It is not debunking to point out that the interviewees were elderly black people living in poverty during the Great Depression.  It is merely adding an important context for understanding why life under slavery -- with even the limited benefits supplied by paternalist masters -- might evoke some nostalgia.  As Kevin Hardwick points out, this tells us a lot about how sad their lives were in the 1930s as much as it gives us information about the conditions of slavery. 

David Kiracofe

David Kiracofe
History
Tidewater Community College
Chesapeake Campus
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
757-822-5136
>>> <[log in to unmask]> 10/07/08 2:00 PM >>>
 
Historians like to debunk the slave narratives because, inter alia, many of  those interviewed took the position that their lives were better under slavery  than under freedom.  I have a copy on CD, and was amazed at how many former  slaves wished for the good old days under the massa.
 
J South

 
 
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