We're all to blame for slavery

Before I begin, let me state that this column is not about what is politically correct or incorrect. This column is about what is historically correct or incorrect. \nSome people are considering filing a lawsuit against the United States that seeks slave reparations, compensation to the descendants of slaves for what slavery took from them. But if they are going to sue the United States, they should also sue countries in Africa, because nations on that continent played as great a role in slavery as did this country. \nThe first slaves in America consisted of Indians. The second set of slaves consisted of dirt-poor whites from England. These people were transported to the New World on the same slave ships that would later carry the Africans. I'm not talking about indentured servitude; I'm talking about slavery. \nThe Englanders were the same color and spoke the same language, so they could escape, which was a problem. They also tended to whither in the Southern heat. Africans, on the other hand, could not speak English, were easily recognizable by their color and were accustomed to the heat. This is why they were "chosen" to be the third set of slaves. But another factor is important as to why they were "chosen;" Africans were more than willing to capture and sell other Africans.\nYou see, the blame for slavery also lies heavily on Africa. Two black scholars, John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Ross Jr., researched the history of slavery and racism in the United States, and wrote a book called "From Slavery to Freedom." They found the history of slavery is not divided into white and black. When European slave traders went to Africa, they didn't just park their boats and begin grabbing people. They had to deal with the leaders of African tribes. \nThe traders went to the local chiefs, asked for permission to trade in that area and then bribed the chiefs with gifts until they gave the traders members of his tribe to be used at the trader's disposal to kidnap other Africans, according to Franklin and Ross. The head kidnapper was an African, called a caboceer, and his job was to be the main liaison between the chief and the traders. He was in charge of the kidnapping. The greed of slavery cut Africa into many warring factions. Africans kidnapped one another and sold them to the traders, and were among those who became greatly wealthy from the slave trade. \nThe same thing happened in the New World, Franklin and Ross claim. Only 25 percent of Southerners in the height of slavery had any immediate economic interest in slavery. The other 75 percent were left to impoverished, starving, illiterate, nasty, brutish and short lives on small family farms. The slaves undercut the only paying jobs in the area. The people who benefited from slavery were a handful of Southern plantations owners. \nThe only way the plantation owners could sell this terrible repressive system, which was almost as repressive to poor whites as it was to blacks, was with the idea of racism. The economic policies of slavery were so destructive to every facet of Southern life that the South has still not recovered and might not for the next 100 years. Do you see a pattern? The haves in the United States sold out the have-nots, just like in Africa. \nSlavery was never a matter of one race versus the other. It was a matter of who was in control and who wasn't. \nIf the plaintiffs win this lawsuit against the United States, I say poor whites should be allowed to sue. The descendants of certain members of African tribes should be sued as well. If any money is won, then due compensation should be passed on to the descendants of white Northern soldiers who fought and died for people they didn't even know. \nIt is always a bad idea to associate with a color. Throughout history, no religious or racial group has been devoid of blame. To associate with the color white is to associate with every atrocity whites have ever propagated as well as the great accomplishments of those people. To associate with the color black is to do the same. \nThis lawsuit cuts the legs out from under the black community. It tells the black community they are owed something based on their color rather than their merit. Blacks and whites both participated fully in slavery, and the blame falls on both sides.\nYes, racism in the post-Civil War America has hurt the black community, but even at racism's worst in this country, things were often better for blacks here than in Africa. Right now in Africa, Franklin and Ross said, more than 100 million women suffer from genital mutilation because of female circumcision policies and a repressive demand for female virginity. Nations in Africa, although they have a rich history, are just as guilty of atrocities as any other group. \nAfrica is not and was not a paradise for all peoples. The United States is one of the only nations in the history of the world to give rights to a repressed people because it was thought to be right. \nBlacks did not overthrow the government. They enlightened their repressors and now have equal rights, at least in theory. The only people who seek to hold them back are those who would dig up grudges and perpetuate an attitude of bitter isolationism. \nWhen the rhetoric regarding this lawsuit starts to fly, remember that slavery was bad not only for all blacks but for most whites as well. Remember that blacks and whites are both guilty for slavery, and we are equally responsible for perpetuating racism through the misrepresentation of history, no matter what color we are.