For instance, right now we have The War Against Terror. We could put together the stories of those murdered by drone strikes, waterboarded in Guantanamo, raped by soldiers and so on. Yet the canvas is far larger, there are the stories of the soldiers and the perplexing question as to why we all let it go on. Everyone paid their taxes to pay for the war machine and everyone voted for a politician that voted for The War Against Terror (or would have voted for it had they been elected). I know this because, in October 2001, those willing to protest against the war amounted to me and a very small handful of others. Clearly by 2003, and the invasion of Iraq, there were millions more wanting to protest against the conduct of the war, however, October 2001 is where the uncomfortable truth is. By merely focusing on the 'human interest stories', be it in New York or Afghanistan, we avoid this uncomfortable truth aspect of the bigger narrative.
Regarding Elizabeth Freeman, she did not make it to the courtroom on her own. Her male, white lawyer said a few words for her there. His story is interesting because he did own slaves and, once Elizabeth Freeman was free, she became his servant. So how free would she have been without his efforts and, as a servant, how free was she anyway?
As for being 'fed and watered', the thing about owning a slave is that a slave did have to be cared for to a certain extent rather than just worked to death. Meanwhile, an 'indentured servant' could be worked to death' as there was no obligation or expectation to care for them into old age.
Regarding 'routine sexual assaults', I am sure that goes on and has gone on since the beginning of time, regardless of race. Women were property too up until recent times, passed on from father to husband, with surname changing according to ownership. Yet, I like to believe that my great-grand-fathers did more than see their other halves as property, there 24/7 for their sexual gratification.
Not everything need be painted as a wall of horror. Is everyone with some mixed-race ancestry the bastard spawn of some horrific rape? Or, amongst the tide of misery were there some instances where genuine love was able to flourish between Master and his concubine(s)? What about the white lady of the house and the gardener? Did love sometimes flourish there too? Again, the more in depth narrative fascinates whereas your 'it was just beatings and rape' version of the story is a tad trite for me.
The danger of painting the story as 'black and white' with whites evil and persons of colour whiter-than-white is that by understanding the story that way you may come into a situation where you insult someone from a different background to yourself by assuming too much about their heritage.