On Jul 2, 2007, at 12:23 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Anne;
>
> I continue to hypothesize that Black Africans were conditioned for
> slavery
> by their culture in Africa inasmuch as slavery was an accepted
> possibility for
> all Black Africans prior to the first one ever coming to the American
> colonies.
I don't think all Africans can be put into that particular status
accurately.
> A good read on this point is Paul E. Lovejoy's Transformations in
> Slavery (Cambridge U Press 2000). Otherwise, how can you account
> for so many
> strong and able men and women submitting passively for the most
> part to such a
> terrible conditions and for so many generations?
One aspect of it was that the captured people generally were not
warriors as those would have preferentially been killed off but
rather the rest of the group who were by their nature not going to be
in overt rebellion.
Another aspect was where could they go once they were here having
survived the Middle Passage? Some did flee to Native American lands
where they integrated into those societies but they had to be a tiny
majority. Plus by being black they were going to be noticed in a
crowd so it's not like there was anyplace to really get away or get
back to something that probably didn't exist because your whole
village was gone. Getting elsewhere meant basically becoming
invisible until you got there as you were never safe from discovery
until then and sometimes not even then.
>
> Arguably, today's US welfare system is nothing more than a
> continuation of
> the manifestations of that conditioning.
Let's hope the pool's deep enough for my dive here: one might agree
that welfare was a good intentioned thing that ended up doing not a
lot that was useful until the "welfare to work" aspect was put into
place (granted it helped people in need too; and the economics of it
needs to be lived to fully appreciate the Catch 22's in place). But
here's the rub: let's say you were conditioned by years and
generations to be subservient, never assert yourself because no
matter what it either wouldn't work, it would be grabbed from you if
you did, etc. and this is after the horrors of slavery, AND, because
as a subtle form of rebellion, you did as little as possible. So that
attitude would play well because there was no one else to do the jobs
you did. So you continue with that until when? Well, what I have
observed is another paradigm shift in attitudes. The influx of
Hispanic peoples who were perceived to have worked 10 times harder
than anyone else around in hotter conditions, for less wages, far
more willingly, etc. has caused a shift in attitude wherein the
former zombie like movement has been replaced by hustle. So now you
see a market niche being occupied by folks who have hustle, speak the
same language and know the area. That's equal opportunity that will
hopefully end that old dreadful pas de deux dance of death we were
formerly locked into disappearing. The more I look, the more it
starts to look really colorblind now.
I will don my Nomex suit for flamethrowers who will misinterpret to
their heart's malcontent.
>
> I can't see myself or any of my ancestors living in that manner.
> Perhaps
> that's the reason they bravely sought freedom in the new world and
> made America
> the greatest, and most humanitarian, country in the history of
> mankind.
By the fact that your ancestors came here was an indication that they
were not satisfied with life in the old country. While I have no idea
where your ancestors originated, one presumes Europe. In many parts
of Europe, peasants were part of the land and were in fact enduring a
form of slavery for untold generations. Non-first sons came to make
their own way, etc. True, there were some who were sent here to avoid
prison or execution. And a lot of these were persons of deep but
different religious beliefs sentenced to exile rather than common or
garden criminals.
That goes to the range and variation in human behavior. Some will
tolerate almost anything for 3 squares and a bed. Others will want
more and if offered the relatively painless opportunity to achieve
it, will take it; others sought something better than they had, no
matter what; and others will not be satisfied until they have
achieved their ideals. Americans by virtue of coming here in the
first place tended to be of the third and fourth categories.
It is important to understand that our ancestors had someplace to go
where they weren't immediately going to be identifiable as anything
other than a fellow striver. Certainly, they came from all classes,
social and economic status conditions, but the vast majority came
here to better themselves.
Lyle Browning, RPA
>
> J South
>
>
>
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