if you think you see no slaves in pennsylvania," replies capt. zhang, his face as smooth as suet, "why, look again. they are not all african, nor do some of them even yet know,--may never know,--that they are slaves. slavery is very old upon these shores,--there is no innocence upon the practice anywhere, neither among the indians nor the spanish nor in the behavior of the rest of christendom, if it come to that.
In this excerpt from Thomas Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon," Captain Zhang challenges the perception that Pennsylvania is free from slavery by pointing out that not all slaves are clearly visible or of African descent. He suggests that some may not even realize their enslaved status, highlighting the complexity of slavery's persistence in society. The implication is that slavery can exist in many forms and is often masked within different cultural contexts.
Furthermore, Zhang comments on the historical and universal nature of slavery, asserting that it permeates various cultures, including Indigenous peoples, Spaniards, and across Christendom. His remarks stress that there is no true innocence regarding the practice of slavery, indicating that it has deep roots in human history and can manifest in subtle ways that challenge the notion of freedom in seemingly liberated societies.
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