly pointed out the fallacy and disgrace of the “slaveholding piety” that pervades the south and allows many criminals to retain their self-worth in a twisted form of Christianity. You educate us on the Georgia law that allows masters to beat their slaves death, so long as “they died under ‘moderate correction,’ it was quite lawful; and of course the murderers were not interfered with.” Furthermore, a law that applies to your marriage to Ellen, who although of African-American descent, looks white, states that “it is unlawful in the slave States for any one of purely European descent to intermarry with a person of African extraction.” But you point out that a white man may nonetheless “live with as many coloured women as he pleases without materially damaging his reputation in Southern society.” Your shrewd understanding, and subsequent presentation, of the many contradicting and hypocritical practices that allowed whites to uphold slavery while preserving their own self image as pious and law-abiding citizens must have caused many whites, both northerners and southerners, to question their understanding of slavery and their complacency in the face of these hypocrisies.

to my husband

dearest william,
can you believe it has been thirty years since we got married in macon? oh my, so much has happened in these years! it is humorous how life is a full circle. almost thirty years ago, we fled georgia and now here we are, back in the land that shamefully drove us away with its cruelty and harshness.

we have grown so much together. you are the reason that i am free and happy today. i still have flashbacks to our escape. i still remember how much i sobbed fearfully in your chest upon our departure. i was so scared, but we had each other and we believed that the lord was on our side. you are the reason that i have five beautiful children, none of whom are enslaved, and i no longer worry about having my children taken away from me. we learned how to read and write together, and our lecture tours allowed me to see more of the world than i ever imagined possible.

we have done much for the abolitionist movement, and although i wish that we could have done more, living a life in the spotlight often made me feel as though certain parts of our story were more important than others. it often seems that our relationship is contorted as a result of the popular nature of the story of our escape. but our love story is ours, it belongs to no one else.

you make me feel young. i laugh when you are around and even after all of these years, you still know how to make me blush. i know that you have faced so much being a black man in america, especially that you are married to me, a white-passing woman. it broke my heart that you had to pretend to be my slave. it still breaks my heart when we are walking somewhere together and people looked at you with barely disguised aversion. it is during those moments that i will weave my fingers gently into yours, pull you closer, and kiss you tenderly on the cheek.

you are my sunshine. may god bless you and keep you happy and strong for me and the children.

i love you so very much.


your wife,
ellen

Identity

Ellen,

Reading of your decision to walk in disguise as a means of escaping slavery was incredibly astonishing. I wonder how, if in any way your opinion of your husband changed as a result of having to take on an alternate identity. I also question how this affected William's sense of self. Furthermore, I have read many stories of white-passing individuals choosing to conceal their identities and distance themselves from their non-passing family members, as it would reveal their truth. This, of course, was done to gain freedom and later the opportunity to vote and access to certain jobs. The fact that other friends/ family members chose to not "out" the person is also quite interesting because it shows, in many ways, that they understand the struggle as well. The ethics surrounding this idea can be debated, but it is unfortunate that people even had/have to consider this. Having to conceal/ change one's true identity to make a better life for themselves is incredibly unfortunate. 

To Ellen Craft,

Ellen Craft,

I am so full of awe at your and your husband’s escape from slavery. How did it feel to be in Philadelphia at last? How did you manage not to waver once in your disguise? It must have been  terrifying to worry at every moment about discovery. I am amazed at the calmness you must have mustered to keep from slipping concern for your husband or your own self into your words as you heard slaveholders slandering people of colour everywhere. I wonder how it felt to suddenly be treated as a white person after a lifetime of being undervalued and abused. Was it good to finally be appreciated as a human being? Or did the accompanying assumption that you were now elevated above your husband fill you with disgust at the system that forced you apart?

On a Shifting Self

Ellen Craft,

Your husband mentioned that although you initially thought it would be impossible to disguise
yourself as a man, after considering the fact that you had never really been considered a
woman either you resolved to disguise yourself. Do you always feel in disguise, concealing
many parts of yourself as a means of survival? He wrote that the laws regarded you as
something “to be bought and sold, or otherwise dealt with as [your] owner might see fit.” How
does it feel to have your identity and sense of self shift within various contexts? I wonder if
you felt this way during your voyage to London in which you passed as white. In this constant
state of double being do you feel a sort of double consciousness as well? Do you feel a sort
of in-betweenness of being black yet being perceived as white? Your husband’s recounting of
your interactions with various white men was appalling, and it reminded me again of the
absurdity of the claims they make to to legitimize white superiority. Whiteness as they think of
it does not even exist because they could not even discern that you were not white. It is a
world of contradiction, and reminded be of the US flag which bears “two emblems--one of fame,”
and the other of shame. I hope that you have found a sense of agency in your life and an ability
to move through the world as you would like. I hope that you are getting closer to having others
see you as you see yourself, not simply how they would like you to be. I hope you feel closer to
a subject acting upon the world instead of an object being acted upon.

Letter from your Grandmother

Dear Harriet,

     I'm sorry, you poor child! I let my faith and prudence keep you from being willing to confide in me when your master began assaulting you. I am pious and do not approve of the impure, but I never wanted my morality stifle our relationship. I just place some much pride in you and your good character. Your mother isn't with us anymore, so I could not help but put you on a pedestal. All I have is my kids, you and William. You must forgive me for my pride and false judgement of your confession about having a whit man's child. I was too quick to scorn you. We don't talk about these kind of obscene, adulterating things. I refuse to and therefore do not know how to discuss these subjects with most people, let alone my granddaughter. You are not at fault and do not need to ask my forgiveness, child. Please forgive me and God bless.

Your Grandmother

If Only You Were Her Friend

Dear Mrs. Flint,

“I could not blame her.”

These were the words uttered about you by Linda, the young girl who was enslaved by your husband and, in many ways, by you. For years and years, you have mistreated her and subjected her to degrading abuse because of your immense jealousy of your husband’s advances toward her. You forbade her to wear the shoes her grandmother made for her - the only material she had which was of any value to her - but I suppose you would say that it was of you and your husband’s possession. You hated her and wished for her to be punished because your husband would not punish her like the others, as if the threat of violence and death in resisting him was not a factor to be considered in comparison to the pain and neglect you felt from him. You treated Linda as the scapegoat to the real root of your pain, both your pains, which was the oppressive abuse and powerlessness that Dr. Flint, among with most white men of your time, perpetuated and inflicted upon you. Linda was willing to be your ally, someone you can confide in, perhaps - and yes, I dare to say - your friend.

“Yet I, whom she detested so bitterly, had far more pity for her than he had, whose duty it was to make her life happy. I never wronged her, or wished to wrong her, and one word of kindness from her would have brought me to her feet.”

Yet I, even amongst the horrors I feel towards your mistreatment of Linda, sympathize with your pain. You had no power, though not a slave, as a wife, to speak up against the man that held right over you. You could not leave him, and the idea of divorce was impossible, and the threat of violence was ever present even as a white individual. You only wished for his affection, for your husband to treat you with the tenderness and respect that a marriage should have.

You and Linda had in common the enslaved status of womanhood.

If you had treated Linda was kindness, perhaps that would have been a form of salvation for both of you, even if temporary. Instead, you lashed out your frustrations and anger towards her that you could not express towards the real source of your despair.

If only, Mrs. Flint, you chose not to suffer alone, not to let Linda suffer alone, in your state of oppression.

Change Will Come

Dear Linda,

           Linda, the legacy that you and other enslaved women have left on this country has not been forgotten. You live in me, my mother, my grandmother and all of the other women who would not be here without the strength, resistance, resistance and undying bravery that you and your enslaved sisters showed throughout your lifetimes.

You might be pleasantly surprised to hear that the life of your black sisters 150 years after your girlhood is starkly different from your own. Little black girls in my time do not rise to pick cotton or slave in the house of white men and women filled with spite and evil. We do not rise in fear that the new day will take away the flesh of our backs, or that our innocent bodies will be violently raped by men twice our age.

We are of a new millennium, but there is still work to be done. Our race still suffers from oppression and injustice. You may be saddened to know that we are still seen as inferior by many of our white compatriots.  But we have risen with voices that grow louder each and every year as we grow more and more proud of our dark pigmentation and curly hair. We are the black millennials. We wear our blackness unapologetically with our heads held high, knowing that we come from some of the strongest people to ever walk this earth. We come from an era that has seen black billionaires, black astronauts, black celebrities and even a black president. So Linda, I know your days are dark and your nights even darker. But smile. Know that a brighter day is coming.

Love and light,

Jordan