A former slave in the French government countered proslavery racism directly

Evidence

Gouly’s racism was nothing unique; it was part of a proslavery tradition that would haunt the Atlantic world for a long time to come. What was unique was the presence, at the heart of France’s government, of a former slave who could counter these assertions through his words and his very presence. “I was born in Africa,” Belley announced proudly in response to Gouly’s “bizarre portrait” of the ex-slaves. Although the blacks had been brutalized by their masters, he explained, they had remained men. Their insensitivity was not an essential attribute, but the result of the degradation they had experienced at the hands of “cruel masters” like Gouly, “a tiger who for twenty-five years devoted himself to torturing Africans” while making his living “on the sweat and blood” of slaves. — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 670

Categorization

• XREF: Dubois’s framing of Gouly as an Atlantic-world proslavery tradition connects to the planters’ arguments in earlier chapters. — connects to: France’s government uniquely housed a former slave rebutting racist claims.; Proslavery rhetoric in revolutionary France portrayed blacks as incapable of citizenship
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 670

Broader Connections

• France’s government uniquely housed a former slave rebutting racist claims. #expands (0.90)
• Proslavery rhetoric in revolutionary France portrayed blacks as incapable of citizenship #complicates (0.50)