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.  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?
 
Arguably, today's US welfare system is nothing more than a continuation of  
the manifestations of that conditioning.
 
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.
 
J South



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