Interesting, was reading an analysis by an Egyptologist and the current argument is that the pyramids were not actually built by slave labor.

Now granted, she also had to acknowledge that they didn't actually have a currency at the time. So they weren't technically paid in cash.

victor809 wrote:

And Mt Rushmore... which shoulda never been built anyways... 😟

DrafterX wrote:

And the way things are being torn down now because some small group finds them disrespectful to their cause, who knows about what could happen to these memorials.

In Boston, vandalism of the Columbus statue resulted in it being removed and put in storage. A petition of 10,000 signatures is leading the mayor to entertain the same idea for the statue of Abraham Lincoln. 10,000 signatures! You could probably get 10k signatures stating that the holocaust never happened.

BuckyB93 wrote:

don't look at me...I used all my strength building the railroad...laundry is all I can handle nowadays

delta1 wrote:

If you want to include indentured servants in the mix then include the white Irish oyster shuckers. If you want to go further and include sharecroppers that brings my grand parents in the mix. Where’s my check? What’s that number for JG Wentworth?

Abrignac wrote:

"there would be less racism if people stopped pointing it out to me!"....

Yeah, that's about as great an analysis as "there's be less COVID if we didn't test for it!"

victor809 wrote:

The numbers, pervasiveness and persistence of black enslavement in the US far exceeds any other form...to suggest otherwise is like comparing an elephant to an anteater.

I'm not minimizing any form of slavery. We all agree that it is one of the most abhorrent of man's inhumanities to man.

Pointing the fingers of blame exclusively at the descendants of people who lived for 400 years in chains for their place in today's world is a convenient excuse to say, "it isn't my fault...I didn't own anybody...they've got their freedom and individual responsibility" and continue going about your business in a world that was built, partially by whites using slave labor, to ensure whites sat at the top of the heap.

Blacks inherited an uneven playing field...not equal in any sense...and discriminatory behavior by individuals, private businesses, local, state and federal governments continued long after the ink dried on those important documents that didn't have far reaching immediate impact. In many places, hearts got harder, not bigger. An example is exclusionary housing/zoning practices, which continue to exist today.

Fifty five years after the Civil Rights Act and fifty four years after the Voting Rights Act supposedly leveled the playing field...here we are, replaying decades old songs from an out-dated playlist. The difference today is that there are far more white people marching in the streets side-by-side with people of all colors, acknowledging that racism and inequality exists and demanding change.

This feels the same as the 60's and 70's, with some places talking about a 70's cure: affirmative action...are you kidding me? I thought that concept disappeared with disco dancing and fringed leather jackets...

But there is a difference, and that difference may be critical in making positive change permanent. White support across the land may be the difference maker.

delta1 wrote: