Picture this:
You just gave birth to your beautiful baby. As you breastfeed, someone comes and rips your baby from your chest and replaces it with your slave owner’s child – or children. You may never see your baby again or you may be separated from your child for so long that your community is forced to come up with another way to nourish your infant so that it doesn’t die.
In most scenarios, the best they could offer was unsanitary water and cow’s milk. Well, that solution may have worked for some babies, but many died while your breastmilk, meant for your dying child, went to your owner’s baby – the same owner who raped you, whipped you, tore your family apart, starved and possibly killed your baby. Meanwhile, you continue to give your owner’s baby your love, affection and milk. Why? Because we arrive innocent and pure. Hatred is taught. Full stop.
This is one narrative that was played out over and over again. White women in many cases didn’t want the burden of breastfeeding, so they forced their slaves to feed their babies. Black women who breastfed white women’s babies were referred to as “wet nurses” or “mammies”. This practice is an example of how white women actively participated in slavery, while capitalizing on the enslavement and exploitation of black women. As we look at the state of black maternal health today, we cannot forget about the maternal and reproductive violence inflicted upon black women in the past. Wet nurses were created out of necessity and have existed since biblical times, which evolved into an alternative trend, until later falling out of style in the early 20th century.
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