Enslaver
Reparative Description Preferred Term
Preferred Terms: Enslaver(s)
Non-Preferred Term: Modifier form: slave owner/slaveowner/owner, slave holder/slaveholder, slave master/slavemaster/master or mistress
Related Terms that May Continue to be Used: Slave manifest, slave claim, slave payroll
Guidance:
Enslaver is the preferred term. Use of the preferred term enslaver addresses slave's harm in the context of Western chattel enslavement of Africans and their descendants. However, NARA should not remove all uses of slave, particularly in its use as a modifier for economic systems or types of documents. This approach will be reevaluated as policies and practices at peer institutions develop.
Examples:
Where does this apply?
This applies to changes in descriptions and authority records. See the Appendix: Reparative Description Preferred Terms for guiding principles and general guidance.
Rationale:
See first the rationale in the preferred term page for Enslaved Person.
Much as "slave" normalizes the condition of enslavement as a state of being, "slave owner," "slave master," and variants normalize and sanitize the action of keeping a person enslaved. Using "enslaver" makes visible the continued interpersonal violence that was necessary to keep Africans and their descendants in the economic, social, and political bondage of chattel slavery.
Date added: July 20, 2022
Date updated: June 27, 2023