Derby's dose: Difference between revisions

'''Derby's dose''' was a[[cruel formand ofunusual punishment]] and [[torture]] used in [[Jamaica]] to punish [[slavery|slaves]] who attempted to escape or committed other offenses like stealing food on plantations that were owned or run by [[Thomas Thistlewood]]. According to [[Malcolm Gladwell]] in his 2008 book ''[[Outliers (book)|Outliers]]'', (while sited by Gladwell,[[Thomas Thistlewood]] wrote about his outlandish behaviour and disturbing treatment of Jamaican slaves extensively in his 14k14,000 page diary.) "The runaway would be beaten, and salt pickle, lime juice, and [[bird pepper]] would be rubbed into his or her open wounds. Another slave would defecate into the mouth of the miscreant [sic], who would then be gagged, with their mouth full, for four to five hours."<ref name=Gladwell>{{cite book |last=Gladwell |first=Malcolm |authorlink=Malcolm Gladwell |year=2008 |title=[[Outliers (book)|Outliers: The Story of Success]] |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |page=282 |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-316-01792-3}}</ref> The punishment was invented by [[Thomas Thistlewood]], a slave overseer, and named after the slave, Derby, who was made to undergo this punishment when he was caught eating young sugar cane stalks in the field on 25 May 1756. However, historian Douglas Hall points out that "Derby's dose" was so-called because it was often administered by one of his slaves called Derby.<ref>Douglas Hall, ''In Miserable Slavery: Thomas Thistlewood in Jamaica, 1750-86'', Macmillan, 1999, p. 73.</ref>

Thistlewood recorded this punishment as well as a further punishment of Derby in August of that same year in his diary.<ref name=race>{{cite book |last1=Tate |first1=Thad W. |last2=Jordan |first2=Winthrop D. |last3=Skemp |first3=Sheila L. |year=1987 |title=Race and Family in the Colonial South: Essays |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |page=74 |isbn=9780878053339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9F2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22derby%27s+dose%22&dq=%22derby%27s+dose%22&ei=3D-iSbG4PIuiyAS4kIyMAg&client=firefox-a&pgis=1 |accessdate=February 23, 2009}}</ref>

On 18 November 2013 British television host [[Martin Bashir]] discredited a comparison made by U.S. politician [[Sarah Palin]] between the United States' debt to China and slavery by referring to Derby's dose.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurweb.com/2013/11/martin-bashir-slays-sarah-palin-over-slavery-quip-then-gives-epic-apology/|title=Martin Bashir slays Sarah Palin over slavery quip, then gives epic apology}}</ref><ref name="mediaite">{{cite web |last1=Christopher |first1=Tommy |title=Martin Bashir Says Someone Should Sh*t in Sarah Palin’sPalin's Mouth |url=http://www.mediaite.com/tv/martin-bashir-says-someone-should-sht-in-sarah-palins-mouth/ |website=Mediaite |language=en|date=November 15, 2013}}</ref> In pointing out how cruel and barbaric slavery was, Bashir used Derby's dose as an example; at the end of the segment, he finished by saying that "if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, [Palin] would be the outstanding candidate".<ref name="mediaite"/> He was criticized for this comment, and ultimately resigned.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=Bill |title=Martin Bashir Resigns From MSNBC Over Palin Comments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/business/media/martin-bashir-resigns-from-msnbc-over-palin-comments.html |website=The New York Times |date=4 December 2013}}</ref>