A modern slave
[CORRECTION: This post contains a link to the wrong article. Please see this for the correction.]
This is a fascinating and deeply touching portrait of a situation that defies easy answers.
Was Lola, the woman described in the article, a “slave”? Let’s not worry about semantics. She was an abused servant whose life was hard, but who had an almost Zen-like philosophy and a great ability to create and give love. Though long, the article is well worth reading.
Lola found grace, despite her circumstances. The same could be said of Jews caught up in the Holocaust. Lola was in less dangerous circumstances, but slavery comes in many colors. Its still slavery.
I stopped reading the Atlantic shortly after Michael Kelly (their editor) died in 2003 in Iraq. But this type of article is why I used to read it; thoughtful, well written, and a view I would never have seen before.
Slavery is a long, complex issue, but we see once again how it corrupts otherwise decent people, both the slave and the master. Lola is somehow, through her own grace and quiet dignity, able to overcome it with love. Whether Zen, or Christian essence (which I am more familiar with), she transcends her time and place on earth with a love that few of us could. To do this not for a moment, but with one’s life is on a level with what Christ taught. She controlled the one thing she could in her life, how she responded to life’s hardness. To reply with love is to be among the worthiest of God’s children.
bdh:
That’s a beautiful thought, beautifully written.
I read the article a while ago, and thought how sad it was that the author’s parents were so heartless and selfish.
But she made his own life much better than they seemed able to do.
And, yes, she was a slave.
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bdh Says:
May 24th, 2017 at 11:41 pm
Whether Zen, or Christian essence (which I am more familiar with), she transcends her time and place on earth with a love that few of us could. To do this not for a moment, but with one’s life is on a level with what Christ taught. She controlled the one thing she could in her life, how she responded to life’s hardness. To reply with love is to be among the worthiest of God’s children.
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The Civil War novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” makes very much the same point about (very specifically) Christian grace and forgiveness, courage and love.
That’s why the Left has spent more than a century demeaning it.
A personal perspective from someone who knew the family: https://freetheanimal.com/2017/05/complicated-insiders-perspective.html
Sorry but the “heartfelt” attempt to PC the word “slave” is so much intellectual slosh. Go to the original article (link below) and mentally substitute “enslaved person” everytime you see the word “slave.” It quickly turns the truth to forgettable mush.
“My Family’s ‘Enslaved Person’ ” ? Really?
Whenever you see the word “process” prepare for revisionism.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/
And that’s the point of the revisionist article here.
bob r:
Some interesting perspectives, but overall it sees like a humblebrag.
This post contains the wrong link. The proper article is this one.