That, I decided, was what it meant to be a slave: your past didn't matter, in the present you were invisible and you had no claim on the future.

Lawrence Hill
About This Quote

I think that is very true. When you are enslaved, you are nothing but a piece of property, an object. There is no reason to care about your future or your past because it does not affect this moment. The only thing that matters is being able to survive and be productive for the owner. You can’t have a family or a life outside of that owner, so there is no point in even trying.

Source: The Book Of Negroes

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