Reply to Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

Forum Index » Entertainment and Pop Culture

Reply to "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Black dies after a second generation of mixing (see Archie).

It would not surprise me if there were some black nobility in London that intermixed with white although probably not to the extent referenced on these shows .  Moors lived throughout Europe. There’s a rumor Mozart is black or part black.

Lot of black slaveowners  too but these things are Hidden history. There was a black colonial army here in the US that helped the Brits in exchange for freedom and travel to London or Canada  , and I think that the boxer Will Mondrichs  story shortly referenced that during a Bridgerton episode.

[/quote]

There actually weren't a lot of black slaveholders. I studied this subject in law school. There were some, but not many. [/quote]

DP and while that is true, there were a lot of black Africans who participated in and profited from the slave trade. Not as slave owners on plantations or in their home, but in capturing people to enslave and then engaging in business dealings with the white traders. This history gets rolled into colonialism as certain African tribes were elevated above others by the colonists, given higher status, government positions, and land.

This is one reason the story of Lord and Lady Danbury in the Queen Charlotte story is interesting to me. Obviously total fiction, as no Africans became members of the British aristocracy. However, when Lady Danbury speaks of Sierra Leone, her history there (she was born there) and her husband's history, she is referencing a real history of alliance between certain African families and tribes and colonial powers which was mutually beneficial, but devastating for other Africans. It is not as farfetched as some are arguing. Though if you wanted to create a realistic alternate history in which these African were integrated into British society in the way that is depicted on Bridgerton, you would need to contend with the fact that these Africans would almost certainly be extremely racist and colorist, as a means of protecting their own position by espousing the idea that they deserve this position over Africans for reasons related to things like genetics and bloodlines.

There is history like this in the US as well. In and around Charleston, for instance, there was a class of enslaved people who were purposefully brought in for their expertise with growing rice in lowland marshes, and this group helped cultivate the "Carolina Gold" that made this area incredibly wealthy. Because these people were respected for specific skills, they were treated differently than other enslaved people in the region, sometimes granted more freedoms, and treated with greater respect. Not to the degree that you see on Bridgerton, but in a way that was distinct. Some of these people were even allowed to start businesses for themselves, selling wares in Charleston markets and having some of their own money.

One of the cool things about a show taking these kinds of liberties with history is that it has the ability to reveal some truth even when it is fiction. I don't know that Bridgerton is actually doing that with regards to race (the material is simply too fluffy and entertainment focused to do that), but I don't oppose this kind of "fake history" in part because of how it can drive people to learn actual history, and unlearn some of their false preconceptions of the past.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics