You hit the nail on the head, well said. Anita >From: [log in to unmask] >Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history > <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: Official Opposition Events >Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 12:34:20 -0400 > >The implication here is that the "original sin" of slavery >rests with Africans, as if that somehow lets everyone else who >profited from the enslavement of African peoples off the hook. > But framed that way, the argument is silly. Human nature >being what it is, its not all that surprising that African >peoples bear their share of guilt for the historical thriving >of the institution. Every market transaction requires buyers >and sellers, and both parties in a transaction expect to >benefit from it. If the transaction is morally evil, both are >implicated in it. > >The fact that some African nations participated in slavery and >bear share of the historical responsibility for it does not >change the fact that, with very rare exceptions, pretty much >ALL of the victims of the institution were African or Native >American. The ancestors of a great many of the victimized >families live in Africa. The forced migration of ten million >or so people, a substantial portion of whom were worked to >death in Caribbean plantations, is a historical evil. >Moreover, slavery still exists in the world, so this >particular evil is not yet an artifact of history. Under >these circumstances, it is not at all unreasonable to suggest >that representatives of those African polities whose citizens >are the descendants of people victimized by slavery should be >present to bear witness at Jamestown. > >We should pause to ponder just why slavery is evil. Slavery >certainly can involve harsh suffering and physical >deprivation. But while those things are awful, it is not >primarily in the physical suffering that the evil of slavery >resides. Slavery, as Orlando Patterson noted long ago, >demands the social death of the slave. As a consequence, >slavery, by its nature, strips the slave of autonomy and the >capacity for self-definition and self-government. > >For citizens of the United States of America, slavery is >especially problematic. As American thinkers have long >understood, the continued survival of the American polity >depends upon the continued public commitment of self-governed >citizens. The promise of the American polity is ordered >liberty--freedom, rightly understood, constrained by right >reason. The antithesis of slavery is this fundamental >American good: liberty. It is possible, of course, to >reconcile slavery with American republican values, by denying >the slave's full capacity for self-government. But we know >today that this attempt to reconcile slavery with American >public ideals is premised on a lie--that racism has no basis >in reality. > >There can be no moral harm in asking slavery's victims to bear >witness to its depravity. But there are especially profound >reasons for American citizens, of whatever genetic or cultural >background, to bear witness as well. The salutary good that >comes from so doing is to remind ourselves, collectively and >as a people, what it is that we stand for. In condemning >slavery, we affirm the deepest and most valued commitments of >our public order. > >All best, >Kevin > _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazine’s 2007 editors’ choice for best Web mail—award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_pcmag_0507