elanya

I am working on a section of my dissertation that I have been looking forward to writing for a while. I'm in my section looking at the community of Harbour Island specifically in order to make an argument that it is a maritime community. Now I do't want to do this by just listing its maritime attributes - I want to get a fuller description of the town as much as I can. This includes addressing things like race relations.

One of the most interesting documents I have regarding race relations and black culture on the island come from the notes of a missionary who also stood as a Justice of the Peace (likely so he could draw in some extra cash). The letter in question relates to a rape case, where a black female slave was gangraped by four of her male peers after, according to one of the accused, she offered to have sex with one of them for money.

There are a lot of interesting things to tease out from the very little I know about the case, but I want to treat the issue with sensitivity as much as I can, because there are a lot of complex issues at hand. I'm planning to run this section by my writing group when I next present, but I though I would put it up here as I go as well. So, that said, ( here is my description of the case. )