apologies for slavery, in Texas

[Kountzer]

Here's a link to the story:

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4669816.html

DB

[Woody]

Just heard that the Japanese just apologized for sex slaves that they were forcing during WW2

[Taylor]

Appologies are always good.

[K]

I am not sure a lot has changed in Texas. For 20 years the federal government has been trying to get a school district near me to inter mix the schools. We have "neighborhood" schools, which is another code word for not interacially mixed It was only 10 years ago that the district started to use school buses. Up until that time you went to the school you could walk to or your parents brought you and picked you up. It was only then that schools became "mixed" here. Al this is very ironic since not to far the other way is a very large military base where race is not even a thought. Neighborhoods are blended with all kinds of nationalities and races.

Apologize YES!

Prioritize Yes!

It is important for us all to understand that it isn't so easy still.

[Kountzer]

U must live in central Texas, near killeen.

[Dr. Shane]

WOW!!!!

Is it really K? Nice to see you back.

[Dr. Shane]

An official appology is overdue, IMO and Texas state history books should be published to teach that the things done during this period of history were wrong and shameful.

[Gerr]

If the apology legislation is authored by Black legislators, it doesn't mean a thing to me. If authored by White legislators, then I might believe it means something.

Two Black legislators introduced a similar apology legislation here in NC. To me, for it to come from the victim is like demanding for an apology. I see little sincerety in forced apology. It would have had more of the appearance of sincerety if it had come from White lawmakers.

Gerry

[olger]

Even if they do apologize, it won't heal the black hole of self-pity that so characterizes the victimhood mentality that Bill Cosby spoke out against.

On the contrary, it may strengthen their victimhood complex. Get over it already, people. None of us owned slaves, and none of us are slaves.

[Gerr]

I know what you mean. While racism is not totally dead, I hate it when J. Jackson keeps playing the race card & victim tune. I heard Ben Carson 2 years ago at a medical meeting. Man, what a different message!!!

Gerry

[Robert]

What was slavery all about? $$$ - profit for the rich Plantation owners.

Now we have something similar going on. Again, it’s about profit. Only this time those outside the US are being made economic slaves. The pay and working conditions are terrible. But the fact is that millions of Chinese (and others) are economic slaves to a system created solely for the purpose of profits. Like slavery, these Corporations justify their exploitation of the poor, by passing the blame for such conditions to the Communist Government.

[Dr. Shane]

In is insulting to claim that the low-paid, freemen of today are the same as slaves of past centuries. Slaves we not allowed to learn to read, many were not allowed to learn of Christ, they were not allowed to choose who they would marry, choose their diet, receive good health care, female slaves were raped by their masters, male slaves were beaten, they did not receive equal treatment under the law, families were broken and slaves were never allowed to advance in industry to break out of poverty. Many slaves were beaten to death, hanged or burned at the stake for minor offense that whites would receive fines or imprisonment for!

None of these are true of poor Mexicans, Koreans or Chinese working in factories. Religious liberty is an issue in China but not just for the poor working class. The misery of slavery is not even comparable to the impoverished but free lives of factory workers in developing countries.

Cruel Treatment of Black Slaves Exposed

If a free negro in North Carolina attempt to teach a slave to read, or if he give to a slave a religious tract, a spelling book or the bible, he may be imprisoned or take thirty-nine lashes! If a white person attempt to teach a slave the laws subject him to a fine of $200 for each offense.

"In Georgia, if a white teach a free negro or a slave to write he is fined $500, and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court; if the offender be a colored man, bond or free, he may be fined or whipped at the discretion of the Court. This law was enacted in 1829." (Jays's Inquiry.)

"In Louisiana the penalty for teaching slaves to read and write is one year's imprisonment."

"In North Carolina, the patrols were colored to search every negro house for books or prints of every kind. Bibles and hymn books were particularly mentioned." (Goodell.)

"We have," said Mr. Berry in the Va. House of Delegates, "as far as possible closed every avenue by which light may enter their minds. If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work would be completed; they would then be on a level with the beasts of the field and we would be safe! I am not certain that we would not do it, if we could find out the process, and that on the plea of necessity..."

Slavery does not recognize the matrimonial connections of slaves. As slaves are to be put as nearly as possible upon a level with "other property" the slave code with singular meanness, but perfect consistency, refuses to the slave a lawful marriage, subjects him to conditions which are inconsistent with that sacred relation, and exposes slave wives to the unbridled lust of masters and overseers!

..."As I went on board the steamboat I noticed eight colored men, handcuffed and chained together in pairs, four women and eight or ten children of the apparent ages of from four to ten years, all standing together in the bow of the boat, in charge of a man standing near them. * * * Coming near them, I perceived they were all greatly agitated; and, on inquiry I found they were all slaves, who had been born and raised in North Carolina and had just been sold to a speculator, who was now taking them to the Charleston market. Upon the shore there was a number of colored persons, women and children, awaiting the departure of the boat; and my attention was particularly attracted by two colored females of uncommonly respectable appearance, neatly attired, who stood together, a little distance from the crowd, and upon whose countenance was depicted the keenest sorrow. As the last bell was tolling, I saw the tears gushing from their eyes, and they raised their neat cotton aprons and wiped their faces under the cutting anguish of severed affection. They were the wives of two of the men in chains. There, too, were mothers and sisters, weeping at the departure of their sons and brothers; and there, too, were fathers, taking the last look of their wives and children. My whole attention was directed to those on shore, as they seemed to stand in solemn and submissive silence, occasionally giving utterance to the intensity of their feelings by a sigh or a stifled groan. As the boat was loosed from her moorings, they cast a distressed, lingering look to those on board, and turned away in silence. My eye now turned to those in the boat; and although I had tried to control my feelings amidst my sympathies for those on shore, I could conceal them no longer, and I found myself literally 'weeping with those that wept.' I stood near them, and when one of the husbands saw his wife upon the shore wave her hand for the last time, in token of her affection, his manly efforts to restrain his feelings gave way, and fixing his watery eyes upon her, he exclaimed, 'This is the most distressing thing of all! My dear wife and children, farewell!' The husband of the other wife stood weeping in silence, and with his manacled hands raised to his face, as he looked upon her for the last time. Of the poor women on board; three of them had husbands whom they left behind. One of them had three children, another had two, and the third had none. These husbands and fathers were among the throng upon the shore, witnessing the departure of their wives and children, and as they took their leave of them, they were sitting together upon the floor of the boat sobbing in silence, but giving utterance of no complaint. But the distressing scene was not yet ended. Sailing down the Cape Fear river twenty-five miles, we touched at the little village of Smithport, on the south side of the river. It was at this place that one of these slaves lived, and here was his wife and five children; and while at work on Monday last his purchaser took him away from his family, carried him in chains to Wilmington, where he had since remained in jail. As we approached the wharf, a flood of tears gushed from his eyes, and anguish seemed to have pierced his heart. The boat stopped but a moment, and as she left, he bid farewell to some of his acquaintances whom he saw upon the shore, exclaiming, ‰Boys, I wish you well; tell Molly (meaning his wife) and the children I wish them well, and hope God will bless them.' At that moment he espied his wife on the stoop of a house some rods from the shore, and with one hand which was not in the handcuffs, he pulled off his hat, and waving it toward her, exclaimed, 'Farewell!' As he saw by the waving of her apron that she recognized him, he leaned back upon the railing, and with a faltering voice repeated, 'Farewell, forever.' After a moment's silence, conflicting passions seemed to tear open his heart, and he exclaimed, 'What have I done that I should suffer this doom? Oh, my wife and children, I want to live no longer!' and then the big tear rolled down his cheek, which he wiped away with the palm of his unchained hand, looked once more upon the mother of his five children, and the turning of the boat hid her face from him forever."

... In Va., by the revised code of 1819, there are seventy-one offenses for which the penalty is death when committed by slaves and imprisonment when committed by the whites. (Jay's Inquiry)

"In Mississippi there are seventeen offenses punishable with death when committed by slaves, which, if committed by white persons, are either punished by fines or imprisonment, or punishment not provided for by the statute or at common law." (Goodell.)

[Robert]

In is insulting to claim that the low-paid, freemen of today are the same as slaves of past centuries.... The misery of slavery is not even comparable to the impoverished but free lives of factory workers in developing countries.

First of all I did not say they were the same. However, an economic slave is just that. If they quit their current job and do not return to their previous agriculture job, they starve. Why not give people a "living wage"? Answer: Corporate greed! That's the new slavery today.

Robert

[Dr. Shane]

No, talking about cheap factory workers doesn't even belong in a discussion about slavery. They are not the same, not even comparable. A factory worker is free. He or she can marry who they choose, can worship in the religion of their choice, they can study anything they want, they have the same civil rights as other citizens in their country, they can chose their friends and enjoy their children and grandchildren.

Building factories in developing countries is a debatable issue. Some believe it wrong because it ships jobs overseas. Others believe it good because it provides cheap goods and provides jobs for those in the third world that are good comparable to the others in the area. Slavery is not a debatable issue. The two are completely different subjects.

[Neil D]

Shane,

You make it sound like ALL slaves were treated this way ALL the time. That is simply not the case. Slave holders knew that if they treated the slaves the way you described on a daily basis, they would run away, and would cause problems in getting the fields worked. Granted, they were not given lives of opulance, but they had daily food and a house and were given to work on average 8-12 per day depending upon the work load of the season. And before you start saying that the slaves were given poor food or poor housing, remember, food and housing were not great, but is wasn't a teepee in the dead of winter either. It was cheap food, ie corn meal grits and greens. It was homes that were keep clean, depending upon the slaves themselves...and it took a lot of wood to keep them warm in the winter, and a lot of fresh air to keep them cool in the summer.

Quote:

A factory worker is free. He or she can marry who they choose, can worship in the religion of their choice, they can study anything they want, they have the same civil rights as other citizens in their country, they can chose their friends and enjoy their children and grandchildren.

The slave owner was the goverment to the slave. Many times the slave got permission to marry whom he choose in many circumstances. The slave owner was only too happy to allow a couple to get together, as it meant more slaves...and an increase in wealth. There was more to the choosing of slaves than a dictatorial "You marry him" attitude that you are conveying here....

Never the less, Robert does has a point, when he says that today, we have economic slaves.... I know, as I have seen them...I have also seen where 70% of the homeless are our own Vets, and they live in hovels, due to economic circumstances and abandoned by society.

[Amelia]

The Chinese who either came here or were brought here suffered many of the same abuses as the early black slaves. Our railroad system was built on the death and starvation of the Chinese. Greedy whites just found a different way of having slaves.

[Dr. Shane]

It is attitudes of some white people today that want to compare economic conditions of certain classes of people today to slavery of old that make apologies meaningless. Slavery was much worse than what these white people want to admit.

I have worked with the factory workers in Mexico that work these jobs that were shipped down there. These people are free. Ellen White said that slavery was the greatest sin of this nation. It was hideous. To compare it to conditions today is to do it an injustice.

Yes, there were kind slave owners, like President Washington. But those were the exception, not the rule. Any official apology needs to come with a change in textbooks to reflect what a terrible thing slavery was. The only thing I can think that it is comparable to is the Nazi Holocaust.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Our railroad system was built on the death and starvation of the Chinese.

This gets into our treatment of immigrants. Our nation was built by immigrants and in a large part, still is. When plans were drawn up to build bridges like the Golden Gate and the Brooklyn Bridge, they actually estimated how many workers would die due to construction accidents!

However immigrants had religious liberty, were allowed to read, marry, raise families and had the same civil rights as others. Historically the poor of all races in America have not had the same access to health care, good food and legal protection of their rights. Immigrants certainly fell into that group but were certainly in a much better situation than slaves.

[phkrause]

I'm not sure that you can compare the Holocast with slavery. The Holocast was for the extermination of a entire race, it had nothing to do with slavery. just ask my father who spent 5 years in concentration camps. You might want to compare it to the Jews in egypt.

pkrause

[lazarus]

Even if they do apologize, it won't heal the black hole of self-pity that so characterizes the victimhood mentality that Bill Cosby spoke out against.

On the contrary, it may strengthen their victimhood complex. Get over it already, people. None of us owned slaves, and none of us are slaves.

With insensitive, ignorant, unchristian attitudes like this Blacks and whites will never get of it.

Olger you need to get over yourself!

I find your attitude highly offensive and its an example of what scares me about some White Christians that I have met.

[Dr. Shane]

Slavery as practiced in the US, and many other places, is comparable to death. Of course the Holocaust killed 6 million Jews and more than that were enslaved in America. Was the Holocaust worse? I guess that depends on one's perspective. I, myself, wouldn't want to say one was worse than the other.

[lazarus]

I know what you mean. While racism is not totally dead, I hate it when J. Jackson keeps playing the race card & victim tune.

Like I said before on this forum white folks hardly ever are comfortable with a black man talking about racism. They love a black man to play Uncle Tom. As I said Walter William's biggest fans are white people.

[Dr. Shane]

Why is it when a black man votes Republican he gets labeled an "Uncle Tom"?

[lazarus]

With port factories, shipment, seasoning camps numbers vary, many writers but the total death count above the German Holocaust.

I wouldn't want there to be a competition about which people experienced the worst kind of tragedy.

[Woody]

Just this week Andrews was sued with a claim of discrimination against a Black student. YEAH RIGHT. Andrews is the 6th most culturally diverse college in the United States. The judge quickly tossed out most of her claim. Like many blacks ... she was just throwing the race card in because she had herself failed. She had failed her required comprehensive exams three times.

But HEY ... She thought she could get FIVE Million Dollars out of the race card. So ... why not try ???