By Ron Allen
NBC News correspondent
“They are never going to send us to West Africa!” That’s what I said, a few times, with know-it-all certainty, to producer Amber Payne when she asked if I was interested in working on a couple of feature stories she was looking into in Sierra Leone. I’d been to Africa dozens of times, to cover civil wars, natural disasters, famines and floods. But go there to cover something positive and uplifting? It took a while to get my head around that.
I’m glad I did.
Amber kept pushing. We did our homework. And suddenly, we were off to do three “Making a Difference” stories for NBC Nightly News. First, a story about a Sierra Leone-born NFL player named Madieu Williams, and the amazing humanitarian work he’s doing. A fresh new group of Peace Corps recruits was beginning training there. That turned into a great story, too.
And finally we went to a place called Bunce Island, where a history Professor named Joe Opala, an expert on the trans-Atlantic slave trade, was trying to protect and preserve a very important piece of American history that’s literally slipping into the sea.
I’d never been to one of the old slave trading fortresses, like Cape Coast Castle in Ghana or Goree Island in Senegal, popular destinations for heritage tourists. Bunce Island is different. It is raw and undeveloped. It hasn't been turned into a tourist attraction, not yet at least. Tens of thousands of slaves were shipped directly from Bunce Island, off the coast of Sierra Leone, to South Carolina and Georgia, giving it a unique historical importance for black Americans. It’s a tiny island, no bigger than a few football fields, virtually untouched since the slave trade ended in the late 1800s, a place where it’s been said that, “history sleeps.”
Ron Allen/NBC News
Bunce Island feels haunted. The fortress is crumbling. The walls are over grown with thick vegetation. However, with a bit of imagination and a brilliant guide like Joe Opala, you can easily understand and visualize the horrors that happened there. So many men, women and children were bought, sold and shipped across the sea like animals.
I felt anger. Any human being would. But I made a conscious effort to look forward, not back. I thought about the survivors. I thought about how powerful the human spirit is to have endured such a wretched institution. To this day, I find inspiration in all of that. That spirit that lives somewhere in all of us.
And that’s where we first heard the story of Priscilla, a ten-year-old girl, kidnapped and shipped to Charleston, South Carolina in 1756. We followed the breathtaking paper trail she left behind all the way to Thomalind Martin Polite and her family, who live in Charleston today. It’s an incredible family tree, spread over more than seven generations, pieced together with an astounding collection of “property records” kept by the family that owned Priscilla, and some 4000 other slaves, the Balls. A descendant, writer Edward Ball, found Priscilla while working on his book “Slaves in the Family.”
When we first approached Thomalind and her family about an interview, she respectfully, and firmly declined. She and her husband Antwan have two young children. They both work in the Charleston public school system and they just didn’t want all the attention that national media about their family story would bring. Very refreshing, but not exactly great for us. So we gently and patiently pressed a bit more.
It took many months. They finally agreed after several emails and lengthy phone calls about our trip to Bunce Island, and our discussions with Edward Ball and Joe Opala. Thomalind and Antwan also agreed to share with us the amazing footage from their “homecoming” trip to Sierra Leone and Bunce Island a few years ago. The government there had learned about their story, and Priscilla, and invited Thomalind and her family to come and celebrate.
We’ve worked on this story for many many months. Most TV news stories are done in a day or two, or less. But this story kept growing and getting deeper. And most fortunately, Rock Center launched a few months back, giving us a nice window to tell the story.
Like many African Americans I’ve often wondered, “Where did I come from?” It’s an especially weird feeling to travel in Africa and tell people you’re an “African American.” People there, who have close ties to family and tribe, look at you as if to say, “Can you be a little more specific?”
I know that my father’s side of the family is from Macon, Georgia. My mother’s side is from a little town in North Carolina called Yanceyville, population about 2,000. I’ve heard stories over the years about distant relatives, but never investigated it all for myself. A couple of years ago, I was working just across the border from Yanceyville in Danville, Virginia covering a campaign 2008 event with then Senator Joe Biden. I met someone in the crowd who offered to introduce me to some folks in Yanceyville who would know the history of the community. I never made the time to follow up. Perhaps now I will?
There’s an old saying, that if you know where you’ve come from, there’s really no limit to how far you can go. I think that’s what this yearning to know one’s family story is all about. It’s been a remarkable journey from Sierra Leone to Charleston with Priscilla, the Martins, the Balls and Joe Opala. Especially since it’s a trip that I just knew would never happen.
Editor's note: Our guide, Joe Opala, shared the following links for readers interested in learning more about Priscilla's story.
Slave Girl's Story Revealed Through Rare Records
Sierra Leone to South Carolina: Priscilla's Homecoming
http://www.charlestonmag.com/pop_archive1.html">Long Journey Home
Leave a Comment:
What an excellent opportunity to visit "REALITY" history. Thank you Rock Center for this is the real "meat" of what Black History month should be about. Our children; and society in general, have been so far removed from the true historical affects of slavery on American culture. Remember, three generations of children have attended schools that have been racially mixed. Thus, the term "the first black" has lost its ferver and intensity. The pride in our race has wained through negative efforts by economics, drugs and biased media scrutiny that intergration was not the answer, because "seperate and equal" as in Brown v. Board of education has somehow been redesigned and closing poor, economically challenged schools that are "poor performers" should have been replaced with Neighborhood schools where the tools and book were provided to black neighborhoods and not move the children away from their "center of gravity" and "care of the village". My neighborhood was my support and assimilation would have been the better choice over busing and intergration. Assimilation would have kept a strong base and foundation to develope strong, educationally focused children in to successful adults. Our efforts in building this country, fighting in its wars and contributing to its science and technology are not celebrated as they should be. This look back to slavery is the same ideal we need to exercise on a larger scale. In this effort, looking all the way back teaches us that its time to talk about how to address and treat this gaping wound on America "soul". We can heal after we admit this is a problem that we all are affected by - UNTIL WE DO, WE HOLD THE COUNTRY IN CHAINS OF BONDAGE .
Amen!!! I can't agree with you more. I am in the process of trying to go back to school for African and African Diaspora Studies with a minor in African-American History. I am so eager to learn about our history. After graduation, I plan on spreading this knowledge. I am not sure by which avenue, but I know I want to make a positive difference.
Sabae, I remember getting into a discussion about the "Melting Pot" vs the "Stew Pot". It seems that I was for a melting pot that was a country where we all become something new. A people all mixed together with common values.
But no...the Melting Pot was too politically incorrect. What the PC world wants is a Stew Pot where everyone brings their own "flavor" to the stew.
Well, being a person that has no problem being accused of being racist because I DO NOT bend to the will of the PC NAZIs, I pointed out that mixing metal in a "Melting Pot" tends to make the metal stronger and extremely difficult to separate, but a "Stew Pot"...well, it is VERY EASY to pick out the "flavor" you do not want and throw it in the trash.
I am for the study of all aspects of history and 100% for the study of slavery. Just don't forget that ALL skin colors were involved in Slavery and ALL skin colors have been enslaved by one group or another through out history. In fact, slavery is alive and well on the Continent of Africa and in the Middle East as I write this.
When you take that trip down memory lane and try to get back with your roots, thank not only your ancestors who survived, but the slave owner that brought those ancestors out of the control of the African slave owners. He did not do it to be kind, but if not for that POS, you would not have the education or money to travel back to the "Tribal Areas".
When you get to Africa, look around and ask if this tribal culture is right for you? If so, migrate out and give it a shot, though I don't think you will have much luck, as tribal people are all about the tribe and to hell with the guy that is not in the tribe. Kind of like how your ancestors were sold in the first place.
It took great courage for Mr. Edward Ball to come forward with this story as coming from a family of slave owners. Just recently, I discovered that my family also were slave owners - one of the largest- and suppliers of slaves, and it breaks my heart to contemplate the situation. I only pray they were good and kind people. I am just now in the process of trying to identify those ancesters, the plantations they owned, and the circumstances surrounding their lives . Also, who were their slaves? Did they have names like Priscilla? Are their records still available? And, what happened to them all. It's a sadness to know that some of my relatives had this knowledge and said nothing, and that I am just discovering it. Good courage to Thomalind and her family for sharing this story and giving Priscilla a face . I hope I am as successful in finding my answers. Thanks Rock Center for a great and timely story.
Do you think the ancestors of the tribesmen who captured those from other tribes and sold them into slavery are wearing the same hair shirt you are?
"Do you think the ancestors of the tribesmen who captured those from other tribes and sold them into slavery are wearing the same hair and shirt you are?" Get it?
So here we go again. That is a part of history along with a hell of a lot more wasn't taught in schools, and that the blacks just absolutely refuse to acknowledge or believe anything other than that as if none of the other facts exist. Can just 1 black answer me why this is? Or all of you can chime in with your answers because I REALLY would love to hear why this is entirely the white man's fault! Oh, and let's not forget that ALL races have been slaves at one time or another, but blacks are the only ones that continue to dwell on it and use it as an excuse for everything that has "oppressed" their race? I am SO sick and damn tired of having this "selected" garbage rammed down our throats!
Message to blacks (AKA African Americans): Until you forget about that part of your past (Everybody else, all races except for yours want to and have) change your nasty dispositions, attitudes, and ways, you will always be stereotyped into what your actions have always portrayed! Get it? Why does everyone assume (including blacks themselves) that a black will most likely commit a violent or some type of other crime? BECAUSE THEY USUALLY WILL. Just like a Pit Bull will most likely be aggressive. See the analogy here? Call me all of the names you want, but blacks will NEVER get the respect that they think they deserve until they EARN it-except of course from the self-hating, liberal bleeding-hearts that just feel so guilty about what their ancestors did and compelled to give it to them, along with everything else! Most of their ancestors probably had nothing to do with slavery but whites are ALL guilty by association right? Sound familiar?!!
Where are tje pictures?
where are the pictures?
It's hard to believe that just a short time ago such injustices were happening to people and the world seemingly thought it was just and OK. People all through history have been made as slaves and entire peoples have been slaughtered as the Jewish people in Germany. God forgive us as a people and let man learn to live together. Prizing all little children and seeing the value in family's.
While some of those injustices have ceased, many still do exist in this country. Ask any black man about being followed in a store, having some women move away or clutch their purse tighter when they see a black man coming towards them. Or how a black job applicant with the same qualifications as a white applicant will see that job go to the white applicant. Or how driving in a predominantly white neighborhood as a black man is cause for being stopped. Or the really good one- being with your step grandchild who is a beautiful little white girl and having all kinds of suspicion- including being followed- if you are out in public with her and go off to look at an exhibit without Grandma being with you. You can see the old ladies going bananas over it and some even summoning security- convinced you have kidnapped the girl or have ulterior motives for being with her. (You should have seen them when she was a toddler and threw a tantrum while in the store alone with Grandpa.) Even watching the disrespect our president gets- to his face no less- demonstrates that this country has come a long way but is far from being there, at least for some people.
Montana - I'm from the south and some of those actions that you claim as current 'injustice' is far from correct. In our times, it's called fear of the unexpected. That isn't an injustice to anyone nor is it a form of racism. There are certain elements in all facets of society, white, black, etc., where a particular crime is rampant by a select few. I am white and very southern but, I am not 'racist'. However, here, we do have an element where there has been very little parental involvement, kids are punks and they grow up to be thugs. The 'hate' that abounds today is more present from blacks towards whites yet, the crime statistics show black on black crime much more rampant than black on white. The biggest problem, lack of education, lack of caring for the fellow brother and, the right to entitlement. The lack of respect towards OUR President? Are you stating that this sitting President is the only one to ever have disrespect shoved his way? That comment my friend is bone chillin' racist!
So Montana, please tell me: when black people complain(ed) about George Bush, did that mean they were/are racist? Clearly it must.
People only see what they want to see..
SaveM - Are you inferring that black people aren't racist? Being from the south myself (and white) I can tell you first hand that there are black people who are racist.
Bill
How many people stuck their fingers in the presidents face, prior to Obama? As measured by many political analysts, on both the right and the left, there is a new bottom to our social discourse wrt a black president. The Southern Poverty Law center has noted a growth in hate groups since Obama became president, as well.
"How many people stuck their fingers in the presidents face, prior to Obama?"
Or shourted "You lie!" during a State of the Union speech.
Of course the SPLC has noticed an increase in hate groups.
That's their profit center!
Forty-acres and the cost of the mule. It is owed and it should be paid. It is fine to get along and I think the country has come together more since the president has been in office, I think it is great but, that does not diminish the debt that is owed. We have been lulled into thinking that "we should just not think about it" or "why should we not forget about it, the world is different now," or it will never happen so why should we keep pushing for it "Because it is owed." I refuse to turn a blind eye to this issue the more I delve into the atrocities that were heaped upon our ancestors the more I'm convinced this is something that we must pursue. Open your eyes my people for "it is time."
Since you believe so whole-heartedly in repaying people for centuries old debts, I hope you won't mind moving off of your property and giving up your home to a Native American, whose ancestors it was stolen from. While we're at it, why not give Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California back to Mexico, since we took over that as well? People like you who refuse to look beyond the past to make a better future are why racism still exists. No white person alive today had anything to do with slavery and to suggest they pay you is only going to make them hate you.
Whatever you were "owed" was paid at Gettysburg, and Shiloh, and other bloody places. If you are "owed" something, I think your complaint should be with the powerful black kingdom that sold your ancestor into slavery. My german ancestors were enslaved to the romans long before your people every heard the term. I got over it. I married a pretty italian girl.
I thought long and hard about this, and I agree: You can pay me reparations. Blacks can pay their debt to whites for giving them the opportunities and wealth of living in a country that they could never build or sustain on their own.
You can pay us for all of the damage to our cities and neighborhoods and for the vandalism, violence and extra tax costs of police, courts and prison systems for dealing with so much of the nonsense. You can pay us for the dumbing down of our schools in the name of "fairness". You can pay us for having to tolerate the never-ending bias of Affirmative Action programs to deny whites who have done nothing to anyone in order to give blacks special benefits in hiring, government loans and contracts.
You can write me a check today.
Start with the African's that sold their own people as slaves. Wait, most don't have anything to take so we don't bother with them.
Timetravler100 - well said!
Well Debra ......... IF the expression of "forty acres and a mule" was ever anything more than freed-slave wish you may have a point. I can very well see where any living repatriated slave could have a claim (at least against an ex-slave owner), I do not see where 150 years after the fact any citizen has a valid claim. If they did should the multi-generational welfare families be charged for welfare etc.? Maybe its time for those wanting more free money stop whining and start being free and suporting themselves and working. Funny how being slaves to the state doesnt bother individuals. When you rely on the state for your survival you are a slave at heart, just not a very productive one.
Debra,
I would gladly accept the idea that our Gov't pay the current equivalent of 40 acres and a mule to those who were freed by the Civil War. But after their descendants split it up with an equal share going to each one it will probably amount to a couple of dollars for each one alive today.
However, if this were to happen, would that stop all of the discussion of reparations and being "owed" for something that happened to your ancestors? My ancestors didn't make it to the US until the mid 1870's but I have been told that I should pay reparations because of my European ancestry.
@ Kayla . . . . fyi . . . the United States did not 'take' Texas from Mexico or ANYONE . . . Texas was a republic, which had won its independence with its own blood, and elected to join the United States of its own volition . . . . a mistake, for sure . . . .
I've lived in a community where there is hope that people from all backgrounds will see each other as simply that, people.
Reading this thread has discouraged me. It is obvious from the messages left on this article, which is about a POSITIVE experience by somebody seeking to learn more about their history, that there is a lot more negativity out there than I thought.
Just remember, prejudice, ignorance and envy are brothers united to divide humanity. We can't let that happen.
timetraveler
- while you do have a point, perhaps it is believed by some African Americans that
everything you said is just payback for slavery. I can hear it now....well if
your ancestors hadn't kidnapped my ancestors and brought them here then all
that you mentioned would not have happened so it's your ancestors fault. Blah
blah blah. It's in the past people! Ok it happened, it was corrected...live
your life now and stop living in the past! Good grief already, get over it or
find out where your ancestor slaves came from and see if your family there will
welcome you "home" and allow you to live the same life of luxuries
you lead here, in Africa. What more do you want? You want the Nation to
recognize they did wrong by enslaving your ancestors? Guess what? The end of
slavery was that recognition! Get over it, get an education, get a job and take
care of your family and stop harping on the past!
African Americans (not all) for the most part perpetuate their own stereotype...drop out of school - not anyone's fault but your own, don't further your education by choice - your fault when you can't get a job better than flipping burgers, resort to life of crime or pushing out babies in order to stay on the gov't teet - your fault, end up in prison for your thuggish lifestyle - your fault. But no, you want to blame someone for everything YOU did wrong in your life. Wake up!
And before anyone cries I'm a racist, guess my heritage....it's not what you would think.
I'm just sick of African Americans whining and crying about situations that they
created. Enough already! You not having a job or being illiterate has NOTHING
to do with slavery but EVERYTHING to do with YOU choosing the life you are
living and pass on to your children. You have/had the opportunity to go to
school, go to college to land a career and be a great role model for your
children. If YOU chose to drop out of high school and sell drugs or be a gang
banger, that's your own darn fault so instead of pointing your fingers at
anyone, take a look in the mirror, pull up your damn pants and take some pride
in your appearance. It's so disgusting to see all the unbeweavables on the
gov't teet with a fresh weave, a Gucci bag, tattoos all over and 5 kids
trailing behind you at the grocery store with your cart full of steaks and
shrimp paid for in full by hard working American taxpayers! And you ask where my 40 acres and a mule are? You and your family have been collecting it for years, it’s called welfare.
I'm half tempted to give you 40 acres and a mule just to see what you would do with it.
What you want is a lump sum payment thinking that would solve all your problems.
99% would piss it away in 3 months and be crying for more.
Well Joe, before California, Nevada, and Texas were republics, they were a part of Mexico. Google the Mexican War of Independance...It's still kind of 'taking' when you remember that the US discriminated against the Mexican citizens in those newly acquired territories, which led most to relinquish their property rights and go back to the newly established Mexican borders.
just sayin...
Actually you are quite fortunate to end up here in this country, millions of starving Africans would gladly take your place. I have been to West Africa and the way those people live is not pretty, it is actually hell on earth.
Hasn't this already been done? Kunta Kinta Toby Toby Toby; give it a rest. I just have one question...Which month is white history month?
ashley- Eleven months are white history months, but only one is black history month
Answer your question?
when is Native American history month? Irish American history month? Mexican American history month? Italian American history month? Swedish American history month? German American history month? Polish American history month.
Grow up.
I hear what you are saying. But I think it was a wonderful gesture what Mr. Ball did. It is a Blessing for this family to know where they derived from. It is sad for other races to say such Un Godly things, very hateful. Their shows are theirs. They know and can trace easily from whence they come. They never have to guess. We are the one nation, that truly can't say the same. Others get defensive, when we mention pay. I've heard many cruel things, and there is such a dark place in their hearts, to not even understand what others are saying. And end the end every word uttered will have to be answered for. With records have been destroyed....leaves people in anguish. Those who are from other cultures with out a doubt can trace their relatives for certain, we cannot. This family is just one of the lucky ones. I am proud of the turn out. I do not condemn Mr. Ball for his family, because, to me that is retribution. Finding ones true beginning. Hatred is a very ugly look, arrogance and highminded is as well. When things are subtracted to the lowest denominator, then you know there is a final answer, and it can be put to rest. Well so can this be, if people had the resources as this family has. Information like this on my family is worth more then monetary riches in the world, is all I'm trying to say. I don't think no one ever said that other races didn't matter, but it is said all the time about the African Americans matter not at all. In Gods eyesight sure it does, and in mines as well. I pray and hope for change, humbleness, love, respect for and to all. Have a Blessed Day Everyone!
Amen, Denise. Thanks for showing others what kind of heart it takes for different backgrounds to come together to form a community and a nation. Your comments lifted me up after being so depressed from reading others' posts. Thank you.
We thank Allah who came in the person of Master Fard Muhammad and for rising up the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad our leader and teacher to the Blackman and Blackwoman in America; the seed of Abraham. Genesis 15:13" And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years." Starting from year 1555 the slavetrader John Hawkins(Hopkins) taking our people from our Native land to here to America was the worst of sins ever committed.
Hm. Who "sold" their brethren to John Hawkins (Hopkins)? Other "Blackmen". Whom do you properly "blame"?
Dead on. The tales of a longboat full of white slavers trekking into the African wilderness and dragging hundreds of captives back to the ship are ludicrous. It was blacks themselves who created black slavery (an institution that existed long before Columbus). Quite often the slaves were taken for ritual slaughters that would have made the Aztecs proud.
Whites are to blame for bringing slavery to the new world..., but we need to give credit to the African Blacks themselves for making it possible. There's more than enough blame to go around....
I respect different religions, but in Genisis, God spoke to Abram and was talking about the peoples called now Isreal, it never mentioned black,white or any other color. I agree with others however, no one today regardless of race, owes anyone else anything. You weren't the slave, this date, now is 150 years after the fact. You make of yourself what you want, if you choose to remain on welfare, then you demean only your self no oneelse put you there.
Abdul, PLEASE be careful not to become a SLAVE to a religion that teaches people to submit (do not question). THAT slavery keeps a Billion people from freedom and is the same type of "religion" that said that non Christians had no souls, so those peoples could be worked to death and slaughtered.
At least modern Christians have the ability to tell anyone Priest or not, that slavery is wrong. Try going to a Mosque and standing up and saying something against the Imam. You will be killed. THAT IS ALSO SLAVERY!
Was not Malcom X murdered by Moslem Fanatics because he would not be a slave?
However, you may purchase male or female slaves from
among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of
such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You
may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent
inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel,
your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 NLT)
HMMM, ACCORDING TO THIS, YOU, THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM, ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN HAVE SLAVES. OH OKAY, I GET IT NOW. PRAISE ALLAH !!!
When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod
so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however,
the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave
is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB) THIS IS GOOD NEWS, PRAISE ALLAH ! Let us hope the slave does not die.
Everyone seems to think that slavery was a mind/moral disease that the human race has since been cured of. Read up on modern day slavery...It's too soon for us to start patting ourselves on the back and saying things like "It's hard to believe that just a short time ago such injustices were happening to people and the world seemingly thought it was just and OK." The world may not think slavery is "OK" anymore, but considering how widespread it STILL is, yet few people even know about it tells me that we're not OK with it so much as simply appethetic to it. Which, in my opininon, is a lot WORST.
How did the pyramids get built? Rome wasn't built in a day. What will satisfy and end this situation? Will a pound of flesh be enough?It is interesting that only America is mentioned in this article.
I am most sympathetic to the negro slavery in the new world, not necessarily in the USA.
However, such efforts as this article, suitably forget the facts, essential to understanding the slavery institution, historically speaking.
Following is few samples taken from wikipedia:
The earliest incidence of slavery goes as far back as 1760 bc. (Hammurabi Code). The last country, Mauritania, to abolish slavery by an act was in 1981.
Negro population calls slavery an abomination. Perhaps they read history, selectively.
Grow up and forget about that aspect. Nobody stopped them from doing best, under the generous help from the government and other socially conscious independent organizations. Don't be cry babies, I say.
Two personal examples from my life:
University of Illinois. Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day celebrations with an exhibition. Attendance: Myself and my buddy.
Public Library: Separate section with hundreds of books, magazines, pictures made available to celebrate the so called "Black Month."
Not one single book. scholarly journal or framed picture accessed by anyone. Not black. Not white. Not Asian. Not Hispanic member of the library. Membership is free.
...and I am Sid Harth@sidileak.com
Ive done lots of genealogy on my on family. It seems to be forgotten that many of the white Americans didn't always come here on their own. One of my ggg grandfathers was kidnapped as a 16 yr old boy from the docks in Wales, Britain he was sold and indentured when he arrived in the colonies. Slavery was not always a black or white issue. Slaves in america were also white at one time. That was 400 yrs ago and life moves on. My wife is from Russia and faces discrimanation all the time from whites and blacks alike. She is more of a minority in america than a blackman or woman and her family had nothing to do with the slave trade.
Does Indentured Servitude ring a bell?
The Irish were a peticular group of people that were especially treated harshly. Everyone seems to forget that when a swamp needed draining (New Orleans being an exclusion), they didn't want to send the blacks because they'd paid a lot of money for them. But the Irish? no problem! they're only 7 cents a day and if the Yellow Fever gets a few, no problem! there'll be 10 more at your door in the morning.
What's that? You want to build a railroad and use some sweating dynamite? Sure thing! But send the Irish... a few blow up, no problem! There'll be 10 more at your door in the morning.
Everyone forgets that. Irish should have there own bloody month for awareness and appreciation. Its one thing to get sold into slavery, and it is truly nightmarish. But people also forget that white people didn't go charging off into the wilderness in Africa. There were many tribes in Africa and some had no problem handing over their enemies to the white slavers in exchange for lands, weapons, etc...
Unfortunately, we Irish were starved out in a famine and arrived on the shores of the new world where we were forced to beg for food, live like animals, and be treated as low-class nothings.
Don't forget . . . there were also black slaveMASTERS. Yes, blacks owned their own.
Not only was it common for free blacks to own slaves but also Native Americans aka Indians.....
Reality in this instance would include telling the story of exactly who captured and sold their brothers to the slave traders. You might be surprised to learn white folks did not go into the interior to "hunt" potential slaves. No, indeed. In fact, certain "enterprising" africans performed that service, for pay. Anyone want to discuss moral superiority at this juncture? Anyone want to wager that this particular fact will not appear in the ironically named "Making a Difference" story?
Don't give a RATS BUTT about her story or any blacks story about slavery.
MANY people of all colors were sold into slavery in different countries for hundreds of years. BLACKS are NOT special in any sense.
Blacks in this country need to get over themselves!
Brian, I did not read in the essay and perhaps its covered about how those poor souls ended up waiting for transport. Warring tribes kidnapping from other tribes to eliminate competition and obtain good from the Dutch slavers. This is information that is usually skipped over when slavery is being researched for the mass media which I feel perpetrates racial division. Another point I would like to make is the entire African American thing. I have a few friends who have immigrated from Africa in the past decade. They are always amused at the use of African American label thrown around here in the States and laugh at the people who introduce themselves a an African- they are not they are American. My friend Charles is African it being where he immigrated from as he will tell you if you ask. Historically it is interesting and cruel but lets not overlook many other Nations have had their own form of slavery. My mothers mother was indentured at age 12 in Great Britain, basically never to return to her parental home again. That is a form of slavery. History is a good teacher of what we learned on our way to getting to where we are to prevent the same mistakes but it is history and we can study it, enjoy the information we learn but this is now. You can not live in the past. You live in the now.
Injustices, yes but it gave their descendent's chances they never would have had otherwise. If you go back far enough we all come from someplace else including the native American who came across the land bridge. Do their descendent's have a better life here or would they be better off in their native Africa. We forget the opportunities we have been given and dwell on the misfortune our ancestors suffered to give us that opportunity. Today we have an African American President. You don't rise any higher than that. I know, he's not your traditional African American but without the rest of the African American community he would not have been elected.
While I find all of this discussion interesting, and see many valid points, I WILL use this article and others like it in the classroom. We are discussing the colonial period right now and have been looking at the roots of slavery, slave codes, and other issues impacting the beginning of our country. Rest assured that teachers like me are teaching ALL of our children, whatever race, creed or color, what slavery is and how our country has worked to repair, educate and change from our early beginnings.
I read with interest Mr. Harth's note about the library section for Black History not being visited--a travesty in any city! If we, as adults, as parents, don't show our children how to use these valuable resources, they will be lost. If nothing else, educate our children with open minds, not biases, so they can grow and learn to think for themselves!
Do you start out with the white European bond servants and the conditions which they were forced to endure? I was unaware of the horror of that practice until I read an article in a black magazine in the 60s outlining how a typical slave was treated much better than a bond servant. I also wonder if the book by Ball "slaves in the family" is part of your classroom teaching? A very well written, frank and researched book by the way that is relevent to every citizen, not for just the handfull of "slave owners" and decendants of slaves, but all other citizens as well.
The blatant racism through these comments shows that America still has such a long way to go.
Parts of America certainly do.
Racism by which group under discussion? Both sides have presented valid views ......... maybe if each would look at it from the opposites point of view both could move beyond the past and work together.
Montana for your information the president on occasion gets no respect because he is a horrible president. When you inject race into everything as you do, you lose all credibility.
Only race baiting haters like you talk that way.
Ever wondered how the other races feel when they are denied opportunity because preference is unfairly and ignorantly given to black applicant?
Happens more often than the reverse.
As a man whose life has been integrated since the get go, I know my history, love my history, appreciate my history. But using race as a hammer is a loser in any rational persons world.
Great article however and a very important one for those who have ancestory from the south.
Good God ! Can't we stop all this race BS . We're all of one race , "THE HUMAN RACE ".
Not quite true steve .... we are all one species divided into a few races. Kind of like dogs, cattle etc. and that is not a bad thing. Different environments require different adaptations for every species in existence.
Most of the relatives on my Mother's side of my family are of Irish decent - the Irish were considered to be filthy and inferior until JFK became President. There's also some Native American blood flowing through my veins - we don't have a special month to celebrate all of the Native American Tribes...has anyone really paid any attention as to how these people live/exist on their reservations today? My father is first generation Japanese. I was born in 1952 - not long after the end of WWWII. Due to the prejudice against the Japanese, my own Mother was not "allowed" by her family to marry my father, nor was she "allowed" to tell me who my biological father was. In fact, I was not told about my father until I was in my late 30's. Thank God my mother finally had the courage to tell me who my father is. I was finally able to meet my Father - he is a funny, sweet, humble man. Meeting him answered so many of the questions I had about myself.
I'm sure that there are many, many people with family stories similar to mine. My point is that I have never let my family history keep me from moving forward. I don't use, or blame any of my family history as a reason for the adversities I have faced in my life. It is simply, my family history. I don't think my Country, or any entity, owes me for things that have occurred in my family history.
Maybe, instead of having a separate month to teach and discuss the history of Blacks in this Country, we should always celebrate all of the people, races, creeds, and religions that are found here. Let our diversity make us greater, not weaker. By setting aside a special month for one, you are causing more distrust, alienation, fear, and prejudice.
Wonderfully written article about part of the story of slavery in the united States. I am hoping to find an equally promulgated and poignant for another part of that story on the thousands of White slaves too!
I am all for people to be proud of their family history. Never forget! My great grandparents (one an illegal) Would go to the German Hall once a week and drink, dance and speak their native tongue. The other six they spent speaking English and building their American dream. I don't go around calling myself German-American, if everyone would just call themselves Americans maybe the divisions in race would not be so great.
@Montana
Please stop trying to rewrite recent history... we have enough of that being done already.. It't not that you have just hated the current president but it how you have disrespected him.. the photos, the guns, the "you lie" comments, the "take back the country" statements and many other things too numerous to name here. These (and you know it but for sure don't want to admit it) are all code phrases and are based upon your stupid party's racist fringe (you are included if it fits you as well). There are ways and then there are ways... and believe me my brother... it has been proven that its not about his policies!
Maybe in your b*tch sessions it has been proven . . . but it has never been taking the country back because we have a black president. Only an idiot would think so. BTW . . . how do you think he got elected? The all black vote? Puhleeeeeeeeese
I disagree disgruntled. Lets start with the current resident of the whitehouse recieving the majority of the popular vote. The popular vote may not be what elects the executive branch of office (and I pray to the deity of your choice it never is) but in order to get that vote required white support, add all the other groups together and they still would not have been enough to recieve a majority. Next consider the electoral college vote that actually elects that branch, I would guess that was comprised of white established representives so the resident was elected by white vote. Next look at the failure of this term in every respect, for the first two years I thought the individual was campaigning for a post in the U.N. or represented some banana republic somewhere instead of representing the American citizen in times of desperation. Other than the typical democratic party agenda of tax and spend (heavy on the spend) to prosperity what has been done? Buying votes with a free lunch has not worked long term for any civilization in recorded history, it just creates slaves to the state and economic collapse (pretty much the situation of today dont you think?). All in all I dispise the individual in office..... but not because of his "race" but for his politics and to be honest I would feel the same way for any political ilk of that parties agenda.
Code phrases? Where can I get the decoder ring? Do you have to send in boxtops somewhere to get one?
And people on here bitch about "paranoid right wingers". sheesh
black people sold their own people to the highest bidder in africa, so who's to blame? Black people