| THOUGHTS On Slavery The concept and practice of slavery has existed since the beginning of time. From the moment that man was able to understand that a little manipulation would easily subdue another man to his will, the concept and actual practice was born. In other words, the moment homo sapiens was able to get the better of his fellow being, the battle fought very often ended in the victor and the vanquised, the vanquished, if not killed, entering into a life of servitude. Slavery has existed among all groups, practically, and is not a practice that should be strictly attributed to any one group exclusively. Those that would blame the White - 1 - man in America as the proponent of slavery, the instigator, if you will, of slavery in Amerca, need to research the history of this practice, not beginning on slave ships to America, but going further back in history to the beginnings of slavery. The history books certainly do need to be re-written to reflect a truer picture of the past, and do justice for all ethnicities, but if they are to be re-written, they must contain as much truth as possible. For too many years, we have been taught, for example, that “Father Columbus” discovered America and that was the extent of his mention in the history books. Now, it has been shown that curelty and slavery was practiced under his rule in America. If slavery in America is to be made an issue, let it not always remain the “White Man’s Problem”. Let those who rewrite history go to the African tribes that provided the slaves, let their research reflect the fact that African tribes have warred against each other since time immemorial. The White Man was the intermediary, if you will, in bringing slavery into America. The slaves - 2 - already existed among the Africans, were sold to the slavers, and the slave ships brought them to America (Amistad). The great African leader, Shaka Zulu, had his share of slaves as had rulers before him and since then. Granted, America was the home of the free and in that respect, no man deserved to be excluded from the rights that the Constitution granted to its citizens, but the fact still remains that the slaves were brought here from Africa, already “in chains” by their own ethnicities. From early Greece to Early Rome, to Ancient Egypt, to the Aztecs, slavery existed. The Aztecs, if the Mexican historians wish to relect a true picture, carried on warfare for the purpose of not only obtaining defeated peoples for slavery, but also for the purpose of human sacrifice. Slavery has existed among the Latin countries as well. There are those that would want the President of the United States to apologize for slavery. Are we to hold the American poeple responsible for slavery? Is it right to, say, hold the whole of the German people responsible for the Nazi - 3 - regime and its atrocious practices? If any deserve an apology, land, renumeration, it is the American Native, for he was here before anybody else and his land was taken away from him: nay, his very “essense” was pretty much destroyed. He truly deserves our sympathy and help. Even that may be too late. The battle has been fought and won, the boundaries have been drawn...we must now go on (forward) and not look back (backward) as too many do constantly. |