Talk:Aibileen Clark/@comment-123.192.182.85-20190404190907

My particular type of OCD is that I nitpick continuity or other errors in films, books, news, etc. I understand that the movie has a message, and that message is very important. I don't mean to undermine any part of that.

But... if Abilene is born in 1911, it's a fair guess that her mother gave birth to her when she was between 20-30 years old. That'd put her mother's (the maid) birth year between 1881-1891. It's an even better guess that her mother's mother (her grandmother, the house slave) gave birth to her daughter when she was between 20-30 years old. That'd put her grandmother's birth year between 1851-1861.

The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in non-rebellious areas in 1863,and the 13th Amendment freed all slaves in 1865. Most scholars indicate that the children of field slaves could have been put to work as early as six years old, but that house slaves wouldn't have learned the necessary skills until about 12 years old.

Given these suppositions, Abileen's grandmother, at worst, could have become a house slave in 1863, the same year that slaves were emancipated. But it's much more likely, given that they tended to have children at a younger age, that the grandmother herself would still have been an infant or too small to work at the time that slavery was finally abolished.

Again, this isn't to whitewash the plight of slaves in North America. Rather it's to point out a possible (likely?) discrepancy. I was always taught that the surest way to weaken your version of events is to overstate it.