# blacks made the western world **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255 "2011-05-26T04:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/1 "2011-05-26T04:24:39Z")
forget about racism - I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). without black people the crime rate would sky rocket. Without the influence from black people . the europeans would never have been able to go come this far. Black people are the cornerstone in any society- time for the “white” people to learn! ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/2 "2011-05-26T04:37:47Z")
Good point; the Aztecs, Mayans, Japanese, Chinese would be _nothing_ without Black Folks. Yes, I know you said Euros, but what’s you’re point? The Greeks, Romans, Picts etc. seemed to do okay. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/3 "2011-05-26T04:39:22Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). without black people the crime rate would sky rocket. OK. When are you going to start arguing? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/4 "2011-05-26T04:56:44Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > forget about racism - I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). without black people the crime rate would sky rocket. > > Without the influence from black people . the europeans would never have been able to go come this far. Black people are the cornerstone in any society- time for the “white” people to learn! While I disagree with just about everything you post, this OP seems, well lets say a little off kilter. Perhaps you should revisit this thread after 8 or 20 hours of sleep - just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/5 "2011-05-26T05:06:24Z")
this should be entertaining. i remember in gone with the wind when rhet butler compared the south with the north. “while we, all we have is cotton, slaves, and arrogance.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/6 "2011-05-26T05:19:38Z")
I read the op’s opening post 4 times and laughed harder each time. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/7 "2011-05-26T05:19:53Z")
I posit that it was those with cleft chins that lead to the rise of human kind…except those with detached earlobes of course!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/8 "2011-05-26T05:43:49Z")
it thought it was those with eyes deep sunk into the bone, kinda like those prize fighters. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/9 "2011-05-26T12:59:37Z")
Yeah, I remember my first beer… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/10 "2011-05-26T13:28:52Z")
Don’t bogart that joint, **scam**. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/11 "2011-05-26T14:36:00Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). I agree! ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/12 "2011-05-26T14:46:58Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > forget about racism - I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). without black people the crime rate would sky rocket. > > Without the influence from black people . the europeans would never have been able to go come this far. Black people are the cornerstone in any society- time for the “white” people to learn! You had better post some sort of actual thesis to support this fairly absurd claim or I am going to shut down this thread and give you a Warning for trolling. (And your thesis had better have some substance to it, because I am seriously thinking of shutting it down with a Warning in any event.) [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/13 "2011-05-26T15:30:06Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > I want to argue that black people with ancestry from africa (i.e. slaves). without black people the crime rate would sky rocket. And I want a pony. I guess we can’t all get what we want. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/14 "2011-05-26T15:36:09Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You had better post some sort of actual thesis to support this fairly absurd claim or I am going to shut down this thread and give you a Warning for trolling. > > (And your thesis had better have some substance to it, because I am seriously thinking of shutting it down with a Warning in any event.) > > [/Moderating] [My response to the OP in The Pit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=610033) ---
**Author:** ![FarmerChuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/13edae/32.png) [@FarmerChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FarmerChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/15 "2011-05-26T16:57:49Z")
god this argument makes me go insane… first off yes slaves did create alot of wealth for the already wealthy in the south… poor folk didnt get slaves and 500 acres of cotton rich folk had it to begin with. Also name me one cotton plantation in new england, pa, ny etc etc… or west virginia who split from Va cuz they didnt like slaves… also how did slaves help the country from 1860’s till now? thats right they didnt… america was still a joke until after world war 2 really… i mean we won our freedom just barely with the help of the french and agaisnt an empire that was far to spread out… also… we bascailly lost the war of 1812… and im pretty sure slaves didnt fight the spanish american war either… and i dont think we had regiments of slaves slamming the beaches of iwo jima, or normandy, and i dont think we had any slaves in the mock towns that we tested the atomic bomb on? and we didnt lock any slaves in the first gemini capsuls… ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/16 "2011-05-26T17:17:01Z")
Ah, I see! The blacks were the ones exerting their “influence” on the white slave masters, not the other way around! My god, genius! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/17 "2011-05-26T17:18:22Z")
I thought it was the [Irish](http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civilization-Hinges-History/dp/0385418493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306430251&sr=8-1)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/18 "2011-05-26T17:21:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I thought it was the [Irish](http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civilization-Hinges-History/dp/0385418493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306430251&sr=8-1)? The _Black_ Irish. They’re actually Spanish (in someone’s imagination). ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/19 "2011-05-26T17:22:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I thought it was the [Irish](http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Saved-Civilization-Hinges-History/dp/0385418493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306430251&sr=8-1)? NO IRISH!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255/20 "2011-05-26T23:31:20Z")
How about an easier argument: “Without Black people, popular music would be awful and we’d have no barbecue.” Sheesh, that sounds like a mean stereotype, but, well – I consider those two of the greatest aspects of modern society. Barbecue allows us to work in the Taino people, and thus the Caribbean natives, AND it lets us find something cool that pirates had a hand in! (Buccaneers, and all that.) \ oh! and \ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-made-the-western-world/583255.md?page=2)