Enslaved vs. Slave

If you follow us on instagram (@genz_for_justice) you may have seen this picture. We just wanted to expand on the difference between these words because an instagram caption doesn't always get it done!

What's the difference? The word slave is a noun while the word enslave is a verb. This is key to understanding the difference between the two words. A noun is a person, place, or thing. Using the noun slave implicates slavery as a state of being, and detracts attention from the violence done to that person. A verb is an action.

Using the verb enslave highlights the way

that enslavers violated human beings

So while “slave” can sound dehumanizing, describing a person as “enslaved” maintains that person’s humanity but outs the heinous violence of enslavement and deprivation of another’s freedom.

Rather than being a “slave”, humans were enslaved by the enslaver.

Changing our language may seem unnecessary, but it’s important, especially in our society right now. Seeing the word “slave” can give someone the unjustified impression that enslaved people were less than human. These are false ideas about enslavement, ideas rooted in White supremacy. (This is the same logic that perpetuates killings of Black people in our society today.)

Enslavement still heavily lingers in our society today. Even though it has been abolished by law in America, ideas of enslavement still exist in some form. The idea of plantation capitalism, prisons being modern plantations, and police as the modern slave patrol perpetuate patterns of dehumanization and violence that existed during times of enslavement.

It’s also important to remember, enslaved people survived under extreme oppression which is radical in and of itself and must be remembered. It can be harmful to only talk about enslavement when it comes to a specific group of people because then we are not acknowledging the persistence and intelligence enslaved people developed to survive through oppression. We must not forget to acknowledge that enslaved people were full humans beyond the condition of enslavement.