Slavery

Although the Us's in tins play are not slaves, their socioeconomic situation represents that of the legacy of slavery in the lives of African Americans. An introductory explanation of the play states that the Us's "tilled the valley, they cultivated It and made It as beautiful as it is. They built roads and houses even for the White Devils." This description represents the fact that the prosperity of the United States was built in part by the labor of African American slaves and, after emancipation, by low-wage labor. This slavery and hard labor takes its toll on the Us's An Old Us, who joins the group, explains that he is blind from "brooding for the White Devils in the heat of the noon-day sun. . ." And yet, the White Devils "let them build the houses and then they were knocked back down into the valley." Just before Finest Blood...