Response to Freedom Papers

Rebecca Scott's "Freedom Papers" traces the lineage of an enslaved woman through three major historical periods: the Haitian revolution, the French Revolution, and the Civil War. What stood out to me most in this text was the ways in which race were arbitrarily defined, depending on the social/political/national context. Although I have always known that race is a social construct, I had not realized how racial constructs granted a limited agency to the characters as they navigated their way through white colonial systems.

Linking this to the Mohanty book, I believe this text is a good example of the importance of transnational historical work that pays close attention to difference and context, rather than trying to do "metanarratives" about a group of people. I also think gives credence to the importance of narrating history from the perspectives of the ' the people', and prioritize the voices of the marginalized,  when so much of history is told through the perspectives of the privileged, such as statesmen.

I am also left thinking more critically about the uses of history. Trouillot points to certain historical moments such as the Haiti Revolution that are often not acknowledged or discussed in depth in U.S. history courses, and what that means for our sense of collective history in the U.S. If we do not see Haiti as part of our human history, we do not see how it shaped 'our' US social/economic/political institutions. And not seeing the interconnectivity of our histories -- particularly the oppressions faced -- prevents us from cultivating transnational solidarity and resistance to capitalism and white supremacy.