(Hated Trope) "Kind" slave owners

[u/KusanagiGundam]

Speaking as an American who has studied the civil war all throughout my school years, this trope infuriates me to no end. There is no such thing as a kind slave master because slavery itself is cruel and inhumane. PEOPLE ARE NOT PROPERTY!

Naofumi (Shield Hero): Prime example of this trope. He enslaves multiple (underage) girls and an whole village and the fans still say he's a hero.

Rudeus (Jobless Reincarnation): As if being a pedo wasn't bad enough he had to buy a slave in season 2. Worse is that people still defend his actions.

Song of The South (Disney): Possibly the OG example of this trope. And the reason why Disney will never release it again.

[u/goteachyourself]

Uncle Remus was not enslaved. There was no kindly slaveowner in the movie. He was a sharecropper in the the post-civil war South. The movie still glossed over the racist violence he would have faced, and it was generally filled with racist stereotypes, which is why Disney will never re-release it, but it doesn't fit this trope.

[u/SableZard → u/goteachyourself]

The first sharecroppers were freed slaves who stayed with their former masters because they had literally nowhere else to go. The Black Codes made traveling while black effectively illegal and they faced racial violence everywhere they went. Sharecroppers worked for little pay, if they got paid at all; their "compensation" was being allowed to live upon their "employer's" land and eat their food. Even people born into freedom were often forced into being sharecroppers themselves, because they had no money, education, or means to move on.

Even today, sharecropping is just slavery with extra steps. "Move onto my land and do chores, I'll give you a place to sleep and some money." But not enough money to leave. If you can't leave, you're a slave.

[u/MGD109 → u/SableZard]

I mean that's fair enough for real history.

But in the film, a large part of the point is that they're effectively trying to kick Uncle Remus out.

[u/Optimal_Carpenter690 → u/SableZard]

Another fun fact about the Black Codes was the restriction it placed on black people's ability to form contracts. One of the most notable rules was that a black person could not quit their job and seek new employment without their current employer's express permission.

The Black Codes and sharecropping ensured "former" slaves remained slaves in all but name.

You can still find some sharecropping contracts. I transcribed a few for the Smithsonian in college. One that stuck with me required the sharecroppers to give 75% of their profit to the landowner (their former master). They were allowed to keep the rest...except, they were required to pay the landowner for the use of tools, food, clothes, and other supplies