In 1851, Samuel Cartwright introduced the term 'drapetomania' to label the desire for freedom among enslaved Africans as a mental illness, arguing that it could be cured with increased oppression. This discredited notion mischaracterized a fundamental human instinct as a pathological condition, and its impact lingers in modern mental health systems, perpetuating harmful narratives about Black distress and resistance. The plantation functioned as a site of psychological warfare, where every attempt at autonomy was deemed disobedient or diseased. This article highlights how historical misconceptions continue to influence the treatment and perception of Black individuals in contemporary contexts.
Drapetomania taught white society that Black resistance was a symptom, not a truth. That the longing for liberation was irrational.
This was not science. It was control disguised as care. It was medicine turned into a weapon, used to criminalize the most basic human instinct: the desire to be free.
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