Peter (fl. 1863) (also known as Gordon, or “Whipped Peter”, or “Poor Peter”) was an escaped American slave who was the subject of photographs documenting the extensive keloid scarring of his back from whippings received in slavery. The “scourged back” photo became one of the most widely circulated photos of the abolitionist movement during the American Civil War and remains one of the most notable photos of the 19th-century United States.

  • PastafARRian@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    23 days ago

    And don’t forget this was “normal” for hundreds of years in the US. Slave narratives and pictures like this are rare only because of how few escaped. But the few we have say things like “severe beatings and floggings, daily, hourly, minutely were too common to numerate. If we met our targets they were raised and we were beaten anyways” in literally every situation. It was believed by many if not most slaveowners that black people could not feel pain.