One question that never seems to get asked of slavery: How many black Americans *aren't* slaves today because their ancestors were dragged here in chains? How many black American women today enjoy sexual freedom and sexual enjoyment because their families didn't stay in Africa, where even to this day they rip out baby girls' genitals for…
One question that never seems to get asked of slavery: How many black Americans *aren't* slaves today because their ancestors were dragged here in chains? How many black American women today enjoy sexual freedom and sexual enjoyment because their families didn't stay in Africa, where even to this day they rip out baby girls' genitals for the crime of being born female?
Africa has been a slave-trading, slave-owning continent for many centuries. It's going on even *today*. It's a hellhole for many African women and that's *without* white people.
I don't deny the sheer hellishness of the African slave trade and how Americans injected new levels of degradation, humiliation and inhumanity likely never before seen in any other slave-owning society, but the overemphasis on how much American slaves suffered ignores they weren't exactly dragged from Shangri-La into New Orleans. Especially the women.
"How many black Americans *aren't* slaves today because their ancestors were dragged here in chains?"
Hey Nicole! Nice to see you here! Hmm, that's an interesting question. I mean, first, I think we need to be clear that slavery is very rare in the grand scheme of things today, and impacts people (again especially women) all over the world, certainly not just Africa. The Atlantic slave trade, particularly in scale, doesn't compare to anything in existence today or back then.
So while I'm sure the answer to your question isn't zero, the answer is far, *far* less. I'm also sure that if you'd given the choice to those people, very close to if not 100% would have chosen to stay in Africa. As you say, the American brand of slavery was very different to and far more brutal than African slavery (not to mention that millions of Africans died on the way to America, so we'd also have to ask how many of their descendants would be alive if they hadn't been dragged from their homes in chains).
I think you're on incredibly thin ice if you ask a question that can easily be construed as "why is nobody thinking about how slavery *helped* black people?", and the larger point as far as I'm concerned is that there's no need to. The Atlantic slave trade is one of the greatest evils in recent history. Nobody should deny this. But it ended over a hundred and fifty years ago. I think there's very limited value in continuing to talk about how awful it was or comparing it to other horrors.
Instead, we should be focused on repairing the damage done, primarily by what came after slavery, in the form of Jim Crow and the insidious belief that racial groups are meaningful.
Yea, good point, I wasn't trying to suggest that slavery was *good* for black people...or anyone! I should have thought that one out a little more. My point is that bad as it was for black people (kind of the 'evil apex' of human slavery the way the Holocaust is the 'evil apex' of genocide) probably many aren't stainless of the institution themselves. They may have slave owners and traders in their genealogies who looked rather a lot like themselves.
Yeah absolutely. Slavery certainly isn't a uniquely black problem. I also agree completely that we should be make society better for everyone. I think race in America gets special attention because it also got special attention (in the wrong direction) for many, many years. But yes, given the vast gulfs of financial inequality in society, racial disparities shouldn't be anybody's top priority.
One question that never seems to get asked of slavery: How many black Americans *aren't* slaves today because their ancestors were dragged here in chains? How many black American women today enjoy sexual freedom and sexual enjoyment because their families didn't stay in Africa, where even to this day they rip out baby girls' genitals for the crime of being born female?
Africa has been a slave-trading, slave-owning continent for many centuries. It's going on even *today*. It's a hellhole for many African women and that's *without* white people.
I don't deny the sheer hellishness of the African slave trade and how Americans injected new levels of degradation, humiliation and inhumanity likely never before seen in any other slave-owning society, but the overemphasis on how much American slaves suffered ignores they weren't exactly dragged from Shangri-La into New Orleans. Especially the women.
"How many black Americans *aren't* slaves today because their ancestors were dragged here in chains?"
Hey Nicole! Nice to see you here! Hmm, that's an interesting question. I mean, first, I think we need to be clear that slavery is very rare in the grand scheme of things today, and impacts people (again especially women) all over the world, certainly not just Africa. The Atlantic slave trade, particularly in scale, doesn't compare to anything in existence today or back then.
So while I'm sure the answer to your question isn't zero, the answer is far, *far* less. I'm also sure that if you'd given the choice to those people, very close to if not 100% would have chosen to stay in Africa. As you say, the American brand of slavery was very different to and far more brutal than African slavery (not to mention that millions of Africans died on the way to America, so we'd also have to ask how many of their descendants would be alive if they hadn't been dragged from their homes in chains).
I think you're on incredibly thin ice if you ask a question that can easily be construed as "why is nobody thinking about how slavery *helped* black people?", and the larger point as far as I'm concerned is that there's no need to. The Atlantic slave trade is one of the greatest evils in recent history. Nobody should deny this. But it ended over a hundred and fifty years ago. I think there's very limited value in continuing to talk about how awful it was or comparing it to other horrors.
Instead, we should be focused on repairing the damage done, primarily by what came after slavery, in the form of Jim Crow and the insidious belief that racial groups are meaningful.
Yea, good point, I wasn't trying to suggest that slavery was *good* for black people...or anyone! I should have thought that one out a little more. My point is that bad as it was for black people (kind of the 'evil apex' of human slavery the way the Holocaust is the 'evil apex' of genocide) probably many aren't stainless of the institution themselves. They may have slave owners and traders in their genealogies who looked rather a lot like themselves.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/my-great-grandfather-the-nigerian-slave-trader
And yes, I would much rather focus on making society more equitable for *everyone*...not just blacks. Like, say, the 99%?
Yeah absolutely. Slavery certainly isn't a uniquely black problem. I also agree completely that we should be make society better for everyone. I think race in America gets special attention because it also got special attention (in the wrong direction) for many, many years. But yes, given the vast gulfs of financial inequality in society, racial disparities shouldn't be anybody's top priority.