Very well put, Lyle. You can't get past something, until you
acknowledge honestly what it really was. I think it is also
important to note that the death rates of enslaved imported Africans
in South America were horrendous in comparison with North America.
And then there was the reverse slavery no one ever talks about, i.e.,
the enslavement of indigenous populations in the New World that were
either worked to death in South America, or sent to Europe. The
Arawak and Caribe Indians, for instance, were quite literally
exterminated. Much of Columbus' money was made exporting comely young
Indian girls to Europe as sex slaves, which may be one reason his
journals have never been released by his descendants.
-- Stephan
On 18 Feb 2008, at 14:01, Lyle E. Browning wrote:
> In-depth coverage of the African continent side of the slave
> procurement issue has been in print in book and article form for
> decades. Black Africans captured other Black Africans either as a
> result of warfare and as a result of intentional forays to do so.
> In addition to these, Arab slave traders (ethnic black and
> caucasian) actively sought Africans for their economic gain.
> Europeans mainly provided what would be termed middlemen services.
> Undoubtedly there were some Europeans who actively hunted Africans.
> The fortresses that were the final holding areas and distribution
> areas on the coasts were run by Europeans and Arabs with the
> complicity of black Africans. I would term the above as historical
> facts, writ broadly.
>
> The spin that has been put on it is what muddies the waters. There
> is the 20th century "guilt trip" laid on Americans who bought
> Africans and used them in involuntary servitude, or slavery, or
> whatever term du jour you pick. Then there were the "Lost Cause"
> apologists who brought in the issue that Africans were complicit
> with the implicit argument that not just white folks did it, but
> black folks as well so it really wasn't as bad as northern white
> folks tried to make it out to be (again broadly writ). It is only
> of late that the issue of Muslim complicity has been brought into
> the popular consciousness. That in turn is muddied by
> unreconstructed folks who see endless irony in the adoption of the
> Muslim faith by African-Americans who were not aware of the Arab
> trafficking in slaves that continues to the present.
>
> Slavery was a mess, and it's legacy is still a mess and nothing
> excuses it. Trying to live with the consequences is the part that
> we now must work to accommodate.
>
> Lyle Browning
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2008, at 1:24 PM, Anne Pemberton wrote:
>
>> J South,
>>
>> I would like to have you consider that not all slaves were sold by
>> their countrymen. Some were physically captured by white men who
>> arrived by ship. This may have been the smaller number of those
>> wrongly taken as slaves, but it is accurate. I cannot provide a
>> quote to substantiate this fact, but I'm sure others with their
>> fingers on more of the literature can point to several sources.
>>
>> Anne
>>
>> Anne Pemberton
>> [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.erols.com/apembert
>> http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
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