I know right? It's a Tarantino film; they're not meant to be realistic. But seriously, it approached slavery as a morally gray area that sounds very plausible to how society functioned over 150 years ago. I'll break this down to 5 questions.....
'Mandingo fights' were pure fiction right? Or could something like that have existed, in more underground fashion if there were rumors?
House slaves were real? They never worked in the fields?
Were there really black 'socialites' who worked (or really just dined with) in the inner circles with their white owners in the southern states?
Did a state where slavery was still legal recognise that a former slave was free (given that former slave had documentation to prove it)? And on that note: did the slave states even provide documents showing a black person was a free man?
Was there even such a thing as a black slaver in the States?
A) Mandingo fights? This is something made up for the film. It's magical realist fantasy. Were slaves ever ordered to kill other slaves or abuse them? Yessir. But a slave fighting ring for white entertainment? No.
B) Yes. And sometimes slaveholders would train coachmen or butlers or ladies in waiting to be fancy ornamental house slaves. But the border between house and fields was permeable. House slaves would be sent into the fields as punishment or during periods of high demand. And the house slaves tended to be the lighter skinned slaves, often the children of slaveholders who were given this privilege.
C) It happened. The intimacy of slavery meant that sometimes slave and master developed very close bonds of attachment. This is more common when slaveholders had longstanding sexual relationships with their slaves, but also it could happen with personal servants or childhood friends
D) Absolutely. Freedom papers existed all over the south. Though it became harder and harder to free slaves over the years and certain states made it illegal for freed people to live in them without being reenslaved, people can be freed.
D) Sure. And there were black slaveowners