Enslavement of Blacks. . .the worse? Options

[hotsoup]

The issue of why African Americans/Blacks seem to think that the enslavement of their ancestors was so much more horrible than the enslavement of other people has come up many a time in discussions centered on race and ethnicity. So, I figured I'd just go ahead and start a discussion on the subject. Hopefully, one doesn't already exist.

So, my opinion.

I actually wrote a paper on this very subject last year for a history class I was taking at college. While I argued from an economical stand point in my paper, I think I'll go with the skin color issue here.

Every time I gain some new knowledge, my opinion seems to change, but I believe that the main reason the enslavement of Blacks is considered to be such a heinous crime and held above similar crimes is because it was based almost solely on skin color and the complete domination of an entire race thought to be some how deviant or against God in nature. I'll try to elaborate more on my stance once a discussion picks up.

[jesusisthebestth...]

well, steven is correct, but at the same time, when you say whites were enslaved, those whites who enslaved african americans were never considered slaves themselves. lots of the indentured servants were irish...the irish were the "minority" so to speak. and they were treated badly for being irish, especially when they were irish-catholic

[Ington]

well, steven is correct, but at the same time, when you say whites were enslaved, those whites who enslaved african americans were never considered slaves themselves. lots of the indentured servants were irish...the irish were the "minority" so to speak. and they were treated badly for being irish, especially when they were irish-catholic

True but not true. A lot of serfs were Irish, true. However, the Irish do not make up anywhere near the greater portion of white serfdom.

And obviously the slave owners themselves weren't slaves. What you said is like going into an alcoholics anonymous meeting and saying, "all of the white people in this room have been alcoholics." Of course they were. So were the black, hispanic, and any other race in the room. Black slave owners weren't slaves. Arabic slave owners weren't slaves either. Whoever heard of a slave owning a slave?

[jesusisthebestth...]

Whoever heard of a slave owning a slave?

my point was those who owned slaves were never subjected to or slavery...slavery wasn't an option for them, they were the "forefathers" of the country and therefore would never be eligible for slavery even if they were the minority or owed debts or anything of the such.