"Passing" grade for Equiano

As to the matter of Equiano’s place of origin, while many have questioned the veracity of his anecdotes as to place doubt on his place of origin; I do think there is a very good argument to be made for the truth in his origins being from Africa.  One of the strongest pieces of evidence for Equiano’s African origin being true is the fact that most people of his time preferred to claim that they were born in the new world; there is a strong likelihood that, while there is a possibility that he had a reason that is not immediately apparent to claim African origin when he had been born in South Carolina, he would be disinclined to claim African origin unless it was true and he was motivated by telling the truth of his story in order to end the slave trade, even if he could not clearly remember all of the precise details of his early origin.

It is a common situation throughout society’s history that the other will claim membership in the preferred class if at all possible.  For instance, non-white people, if light skinned enough, would do everything they could to “pass” for white to claim the social benefits of whiteness.  Even today, in the gay community, “passing” for straight is a common defense mechanism in order to claim the benefits of heterosexuality.

In Equiano’s time, it is unlikely that there would have been a social benefit, or even a benefit of greater believability as an author, in claiming African origin since African origin was looked down upon in his time and society.  These social tendencies also answer Carretta’s claim that the young Equiano told people he was born on a plantation in South Carolina; he very well might have told people that, but that would have been the lie.  When Carretta claims that Equiano had nothing to hide in his early life, he ignores the fact that a newly freed slave might have every reason to lie to improve his place in society and situation; he likely had less to lose in early life, and much more to lose by lying when he began to write with the goal of abolishing the slave trade. Carretta’s arguments appear to be based strongly on an assumption of what a freed slave, new slave, terrified child, and activist Black author would feel and do rather than on Equiano’s own narrative, which supports Equiano’s adult account of his origins.  

In the close reading of the text section (4), it is worth pointing out that, while some accounts of Africa and the passage of a new slave to America were likely “assisted” by oral histories and previously written works, Equiano would likely have seen them as an important part of the slave narrative, and thus, his narrative for a portion of his life in which trauma and young age prevented him from clearly remembering all the details.  Equiano’s autobiography is also an autobiography of slavery in general, in a way, which is appropriate for a time when many viewed slaves as utterly interchangeable.