Slave owners believed blacks couldn't hold the ability to own knowledge; therefore, they were restricted to any sort of reading or writing by law. Without any knowledge, African slaves were endured into plantations into the hot sun picking cotton or raising crops for extreme hours. Health problems rised drastically because the "unsanitary conditions, inadequate nutrition and unrelenting hard labor slaves were highly susceptible to disease" (PBS, 3). Diseases such as malaria were spreaded rapidly around the plantations and increasing the slave death rate to drastic numbers. Living conditions for many African Americans during the antebellum period were harsh and was a day by day battle for the sake of survival.
Throughout Dana's life in present day America, Butler points out current day abuse of domination that can be associated with forms of modern day slavery. Domination became an issue for women were they were pressured into enduring "the threat and the practice of sexual exploitation" (PBS, 4). Women value is set at the bottom of the ladder without any sort of protection from being sexually stalked, harassed, or raped by masters and overseers. In today's society many relationships are compared to Domestic Violence were a spouse or acquaintance threatens and physically abuses. In Kindred, Rufus tries to get Dana to convince Alice to have sex with him. When Dana refuses, Rufus builds up tension by telling her, "I've been too easy on you' 'I treated you like you were better than the ordinary niggers, I see I made a mistake!' 'You think you're white!" (164). Rufus relationship with Dana slowly rises to a greater danger because as a boy Rufus treats Dana as a friend but as Rufus becomes older he manipulates and makes clear that he has to have his way. When Rufus loses Alice from his reach, he decides to go after Dana. She knew Rufus would try to physically abuse her but made a stop to it, she said, "I would never be to him what Tess had been to his father- a thing passed around like the whiskey jug at a husking" (260).