Anita Wills wrote:
> The question you asked shows how little you know about Africa. In the first place Africans were not one family nor tribe. There were Africans who were Muslims, 

as well as Christians. Africa is three times 
the size of America, and every race lived on 
that continent, so who are the Africans you 
are referring too?

Exactly. Africa is a continent inhabited by a 
variety of peoples who belong to different 
religions, who speak a variety of languages, 
and who have different cultures. Just about 
every color, just about every size and just 
about every shape are represented among 
Africans.

> 
> This list is about Virginia History, and we are talking about slavery IN Virginia, not some unknown African who you are pointing the finger at. Most of 

those sold into slavery were children. My 
question is why would educated, civilized 
people purchase and enslave children, no 
matter who was selling

Do you have a source for this? As I have been 
working with primary source Southern records 
for nearly 20 years, I am keenly aware of how 
patchy Southern records can be before about 1910.

them? There are countries today who sale 
children into slavery, does that make it 
right? Would any intelligent, moral person 
purchase those children?

No, but history is separate from contemporary 
morality.  It is unreasonable  to judge our 
ancestors by our current standards: think how 
our ancestors would regard our society's 
casual attitude towards divorce and such.
> 
> So lets get back to talking about Virginia History, which includes the enslavement of Indians and Africans. It is not an indictment of Virgina, it is 

history..., and for better or worse, it is 
what it is.

Yes.

Elizabeth Whitaker

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