Auction

(parental advisory: language/violence/sexual references)

The legend of Columbus was historical skullduggery
Reinforced by papal bullshit called the Doctrine of Discovery
"Convertir a los nativos para que sigan al Redentor?"
Convert those fucking pagans using slavery and war!

Nine out of ten from indigenous nations
Dead from disease or guns or simple starvation
Fifty-five million at the hands of the White man
Looking for land (That was the plan!)
Goddam, we understand how to wipe out a civilization!

Pick it up back in Virginia we’ve been laying down the statutes
Where survival as a negro slave has always been a crapshoot
There we rape the mothers, rape their daughters 
Drag our children to the slaughter 
It’s frugal, it’s legal - and it makes a lotta dollars

Eenie meanie minie mo
Catch a white tiger with a Negro ho
Hang her by the ankles but you let him go
Eenie meanie minie mo
And if she hollers then you make her pay
Cut her with a razor like a fish filet
Teaches her a lesson she can learn that way

Nine out of ten from indigenous nations
Dead from disease or guns or simple starvation
Fifty-five million at the hands of the White man
Looking for land (We do what we can!)
Goddam, we understand how to wipe out a civilization!

Take 'em to the market in a horse drawn truck
We get 'em buck naked and we line 'em up
Always make a killing on a nice big butt
Charge a pretty penny and you get your cut

The kids pick cotton like a damn machine
If you start 'em out early on a tight routine
But you gotta drive hard so they pick plants clean
Scare 'em with a whip and some gasoline

(Start the auction)
Who'll give me ten? Gimme ten dollars for the
Teenage nigger with a nice strong back 
There's ten. C'mon friends, here's the deal 
This boy's a steal and that's a fact

How 'bout twelve? (Twelve!) I hear twelve.
If you make it sixteen then I'll throw in the girl 
Now hell, you can tell from the hips and the
Shiny white teeth she's a succulent peach and a pearl

(Bidder)
I'll trade you an acre for those two young kids
(Auctioneer)
I'll take that bid but you'll need to breed and they might not last
(Bidder)  
Well I wanna make a profit so I guess I'll ask, 
Have you got a couple more that you're hidin' out back?
(Auctioneer) 
Fine sir, I do,and they're top shelf  
I'll let you take ‘em both home and breed 'em yourself

Take a long ride on the middle passage
Bring as many as you can, yeah, that’s the message
Land, wealth at any price
Endorsed by the Pope and Jesus Christ

We need our slaves to work the land
           (Take a long ride on the middle passage)
We know that you'll all understand
           (Bring as many as you can, yeah, that’s the message)
Our plans to settle far and wide
           (Land, wealth at any price)
Are good since God is on our side
           (Endorsed by the Pope and Jesus Christ)

We'll spread the hope of all creation
From Western European nations
Subdue the land and vanquish evil
By bringing God to native people

The Back Story

After the American Revolution, cotton production grew rapidly, and demand for enslaved workers on the vast plantations of the Deep South intensified. This, along with the ban on importation of enslaved Africans that took effect in 1808, largely led to the rapid growth of the domestic slave trade. Auctions and the sales of enslaved people could be found near or along the major ports where enslaved Africans landed, including Richmond, Va.; New Orleans; Savannah, Ga.; and Charleston, S.C. But the enslaved were also sold in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey and at New York City’s 18th-century open-air Meal Market on Wall Street. The sales took place all over the growing nation — in taverns, town squares and train stations, on riverbanks and by the side of the road. Before being sold, the enslaved were often kept in pens or private jails, sometimes for days or weeks. Then they were sold directly from the pens or marched to a nearby auction. Thousands of sales took place each year, right in the hearts of American cities and towns, on the steps of courthouses and city halls. As the historian Steven Deyle puts it, slave auctions were “a regu­lar part of everyday life.”¹

Dramatic Reading

Sally Mottram was finally in New York. The ferry across the East River offered a splendid view of Manhattan. From the Brooklyn side she could see gentle hills and fields stretching for miles. Cousins Harold and Tom Mottram spoke often of their hunting and fishing escapades all along the banks. They told stories of beaver, otters and even bear living in the gentle northern parts of the island. There were acres of oyster beds and harvesting was easy if you were willing to spend time shin deep in the mud. Industrious developers were apparently reclaiming sections of the waterfront, expanding the buildable areas. Progress was amazing! The population had doubled in the last 10 years. It was hard to imagine sixty thousand people living on such an island. But from the ferry it looked like there was plenty of room for growth. 

Her home on the outskirts of Jamestown felt crowded. The Mottram’s had lived there since the beginning, but both the house and the family’s reputation had fallen into disrepair over the decades. They were no longer respected as they once had been before the Elizabeth Key incident. The resentment ran deep. Great great grandpa John had never recovered. The black servants they had hoped to conscript were a hard people to understand. Sometimes they simply would not play by the rules. That was frustrating enough. But when they actually got the better of their superiors in a courtroom, well, that was a bridge too far. 

Cousin Harold had promised to take Sally to a special event. He was playing coy about what it was, but she thought she could guess. Slave auctions were a lively business in New York, especially in the area they called Wall Street. You had to be connected to know where these events would pop up because they were a controversial affair and happened quickly and efficiently. The federal government had just passed a law banning forced importation of Africans from other countries, but selling the ones who were already here was still allowed in New York. And business was good. Sally giggled quietly behind her hand. She would pretend to be surprised, but she was already getting excited. Oh, it was good to be king.

The Whiteness Factor

From the arrival of the Spanish, the Portuguese and Columbus, through the immigration of the Scots-Irish and the tactics used by groups like Rogers Rangers – endorsed and encouraged by the U.S. government – the primary method for acquiring wealth was violence.

Thirst for wealth and power was relentless as the driving force behind the death and enslavement of millions of Indigenous Peoples and Black Africans. The concept of Whiteness developed as a way to dehumanize the victims and distance the perpetrators from the violence of their actions.

1. The 1619 Project – The New York Times Magazine