On repeated occasions, slaves related stories that indicate the importance of disguising their communications using social metaphors and coded speech when in the company of slave owners. Down through the years these proverbs became imbedded into the heart of the Black community and came to mean various things as pertaining to life, love, family, and home. Here are a few:

Masking

"I often hear'em saying 'never'a mind children' for yo auntie is sho a comin.'" Meaning, that freedom was imminent and soon coming.

"Turn the tray around" Meaning, the house Negro and the field Negro sat at dinner. When the filed Negro turned his head, the house Negro put some poison in his food but the field Negro saw him do it and when the house Negro turned his head, the field Negro "turned the tray around." That's what the slaves were planning on doing to the white man one day, "turn the tray around."

"A low fence is easier to get over than a high one." The fence is a metaphor for speech, for words uttered, and the proverb portrays them as enclosures that one builds around oneself. It states that it is wise to build as low a fence as possible (to reveal little) in the event that one needs to reach the object on the other side. Which follows with another proverb that says; "Say little and you gone to have a heap to explain later."

Application

"They say a rollin stone gathers no moss." The social meaning alluded to in this proverb is the positive value of a stable life and the negative value of a wandering one. Efforts made by African-Americans to obtain stability are thwarted by the forces of racism.

"Every man should live under his own vine and fig tree." This proverb conveys more than the idea that African-Americans should not be enslaved; it suggest an independence that would allow persons to be self-employed, self-supporting, self-reliant, and immune to the intrusion of the state or federal interest into their personal and private lives. It also involves that fair distribution of land to those who had rights to land, specifically vis-a-vis the promise of "40 acres and a mule."

"Let sleeping dog lie." Refers to someone who is worthless and should be left alone. They are out of touch with the socially approved community.

"Two clean sheets can't smut." Meaning, as long as two people are Christian, engaging in sex with each other cannot be a sin. (Used to make fun of promiscuous church members.

Symbolic Meanings

"You know that a whistling woman and a crowing hen will not come to good." This proverb indicates that whistling is unladylike and may lead to undesirable consequences, disapproval, or withdrawal of affection from a husband. The woman in the proverb is compared to a hen because just as a "chicken is going in the pot to fry so will a woman if she don't act like a lady."

"Hard times make a monkey eat red pepper when he don't care for black." This image emphasizes the severity of a family's economic situation. It stresses the importance of eating or utilizing whatever one has, of not being wasteful, and of having an appreciative attitude for what one has instead of complaining or indulging in fantasies about what one could have.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Would be used as a way to avoid answering a question right away.

"You the pot calling the kettle black." The social level of this proverb is the suggestion that one person is accusing another of something that he himself is guilty of.

"The kettle calling the pot black and the frying pan standing up for witness." This proverb originally represented actual objects that have symbolic meanings of enslavement, struggle, and emancipation. It afterward bled into the family structure of the Black family implying that all members of that family can be contrary to one another but at the same time be together in difference. Also used when children are bickering among each other and some start to lie for the others.

"Like the monkey who hated them ate red peppers and cried his eyes out." Never say what you will or will not do. You never know when circumstances will change your fortunes. One can unexpectedly find oneself in adverse circumstances of some kind and may have to do things that he or she previously thought were beneath him or her.

Acts Among Peers

"Don't let your mouth write a check your behind can't cash." Do not say anything more than what you are able to physically defend. Also places into the context of the social-economic position of Blacks in America.

"They say if you play with a puppy he will lick your lips." However charming one may be but cannot show restraint must be handled with a stern hand. On one hand, one may want to be viewed as a pal but on the other hand, may want recognition for his or her authority.

"The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice." Exalts the attributes of a dark-skinned woman; the social meaning of the proverb is that the more dark-skinned a person is, the more desirable they are. Includes a concern with negative racial images of dark skin that exist in the popular Western mind and used as a rebuttal.

"If the dog hadn't stop to shit he would've caught the rabbit." At a social level, it suggests that the dog is unreliable, selfish, lazy, and easily distracted, and that the person to whom the proverb is said shares these characteristics. It also carries an implied frustration on the part of the hunter (asker) in having to acknowledge the dog's superior ability to do the task and, thus, the need to rely on him.

Miscellaneous

"You don't see an empty bag stand up." When one is hungry, one doesn't have the energy to work.

"New brooms sweep clean but old brooms knows where the dirt is." A new thing or person may be attractive and new but lacks the specific practical experience of the old one.

"The woman who rocks the cradle, she rules the home." The person in charge of the children and domestic chores is undeniably the person who controls the home or domestic domain.

"Every crow thinks her crow is blackest." Every mother thinks her child is the best, smartest, and most outstanding.

"A dog who brings a bone will carry a bone." Said about a person who gossips a lot.

"Every shut eye ain't sleep, and every grinning mouth ain't happy." Just because someone is not looking in your direction does not mean they don't see what you are doing. "Every goodbye ain't gone."

"Last hired, first fired." In discussing the difficulty even highly educated Blacks have finding a decent job.

"Nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream." You may as well wake up because nothing of importance will happen to you while you are asleep.

"Still waters run deep." A silent person is a deep thinker. Therefore, don't play that person for a fool.

"White folks got the money and Black folks got all the signs." Reflects the common belief that white people do not have superstitions, but teach them to blacks to keep them in an inferior social and economical position.

Source from: African-American Proverbs in Context. Prahlad, 1996.