I Would Rather My Ancestors Not Have Been Slaves Than Being Born An American

It's a pretty big what if too that Africa would be in the state it has been in since slavery/colonization. It's one of the biggest what if's in history, I think most agree it would be in a much better state.

 

History is more nuanced then your portraying I think.

Slavery was obviously much more widespread and pervasive in the French Caribbean then French Louisiana. Haiti had notoriously barbaric slave owners and the subsequent violence and horror of the Haitian slave rebellion is well known.

The French weren’t some friend of the slave or something. Even if the culture in Louisiana was somewhat different.

 

Why do you care about what your ancestors went through? That type of stuff typically leads to anger/hate against the descendents of the people that inflected pain on your ancestors. Better not to care since you didn't go through what your ancestors went through and the descendents of the perpetrators haven't done anything to you. Just saying.

 

I'd hate being born an American and having to live with several tens of millions of racists.

 

But when we do lose our slave name most people look at us as being radical...
Mohammed Ali
Malcolm X

T_Man

 

So it's ok for you to admire and keep your history, but we have to forget ours?

Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it...

T_Man

 

No one should care.

White people who care would either feel guilt for things that they never did or pride -which is also useless- for things that they never accomplished.

It is good to learn from history, but there is no reason to care about history.

 

Rocket River

 

A lot of non african Americans would love for us too not care about our history...
not care about slavery...
Not care about Harriett, Frederick, Martin, Malcom..

The minute you stop caring is the minute you lose it and then it repeats itself...

T_Man

 

Literally, yesterday was a million years ago.

 

The elephant in the room is that black Americans are still feeling what their ancestors went through from present day racist policies and laws.

Ownership through blood relations is a fairly American practice that the inherent notion of white supremacy pushed through. Slavery was common since the Bible, but not this kind.

Indigenous Tribes, not African slaves, were the first victims of this Civilizing Concept, which resulted in wholesale destruction of tribes from illness, overwork, and straight up pillage.

Slavery before was usually contractual and limited to that person. When it was encouraged that non-whites were less than human and there was a labor shortage for exploiting the Americas, that sparked the highly lucrative global slave trade and the hopes by owners to "breed more and make up their investment".

Treating and abusing people like cattle in the hopes of breaking the human spirit is not a one and done occurance. It's a practice...a skill...a tradition that is honed through generations. Through that skill came their laws and law enforcement.

Are we the products of our past, or can we live on this country's ideals and break beyond our limitations to reach our dreams? Why not both?

For both, I'd argue that everyone needs to agree to the **** they've done or put up with.

Good luck with the Red Hats to make them see it that way.

 

So at the core are you saying america sucks like most in here? Or that you are willing to give up your current benefits to right historical suffering? Both?

 

We need to break the cycle that has existed since slavery and focus on black children living in difficult situations. People living in poor black communities are forgotten but the best way to address the legacy fo slavery is to work with black children to make sure they have they support to succeed in life.

Not only will this create a more productive tax paying group, it will save money on incarceration rates and provide for more stable families going forward.