Philip Zimbardo, psychologist and former professor emeritus at Stanford, conducted the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971. The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted was “a study of the power of institutions [that] influence[d] individual behavior”.1 Zimbardo’s experiment focused around “the psychology of evil” and the reasons people were able to commit violent acts.2 The reason Zimbrado gives is in his definition of evil, which is “the exercise of power”.3 Power gives people the ability to commit violent acts and in the hands of individuals, can lead them to believe that they are untouchable, better than those around them, and create the need to portray their level of power.
This is definitely true and seen in the Classic Slave Narratives. The slave owners constantly beat their slaves, even when the slaves had done nothing to warrant such treatment. Why? The act of beating another fellow being seems impossible to do. However, as Zimbardo proved in his experiment, when power is involved, there are no limits and opens the possibility of such acts occurring. The Classic Slave Narratives depict that the slave handlers, overseers, and owners resorted to violence because of the need to utilize their power.
Within The History of Mary Prince, Prince recounts that she was born and raised in the institution of slavery. Prince described a time when her master showed his power through violence; “My master knew that this accident was his own fault, but he was so enraged that he seemed glad of an excuse to go on with his ill usage. I cannot remember how many licks he gave me then, but he beat me till I was unable to stand, and till he himself was weary”.4 Prince’s recount of her experience shows that the slave owner believed that the slaves were less than people.
Prince had not done anything to warrant this expression of violence, but yet still received an awful lashing, simply because her master had messed up and believed he had the power to beat Prince. Her master, let alone any other person, had any right to beat a slave. Slavery’s acceptance in society enforced the idea that one person had power over another and were allowed to treat that person as they saw fit because they had the power. Frederick Douglass, an advocate of black rights, experienced the violence of slavery through multiple slave owners and slave overseers.
Two men in particular, Mr. Severer and Mr. Gore, are explained in thorough by Douglass because of how natural it seemed for these men to beat other human beings. Douglass described Mr. Severe and the power he exerted over the slaves; “Mr. Severe was rightly named: he was a cruel man. I have seen him whip a woman, causing the blood to run half an hour at a time; and this, too, in the midst of her crying children, pleading for their mother’s release. He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity”. The haunting part of this quote is the last sentence. It is hard to believe that any individual would enjoy beating another human being. But, as this essay proves to argue, the power the overseer held led them to believe that slaves were not human and need to be taught through violence.
Douglass also describes Mr. Gore and his violence unto the slaves; “When [Mr. Gore] whipped, he seemed to do so from a sense of duty, and feared no consequences. He did nothing reluctantly, no matter how disagreeable; always at his post, never inconsistent”. Gore committed acts of violence because it was his duty to do so. There does not seem to be a question that what he is doing is wrong. Gore beat the slaves as he was supposed to in order to keep control and, in turn, demonstrate his power. Both of these men, Mr. Severe and Mr. Gore, did not see anything wrong with the treatment towards the slaves.
They were in a position of power that granted them the right to beat their innocent fellow human beings. Douglass provides an account of his former slave owner that experienced the transformation of power. Douglass recollects that, initially, his mistress was purely ‘good’ and had never owned a slave prior to himself.” Douglass explains what occurred to his former mistress: “The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon”.
The influence of power on an individual altered Douglass’s mistress for the worse. She began to treat Africans as slaves and ignored that they were individuals. Having power within the institution of slavery caused countless of ‘good’ individuals to turn violent. Pinpointing exact reasons that lead people to act more inhumanly compared to others are difficult to find. The slave narratives depicted that some people were more inclined to harm others due to power. Power that the slave handlers and owners possessed blinded some, more than others, to the fact that these were fellow humans receiving the beatings.
Power causes people to lose themselves in it. Another possible explanation for the reason that people cause harm to others is because they experienced pain themselves and want to inflict that pain onto others. These people believe it is only fair for others to suffer as they have suffered. While I do not believe this to be the case in The Classic Slave Narratives, I do believe that this reason can lead to people imposing harm onto others. These same motivations of power are not seen, but are still present today. While the actions of physical violence are not seen as often, acts of mental oppression and suffering are present in society.
The slave owners used their power to justify the abuse delivered towards the Africans. Presently, society subconsciously uses their power to mentally abuse the ancestors of the Africans, as well as the rest of the people of color. Subconsciously because this form of violence and oppression has become imbedded in our mind that to those not looking for this form of oppression or abuse, it is hard to miss. However, minorities realize these oppressions, especially when growing up and watching TV. We always questioned where the people that looked like us and our family were.
When we do see people of color they are usually playing a supporting cast member without a back story and stereotypical accent. Society unknowingly has the power that allows ideas such as these to prevail. I do not believe that many truly realize how detrimental this portrayal is to children. However, by not correcting and learning about these ideas and images, the image only gets reinforced, causing many minorities to believe that that is the best that they will ever amount to. Power within the institution of slavery caused the violent nature towards slaves to arise. Zimbardo stated that “if you give people power without oversight, it’s a prescription for abuse”.
This is exactly what was seen during the time of slavery, and even today. There are laws in place to protect individuals from slavery in the U.S and ensure that individuals do not receive “cruel and unusual punishments”. 10 However, there are no laws protecting individuals from ignorant and racist comments that portray a dominant person or race. To ensure that not everyone is destined to fall into the traps of power individuals need to learn to act when others do not and it will pull you from the “evil on inaction”
