I love your work but it makes me sick. Not you but to think I’ve been contributing unknowingly to these companies. Yuck. We have to keep shining a light on this mess. We cannot pretend it didn’t happen.
Thank you for this article. Would love to see a follow-up on some of the famous families of US history who made their money in either the slave trade or the opium trade.
When challenged that "There's still slavery going on in the world, why don't you focus on that?" My reply is the U.S. is the only case since the great pyramids were built that a country has become a world power based on the labor of enslaved people. So we got the land by a genocide against the existing residents then built a world power using slave labor.
"Cud, go inta' town an put a bid on that bull. And see how good them younger gal's look. See if we can get two of 'em for under three hundred. If not just get the one. And don't forget to take the harness into Irons for mending..."
I want to puke. Or throw Something!!!
THESE WERE HUMAN BEINGS!!!!
YOUR MOTHER! YOUR FATHER! YOUR SISTER! YOUR BROTHER! YOUR CHILDREN!
ON THE BLOCK.
"How much ya give me for this here lad? Strong limbs. Even tempered. Does what he's told. No inclination for learning much. But a good steady worker..."
"Insured."
"Make Sure You Get Them Papers! I ain't gonna lose no more money on weak gals that drops their babes early and dies! Took three seasons to make up for that loss."
The On Sight Solidarity of a Discriminated Against Minority In America. After Generations of being kidnapped, rape bred, sold, moved and all suffering the indignity of being Worked Like Animals In The Fields. Is it any wonder the concept of Brothers and Sisters is so strong.
I'm white. I do not see other white people and think, Brothers and Sisters. Would I if it was just us in a room filled with People of Color? I don't know. I might, in a way. But I'd fight it. What do we know. Ultimately, we Are All Related, but it is a long way back. For Black and Brown Peoples in America, the interrelatedness can be assumed accurately in most settings.
The fun bit is when the cousining and genetic quirks are closer between people who would Not On Sight, Think-Family... The uncommon name leading to an all-too-common ancestor. The whim of melanin and the bias of a generation informing the way your family got on with things in America. How you fared based on SKIN TONE, even though your antecedents were the same. LITERALLY THE SAME GUY.
Plow Horses, Two Wagons, Goats, Assorted Negroes...
These people had No Shame.
And don't tell me, "of an Age." BULL SHIT! The fact that there were Abolitionists and people At The Time who publicly spoke out Against The (Lucrative) Practice Of Slavery means people knew it was Wrong At The Time, In The Moment, Then And There.
NOT JUST BECAUSE WE LOOK BACK IN REVOLTED BEWILDERMENT!
Wrong Is WRONG In Every Age And Setting. If the White Enslavers were really that sure Enslaving Others Was O.K., they wouldn't have needed to work so hard to hide it, Keep The Enslaved Ignorant and Afraid, buttress their rights in court, find excuses in The Bible, Hold Meetings and Congratulate Each Other On Their Superiority and Blessed State, Let Alone beat the shit out of people who stood up to them and said "NO!"
When they Ran Away, They Went And Got Them. Dragged Them Back To The Plantation. Whipped Them. Branded Them and Threatened To Kill Them. Then Put Them To Work Once Again.
Yeah, because it was Natural and Slaves Were Born Not Made. Steaming Piles Of Bull Shit Fifty Feet High.... "Prime Manure! For Sale! You Haul!"
Sorry, You buy it and have Your Boy, Nathan haul it back, spread it on your crops...under a baking sun...till the sun goes down...
Acknowledging is good, (New York Life and Aetna) but it would be great to see Insurance Companies and others who profited from (and enabled the rape, torture and murder) of enslaved humans provide retributions and promote education of the facts. I often wonder if there would be so division in this country if our education system and lawmakers were committed to an accurate depiction of our history?
Thank you for helping us to face these hard truths, William Spivey—at least your group of followers benefits.
I love your work but it makes me sick. Not you but to think I’ve been contributing unknowingly to these companies. Yuck. We have to keep shining a light on this mess. We cannot pretend it didn’t happen.
Thank you for this article. Would love to see a follow-up on some of the famous families of US history who made their money in either the slave trade or the opium trade.
"Would love to see a follow-up on some of the famous families of US history who made their money in either the slave trade or the opium trade."
Reject the tyranny of "or".
I am reading this book. https://images.app.goo.gl/RxSGnxuVYHaGa4Vs7 It tells how Wall street was really the biggest benefactor of our enslavement. Almost unbelievable!
Yet very believable! In various ways, most people not enslaved benefited from slavery.
When challenged that "There's still slavery going on in the world, why don't you focus on that?" My reply is the U.S. is the only case since the great pyramids were built that a country has become a world power based on the labor of enslaved people. So we got the land by a genocide against the existing residents then built a world power using slave labor.
No, No, No, No, No, NO NO NO NO!
Good God!
"Cud, go inta' town an put a bid on that bull. And see how good them younger gal's look. See if we can get two of 'em for under three hundred. If not just get the one. And don't forget to take the harness into Irons for mending..."
I want to puke. Or throw Something!!!
THESE WERE HUMAN BEINGS!!!!
YOUR MOTHER! YOUR FATHER! YOUR SISTER! YOUR BROTHER! YOUR CHILDREN!
ON THE BLOCK.
"How much ya give me for this here lad? Strong limbs. Even tempered. Does what he's told. No inclination for learning much. But a good steady worker..."
"Insured."
"Make Sure You Get Them Papers! I ain't gonna lose no more money on weak gals that drops their babes early and dies! Took three seasons to make up for that loss."
The On Sight Solidarity of a Discriminated Against Minority In America. After Generations of being kidnapped, rape bred, sold, moved and all suffering the indignity of being Worked Like Animals In The Fields. Is it any wonder the concept of Brothers and Sisters is so strong.
I'm white. I do not see other white people and think, Brothers and Sisters. Would I if it was just us in a room filled with People of Color? I don't know. I might, in a way. But I'd fight it. What do we know. Ultimately, we Are All Related, but it is a long way back. For Black and Brown Peoples in America, the interrelatedness can be assumed accurately in most settings.
The fun bit is when the cousining and genetic quirks are closer between people who would Not On Sight, Think-Family... The uncommon name leading to an all-too-common ancestor. The whim of melanin and the bias of a generation informing the way your family got on with things in America. How you fared based on SKIN TONE, even though your antecedents were the same. LITERALLY THE SAME GUY.
Plow Horses, Two Wagons, Goats, Assorted Negroes...
These people had No Shame.
And don't tell me, "of an Age." BULL SHIT! The fact that there were Abolitionists and people At The Time who publicly spoke out Against The (Lucrative) Practice Of Slavery means people knew it was Wrong At The Time, In The Moment, Then And There.
NOT JUST BECAUSE WE LOOK BACK IN REVOLTED BEWILDERMENT!
Wrong Is WRONG In Every Age And Setting. If the White Enslavers were really that sure Enslaving Others Was O.K., they wouldn't have needed to work so hard to hide it, Keep The Enslaved Ignorant and Afraid, buttress their rights in court, find excuses in The Bible, Hold Meetings and Congratulate Each Other On Their Superiority and Blessed State, Let Alone beat the shit out of people who stood up to them and said "NO!"
When they Ran Away, They Went And Got Them. Dragged Them Back To The Plantation. Whipped Them. Branded Them and Threatened To Kill Them. Then Put Them To Work Once Again.
Yeah, because it was Natural and Slaves Were Born Not Made. Steaming Piles Of Bull Shit Fifty Feet High.... "Prime Manure! For Sale! You Haul!"
Sorry, You buy it and have Your Boy, Nathan haul it back, spread it on your crops...under a baking sun...till the sun goes down...
Preach Sister.
I would have guessed "all of them" in answer to the question posed in your headline.
Sickening
Acknowledging is good, (New York Life and Aetna) but it would be great to see Insurance Companies and others who profited from (and enabled the rape, torture and murder) of enslaved humans provide retributions and promote education of the facts. I often wonder if there would be so division in this country if our education system and lawmakers were committed to an accurate depiction of our history?
Thank you for helping us to face these hard truths, William Spivey—at least your group of followers benefits.