Really? I distinctly remember it from Kindergarten. It was in January, leading up to MLK day. It was mostly through stories. I remember they read to us about Harriet Tubman and “follow the drinking gourd” or some such. We were horrified. Up until that point I didn’t even have a concept of “race”, despite having a rather diverse class compared to other schools I attended in elementary school, so the idea of racism was just bizarre.
Wow, this is now a meme in this thread. Again, the question here is not “Is X a super secret racist by Y definition.” Failure to be proven a racist by your pet definition of racist doesn’t exonerate you for acts of extreme stupidity that might require intercession by your superiors.
Perhaps it’s a meme in the thread because it’s a quote in the linked article.
Wouldn’t it be more educational to tell them about slavery in Africa today ?
Where according to the U.N. there are more slaves alive today then there has been in all of history.
And it makes the point that its actual slavery, not “indenture labour” or whatever.
Instead of wringing their hands about people who are long dead, wouldn’t it be of more use to help those are alive right now, and suffering enslavement ?
Ah so an accusation of racism requires suspension of any other form of rational analysis.
Well, this is actually an on-going conceit in public discourse at large, and it has been for a long time. The idea is to ignore or dismiss the full implications of historical and social context by reducing something to a question of individual motivation. Some people can’t understand (or refuse to understand) that racism isn’t about one person being “bad” or “good”-- that it isn’t about individual character or intentions, existing in bubble.
That’s because the UN defines kidnapping victims as slaves. “Slavery” as a legal condition, has been all but abolished. Indonesian loggers and Emirati hookers aren’t slaves. When their whereabouts are discovered by NGOs, they are sent back to their home countries by the government of the country in which they were being kept. They do not appear on shipping manifests, or customs declarations, and they are not mortgaged or inherited.
Slavery in the US was not indentured labour: it was chattel slavery, where:
(1) slavery and ownership of slaves was legally recognised;
(2) children of slaves were born into slavery and had no legal way of getting out of the status, unless their owner granted them their freedom;
(3) if you were of African descent, in many places it was assumed that you must be someone’s slave.
And manumission was outlawed in several states, and free blacks could not reside in many states for more than a certain period of time without losing their freedom.
I think that you’re missing my point.
I totally agree that historic slavery in the U.S. was actual chattel slavery.
As is that praticed in Africa RIGHT NOW, RIGHT this instant, as we speak.
I made my point about indentured labourers because all too many people , try to pussy foot around, and describe present day slavery as that instead of what it is.
Presumably as an excuse to sweep it under the carpet.
There are, as I said in my previous more slaves alive today then all slaves in history.
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to try and do something to help them ?
As in freeing them, would be a good idea.
Similarly, in this context, it’s also hard not to see the use of the name “Frederick” in the beating example as a weirdly offensive allusion to Frederick Douglass.
Which is a complete falsehood.
Well, since the Georgia state flag is still a symbol of slavery, yes.
Wiki “The flag’s design is based on the first National Flag of the Confederate States of America, which is nicknamed the “Stars and Bars”.[2]
Better tell that to the U.N. then.
How far will people go to deny that slavery exists ?
And more to the point WHY ?
Pop quiz, Hotshot. If the bus gets 4 miles per gallon of diesel fuel and the tank holds 50 gallons, how far can you drive at 50 miles per hour before the bus blows up and everybody dies? 
[Moderating]
Telling other posters to fuck themselves is a violation of the Pit’s language rules.
Please avoid doing this in the future.
[/Moderating]
You can’t really be this stupid, right? Name a country where slavery is legal. Show me an individual who has been mortgaged. Show me a shipping manifest that includes slaves as cargo. What you’re talking about are kidnap victims.
But of course, you’re not that stupid. You’re just a fairly unimaginative tool parroting the standard neo-confederate talking points to derail any discussion of slavery in the US. If you’re so concerned about human trafficking, why aren’t you posting in threads about that? Why are you posting at all, instead of rescuing Bangladeshis trapped in remote work camps?
Good point. Thanks for the correction.
This makes sense. It’s part of a propaganda campaign.
OK, if Jesse is polling at 42% in the Senate race, and his consultants calculate a thinly-veiled racist pitch could swing an additional 12% . . .
Jesse didn’t have to do much veiling in his day.