Slavery and the African-American Family in Diaspora

Abstract

Abstract: The Atlantic slave trade of the fifteenth to the nineteenth century which transferred slaves from Africa to the Americas led to a legacy of slavery which continued for many generations. This singular event in the history of the continent had profound corporal and psychological impact on these displaced people who were barely successful in finding a home away from home even after the abolition of slavery with the end of the American Civil War. This paper attempts to illustrate the affect of this episode on the smallest social unit of the family. It tries to bare the subtleties of the African-American family, the members of which suffer from a deep-rooted impact of their present and past which results in absent members, dysfunctional relationships, problematic associations, and etcetera. It, further, probes into the how the conventionally warm space of the family becomes something challenging for this African Diaspora to deal with. In order to achieve this end, this paper will make a study of the 1987 novel Beloved by the African-American writer Toni Morrison.