TAKAKI CHAPTER THREE

THE GIDDY MULTITUDE
In this chapter, Takaki starts out by pointing that Caliban, in the Tempest could have been African. He states that this is one of the possible thoughts that lingered in the minds of the theater goers. At this time, some of them could have encountered African because at this time five Negroes where brought to England where they were taught English so that they could serve as translators to the English traders. At the sight of these Negroes, the English were struck at why these blacks had a black skin. Some speculated that it was due to a natural infection that their skin was that black. Caliban was thought to be a ‘bastard’ because of his dark complexion. Takaki states that “the color black was freighted with an array of negative images-deeply stained with dirt, ‘foul’ dark or deadly in purpose” on the other hand “the color white signified purity, innocence, and goodness” (51-53). Caliban seemed to personify African traits in the eyes of the theatergoers. Their perception of Africans was that they are a “vile race” living without a God and religion. “Their color allegedly made them Devils incarnate” (52).
The author states that Caliban was not only seen as a savage, but he was also seen as a “deformed slave” (52). He could not be missed by the English because they said “he does make our fire, fetch our wood, and serves in offices that profit us” (52). We see here that Caliban is used for cheap labor and also we see the capitalistic type of thought where cheap labor is used to maximize profit. Eight years after the first performance of the Tempest, a Dutch man came to England and sold twenty Negars (53). Even though these twenty negars might have not been slaves, they saw the beginning of African enslavement. At this time there were whites who were sold as indentured servants. These “men and women were outcasts of society.” Even though most of these white indentured servants came involuntarily like blacks, the difference was that the blacks were being bought from their homes. Unlike these white servants, most of these blacks were not outcasts. Both whites and blacks occupied “a common social space- a terrain of racial liminality” (55). Together, they tried to find ways of escaping their masters. “The problem of whites and blacks absconding together became so serious that the Virginia legislature complained about English servants running away with Negroes” (55). They needed to do something to stop these collaborations or else the masters would be over thrown. To do this, the masters introduced different punishment for blacks and whites even though they committed the same offense. One of the differences was that white servants would only serve for a contract while black slaves would serve their masters till death. Such differences led to the racial line between the white servants and black slaves. The white servants felt superior to the black slaves because they were treated better than the blacks. The masters also later realized that it was less expensive to maintain twenty black slaves than one English servant (58). This led to more blacks being brought in as slaves to replace white servants in order for the masters to maximize profit. Now the distinction in who works more and gets the sternest punishment was determined by the difference between white and black. But the English were not happy that they ended up as servants instead of landowners as they were promised. They therefore became “a threat to social order, forming what the planter elite fearfully called a giddy multitude” (63). The fears of the giddy multitude came to reality when Nathaniel Bacon rebelled and formed an army that “contemporaries described as an incredible number of the meanest people” (64). The only solution to this rebellion was to disarm the servants and get more black slaves instead of white servants. This saw more and more blacks being brought as slaves and working under terrible conditions.
While reading this chapter, I came to a realization that after all, blacks and whites could work together if conditions allow them. For example, the white servants and black servants realizing that they all needed one common thing-freedom, they occasionally collaborated to fight for their freedom. I therefore, wonder if this can be the case if whites and blacks of today are brought to the same conditions where they have to fight for one common goal. In other words, can we narrow the racial gap by creating opportunities where blacks and whites come together more often with one goal? And secondly, could there be change if people in higher positions changed their attitude towards blacks and whites and treat everyone the same way? I personally believe that such moves can make a difference.