White people are obsessed with us. They want to control us, oppress us, and if the current culture is any indication, they want to BE us.
But not many of us know that white consumption of Blackness is sometimes LITERAL – white cannibals aren’t a figment of our historical imagination.
Europeans often ate the mummified remains of Egyptians. Researchers argue it was for a substance Egyptian embalmers used to kill bacteria, but even when the health benefits of mummies were debunked, white people continued eating flesh.
During the Atlantic slave trade, whites were known to eat the bodies of Africans when supplies ran low. Though it’s suspected this occurred on many occasions, there is at least one documented case of this on the slave ship “Arrogante.”
White people also consumed lynching victims. When Nat Turner was captured after the revolt in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, enraged white people chopped him to pieces, made accessories from his skin, and used the fat from his body to make grease.
White people are obsessed with consuming us. Though they don’t eat us as meals anymore, they still consume our culture. We should be careful about the white people we support and those we invite to the BBQ, especially since our well-being might be on the menu!