victor809 wrote:I think this is largely misdirection. I see a few assumptions which are incorrect here...
1 - You really could only blame the tribe selling the slaves for the first generation of slaves. They were not responsible for the institutionalized slavery we had in the US during that period. Blacks were not people. There was nothing they could do to be considered people. Think about it, if we were enslaving other whites, at least they would have a chance at becoming a person. If they bought their freedom, or escaped, or whatever... they would be given standard rights any other white had. However, in a fit of absolute efficiency, we simply designated an entire race as slaves. It made it very easy to keep track of.
2 - You assume that whites, who never owned a slave, are being vilified as perpetrators of slavery. I don't think that's a major problem. I've never been blamed for slavery... have you? I think the common complaint is current ongoing issues surrounding race. Many of these issues probably have their roots in the generations of slavery our country committed, but it's not the same thing.
Let me state it a different way. Slavery as we know in the US, which is the topic is du jour ad nauseam, is based upon slavery that existed from colonial times through the late 1800's in the US. I haven't met any 150 year old former slave "owners" so for the sake of argument I'm assuming they are all pushing up daisy's.
Absolutely they were treated improperly, and that's putting it mildly. But, at some point we as a nation need to get past it. Many many people were mistreated. And yes some worse than others. But, to keep bringing it up as if it just ended last week serves but one purpose. It generates income for the "civil rights" leaders. Without it, they cease to be relevant. Just how far can the victim card be played?
We mustn't forget that Japanese were interred during WWII. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese died driving railroad spikes coast to coast. Twenty million Jews perished in the Holocaust. But, as a whole these ethnic groups have moved on and prospered.
Yet, I seem to recall a few weeks ago a certain congressman was once again on the floor of the house talking about reparations for descendents of slaves. Reparations that people who never owned or are descendents of people who never owned slaves would have to pay through taxes collected from them.
So if someone wants to understand racism, perhaps they should ask why people feel the way they do. The answer may be surprising.