6 Inconvienient truths about slavery.

[redivider]

i find repulsive that somehow an author was actually able to "spin" america's use of slave labor into a good thing.

i don't care about economics and what not, it was wrong, period. if they didn't realize it, i cannot do anything about it now, but it was wrong.

a human is a human, not an ox. they will never be the same, no matter how much the people of that "era" thought that. it was wrong. period.

why didn't they use white slaves? why didn't they just start a trade selling white babies into slavery? because it is wrong. it is not too complicated. if white people would've been the slaves, it would still be just as wrong. it is something that goes against the very idea of human dignity.

they just used black people as slaves because they somehow saw themselves as superiors. it's sickening.

there is no excuse, there is nothing to say, it was wrong. i'll go throw up now...

 

[ViRedd]

i don't care about economics and what not, it was wrong, period. if they didn't realize it, i cannot do anything about it now, but it was wrong.

a human is a human, not an ox. they will never be the same, no matter how much the people of that "era" thought that. it was wrong. period.

Interesting thoughts, redvider. I wonder if folks 300 years in the future will be saying the same thing about today's abortions being done for convenience? After all, the mindset of today is that a baby in the womb is less than human, is it not? just sayin' ....

 

[undertheice]

why didn't they use white slaves?

for centuries slavery was not dependent on race. it was merely a matter of the strong subjugating the weak. in the u.s. many of all races were subjected to indentured servitude, where the price of passage was guaranteed by virtual slavery to a bondholder until the debt was repaid and that could very well take years and years of a very short life span. toward the end of the world's acceptance of slavery the most plentiful source of primitive labor was the african continent, so the majority of slaves in european controlled areas (most notably the new world) were black. it was less a matter of the white man victimizing the black than of the technologically superior subjugating weaker, less advanced civilizations.

 

[undertheice]

I wonder if folks 300 years in the future will be saying the same thing about today's abortions being done for convenience?

please don't turn this into a discussion on abortion. i just hate those and i try to avoid them whenever possible. i always end up being accused of being a bible thumper or some such nonsense and, as a lifelong atheist, if find it all rather ridiculous.

 

[CrackerJax]

One hundred forty-three years after passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and 60 years after Article 4 of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights banned slavery and the slave trade worldwide, there are more slaves than at any time in human history -- 27 million.

 

[stalebiscuit]

Anything you conservative Republicans print is total Bullshit. How can you trust in you own lies? Read about wrote this,,It's right up your alley I guess,,,I'm not Union,,But unlike you I been working 20 years, and I refuse to offer my labor to anyone that don't give a fuck about there employees. If you don't get where I'm coming from, don't worry I know where you are

fuck you buddy, i aint a god damn republican

furthermore i have worked with unions, and young enough as i am, i know a fucking scam when i see one

i gotta pay, for them to represent me against a company who treats its employees decent? why the hell should 5% of my pay check go to an organization that is self serving?

thats cool if unions want to exist, but when they become the same fucking extortion racket the government runs, fuck them and they can burn in hell for all i care

 

[Leothwyn]

Maybe he doesn't defend it, but it sure sounds like he's excusing it. I still say that just because a bunch of other cultures have done it in the past doesn't make it alright.
What if I went on a killing spree... hell, it's not like I invented serial killing. A bunch of other people have done it too. What's the big deal?
Anyway, it's history now... I'm not into reparations, but at least admit it was wrong. Medved seems to think that people can't be patriotic AND admit that we've done some evil stuff in the past.

And, Medved the well known intellectual? I'll give him well known... but he's pretty much the same as the other extreme right radio zealots.

I must admit, I only posted this to see what the responses would be. It is interesting that those who took issue with it clearly comprehended less of what they read than did other people. For instance, some said the article (written by a well know intellectual and author of several books) made an attempt to defend slavery. No such attempt was made; in fact the author denounced the practice as being every bit as abominable as it was. But, I can see how those with poor reading comprehension could make that mistake.

The author does make a number of good points and it is a shame schools don't teach the truth about our involvement in the slave trade. Does it matter that slavery existed for thousands of years before the trans-Atlantic slave trade and that it was exclusively white Christians who were responsible for bringing down this horrible practice that they didn't create? I think its worth mentioning since 99% of people wrongly think that those same people invented the practice.

 

[PeachOibleBoiblePeach#1]

fuck you buddy, i aint a god damn republican

furthermore i have worked with unions, and young enough as i am, i know a fucking scam when i see one

i gotta pay, for them to represent me against a company who treats its employees decent? why the hell should 5% of my pay check go to an organization that is self serving?

thats cool if unions want to exist, but when they become the same fucking extortion racket the government runs, fuck them and they can burn in hell for all i care[/QUOTE] lol, I worked for a Union once and your right, It has become corrupt. I did one job only. but I found it funny how up and down the line there were managers doing nothing at all for the company?
But I have also worked at places where the workers, Bust there ass making the profits for the company and are treated like shit and work horses period, while the tie guy's get all the benefits, That's fine I refuse to work for large corparations where they hire no nothings and do nothings and reap all the rewards, off of slave Labor.
I like that saying "fuck You buddy", I said that before lol, and I'll pass you the pipe, To me this article tries and justifies a Bad time in American history, writen by a RWB waving conservative republican, and it's Bullshit. I wave the same Flag and have different views, that;s what makes America great, but I can see the Lies

 

[ilkhan]

I think the logic behind using black slave
was at least partialy do to the science of the time.
Remember, we didn't even want black pilots in WWII.
They said blacks blood vesals in their brains would burst due to G-forces.
The beleive them to be racialy inferior.

Plus it was easy to get them their own black brothers couldn't wait to be rid of them.
So we took them off their hands.
Just imagine the tradgedy that surely would have happened to them had their been no buyers.
I'm bad.

 

[londonfog]

Slavery is wrong period.... What made it so bad in America was the fact it was based solely on race... slavery in america was strictly about using the Africans to build and produce crops and factory goods without paying their worth. The colonists tried to enslave the American Natives like the Spanish did in South America, but they could not control them, so slavery was legalized in Virginia for Africans.. True that other nations use slave labor as well, just not so purposely and exact as done in America. The popular conception of a racial-based slave system did not develop until the 1680's.

 

[jamesrock]

I must admit, I only posted this to see what the responses would be. It is interesting that those who took issue with it clearly comprehended less of what they read than did other people. For instance, some said the article (written by a well know intellectual and author of several books) made an attempt to defend slavery. No such attempt was made; in fact the author denounced the practice as being every bit as abominable as it was. But, I can see how those with poor reading comprehension could make that mistake.

The author does make a number of good points and it is a shame schools don't teach the truth about our involvement in the slave trade. Does it matter that slavery existed for thousands of years before the trans-Atlantic slave trade and that it was exclusively white Christians who were responsible for bringing down this horrible practice that they didn't create? I think its worth mentioning since 99% of people wrongly think that those same people invented the practice.

Thanks for posting. I thought it was well written.

 

[RickWhite]

What I find most interesting about this thread is that there is so much poor reading comprehension. In the article Medved never even comes close to defending slavery nor does he come close to excusing it. In fact, he states several times how horrible and wrong it was.

What Medved does point out is that much of the claims related to slavery are incorrect. Take for instance the first claim, that America was uniquely responsible for slavery. If we go by what we are taught in school or what we watched in the movie "Roots," it looks very much like America invented slavery when the facts are very different. Who here was taught in school that the sub-Saharan Africans were enslaved by the Northern Africans for centuries before the white man ever showed up and that it was largely Muslims who ruled the trans-Atlantic slave trade?

Has anyone here ever heard a teacher discuss how numerous American statesmen argued vehemently that slavery was immoral and while it was not white Christians that invented slavery it was white Christians and Christian sensibility that deserve the credit for ridding most of the world of this horrible evil? To this day many countries (especially Muslim ones) still keep slaves.

Other points made by the author are meant to set the record straight with regard to many false claims made by the Left and to educate people with accurate history. What is wrong with telling the whole story?

 

[londonfog]

I myself only spoke of slavery as applied in America

 

[CrackerJax]

More today than ever....... more today.

 

[Leothwyn]

What I find most interesting about this thread is that there is so much poor reading comprehension. In the article Medved never even comes close to defending slavery nor does he come close to excusing it.

Ok, maybe he doesn't outright excuse it. He seems to just be saying that it wasn't such a big deal... or it's not such a big deal as the crazy liberals want you to think it was. Does he ever admit that America was wrong, or just that the idea of slavery is?

What Medved does point out is that much of the claims related to slavery are incorrect. Take for instance the first claim, that America was uniquely responsible for slavery.What is wrong with telling the whole story?

He's got enough to bitch and whine about concerning liberals already. Now it seems like he's just making shit up. Who ever said America invented slavery? In all my life I've never heard that claim once.

I think what it boils down to is that for him America is the greatest nation on god's green earth - if you dare criticize anything our nation has done (especially something done by the holy founding fathers) you're an america-basher.

 

[IAm5toned]

he's dead on about the reading comprehension problem... that article is not defending slavery at all, he makes clear and concise statements at several points denouncing the institution and the horrors it created. the article is defending against those that assume the problem of slavery originated with the United States. the article is well written;and as such is often the case with historical fact, the truth is alot uglier than most would care to admit.
in almost every case in history when a more technically advanced society encounters a less technically advanced society ( as in millitaristic western european nations vs. primitave native african tribes) the more advanced society typically would destroy the lesser advanced society and absorb or enslave the remaining population, often total loss of cultures occurred. race typically had nothing to do with it, unless as a motivator for the average ignorant common footsoldier. its was always about economics. as a matter of fact slavery is often recognized as one of the worlds oldest institutions.. its been the harsh reality for mankind since before the time of recorded history, and only in the modern industrial era has fallen out of favor among the worlds elite nations. now dont take me wrong, im not defending a thing about slavery, i condone it in any form... but the facts are the facts, and you cant bash this guy for presenting them.

i say +rep for telling the dirty nasty ugly truth that no one wants to hear.

 

[Leothwyn]

The truth that no one wants to hear? How many people do you know who believe that america invented slavery? I know none. Not one.

 

[Xeno420]

its not about equality, its about being fair

he could be asian, why did you assume he was white

he didnt write the article (did he)

and even then he has produced no prejudice writing or opinions, and i dont think hes a bigot (what you are alluding to)

you yourself are ignorant, and the fact that you lash out at the author of the thread (while he had never used any derogatory claims nor did he ever say slavery was a good thing, nor did he advance any legislative calls) and rather than refute any of his positions you call him "white" likes it a bad thing and then claim thats he is views blacks as inferior

An asian named "Rick White", riiiiiiiight.

 

[doobnVA]

The truth that no one wants to hear? How many people do you know who believe that america invented slavery? I know none. Not one.

I can't think of any, either.

 

[CrackerJax]

An asian named "Rick White", riiiiiiiight.

Almost like a white guy with the name of Xeno ... riiiiiiight.