Of course I did a little research and it revealed that slaves were chained and attached to “plank” beds. They were forced to lay face down with their arms by their side and their wrist chained to their waist. Some were even stacked on top of each other with no room to move. Keep in mind there were not any restrooms and they were exposed to bodily fluids, etc. Not many of the slaves survived, many dying from dehydration and disease. You can’t always jump on the bandwagon just because you saw someone else. Everything has a hidden meaning. Cultural sensitivity is real. Yes, it maybe fun for now but it is an insult to some. Although “planking” wasn’t the official terminology used by slave masters it is still seen as an insult to some African Americans. I don’t know why and don’t have the answer! At the same token, it is seen as a core strengthening exercise to others. This is for you to decide. I can’t decide whether it is related to slavery or not. I can say that I am not jumping on a bandwagon because I saw someone else do it. But what I can say is since people are doing what everyone else is doing …can you mentor a child and donate to cancer research? Sidenote: You can’t find everything on Google. It is not the only method to conduct research. Furthermore, there are so many other things that evolved from slavery but are not talked about. It is a self charge to engage in conscious thinking.
I reached out to Mr. M.D., my former history teacher and he stated,
It’s the 2011 version of stuffing 20 people into a Volkswagen bug or a phone booth (crazy stuff kids in the 50s and 60s did). BUT…while ‘planking’ might be OK if you are Irish or German descent, it does take on an entirely different meaning if you are African-American AND if you saw ROOTS!…and if you saw Alfie Woodard narrate “The Middle Passage”
A plank collar is used on slave benches. It is a heavy wooden plank with five semicircular openings, when the plank is lifted it provides holding collars for five slaves. The plank is then chained down. The primary holding arrangement for women on the benches, however, is not chains. Each place on the bench is fitted with ankle and wrist stocks, and for each bench there is a plank collar, a plank which opens horizontally, each half of which contains five matching, semicircular openings, which, when it is set on pinions, closed, and chained in place, provides five sturdy, wooden enclosures for the throats of women. The plank is thick and thus the girls’s chins are held high. The plank is further reinforced between each girl with a narrowly curved iron band, the open ends of which are pierced; this is slid tight in its slots, in its metal retainers, about the boards, and secured in place with a four-inch metal pin, which may or may not be locked in place.
Savages of Gor pg 60