YOUTH DAY (YOUTH AND HEALTH) - CULTURAL RESOURCES
1
YOUTH DAY (YOUTH AND HEALTH)
CULTURAL RESOURCES
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tera W.
Hunter, Guest Lectionary Cultural Resource Commentator
Professor of History and African-American Studies, Princeton...
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YOUTH DAY (YOUTH AND HEALTH) - CULTURAL RESOURCES
1
YOUTH DAY (YOUTH AND HEALTH)
CULTURAL RESOURCES
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tera W.
Hunter, Guest Lectionary Cultural Resource Commentator
Professor of History and African-American Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
I.
Historical Background
The vitality of health among youth has been a key to survival since the dawning of the
African slave trade.
Traders targeted young people in their prime who were hearty
enough to endure the rough Middle Passage and harsh conditions of forced labor in the
Americas.
As a result, young people made up a substantial portion of those forcibly taken
as slaves.
The same qualities that made youth good prospects as slave labor also gave them the
extra will to withstand and overcome oppression.
Most slave masters fed their slaves and
took care of their health only to the minimal degree necessary to protect their monetary
investments.
Slaves were typically allotted fatback, cornmeal, salt, and mo
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