In 1851, a white physician, Samuel A. Cartwright, “discovered” a new mental illness. Drapetomania was a condition that nearly all enslaved Black were at risk of contracting, but why was it so dangerous?
Cartwright developed the term drapetomania to describe what he believed was a mental illness that caused enslaved Black people to flee captivity. He believed that as long as the enslaved were “treated like children” and not equals, drapetomania could be prevented. How ridiculous.
Cartwright claimed those who already tried to escape or who tried to influence others were sick, but they could be treated. His proposed solution was horrific.
Cartwright prescribed whipping the devil out of anyone seeking to be free or cutting off their toes. As farfetched as this sounds, this thinking still exists today.
Our personhood suffers when misinformation and lies are used to discriminate against us. It’s only when we share our stories and know who we truly are that we prepare ourselves to fight back, so don’t believe the hype.