BO makes me proud to be an American ......NOT
If oooooooonly the Southerners would have did there own work.
The President addresses the Nation
by designs 257 Replies latest social current
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designs
moo- What are you talking about.
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Simon
it's difficult to understand what point you're trying to make moomanchu
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moomanchu
Think about it
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Simon
Thinking isn't helping ... maybe "words structured into a meaningful sentence" would?
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moomanchu
No slaves
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Simon
Unless you have figured out time-travel I don't think offering as a solution that we should change what happened 2-300 years ago is really workable.
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sammielee24
Moo?
Are you referring to the inference that Obama made to slavery as being the history and reason for the feelings today? Slavery most often equals the word plantation. Following that word is south - generally.
Do you mean to say that if the south did their own work, ie - worked their own plantations, that slavery would not have been the problem and what we see today would not be the cause?
sammieswife
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sammielee24
I agree Simon, however, the USA denies much of it's own history and that includes slavery.
If you don't acknowledge that you also used slaves from other cultures and that those people had to overcome tremendous disadvantages, then you can't move forward. That is what I mean by an honest discussion.
In 1670 the Virginia governor counted in his records, 6,000 white slaves and 2,000 black slaves. The cost of a white slave, usually shipped from England, was a pittance whereas at that time, the cost of a black slave was higher.
Slavery was a capitalist dream and in creating classes of people, making laws around the profitability of a human being regardless of their culture or color or age or gender - in turn established some very rich landowners and companies, a great many of them who were in or entered into the political realm.
What should be taught in all schools in all countries, is the abuse throughout history of humans. We should start with slavery from its inception and understand how it impacted all cultures and countries and colors and in understanding the pain and suffering wasn't exclusive to one group, only then can we recognize that as humans, we have all suffered.
Then we should examine econimic slavery - and realize the impact of that system whereby one group of people can enslave another through wages so low that there is no safe, secure or freedom that exists in some lives outside of survival.
Until we address all the things that unify us instead of separate us, and until we stop allowing the politicians and those that still stand to profit on our separation and freedoms and security - we will never ever move on.
sammieswife
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Simon
If you don't acknowledge that you also used slaves from other cultures and that those people had to overcome tremendous disadvantages, then you can't move forward. That is what I mean by an honest discussion.
I agree. No one is denying slavery and no one is saying that the slavery was not despicable and you are right - it happened to poor white Irish people and not just black africans.
Whether harking back to slavery as the cause of all life's problems by people who are generations removed from it is actually beneficial to those people or used as an excuse is debatable. I don't think most of us really know of or are impacted by past generations much beyond our parents and grandparents. Trying to claim you are disadvantaged today because of what happened hundreds of years ago isn't constructive at improving your lot in life today - so much has happened to reset the world so many times in between (world wars, civil wars, revolutions, industrialisation, information technology etc...).
Does a disadvantaged black kid decide to mug someone or take drugs because his great greaty great grandfather was a slave? I don't think so. I think influences on HIS life TODAY are what matter and the only impact slavery has is if he is being taught bitterness and hatred because of the past.
I don't think looking back does anyone any good - we need to look forward and solve the issues that are around today and for the future. No one is saying not to recognise or acknowledge what happened in the past but it is just that, "the past" - I don't think we need to relive it and let it continue to dictate our lives today or our futures.