During the transatlantic slave trade, Black bodies were kidnapped from their homes, transported inhumanely and then treated worse than animals. Black men, women, and children were sold into chattel slavery and remained in that cruel institution for nearly 250 years, spanning 10 generations.
It took a civil war in 1861, in which America defended itself against a rebellion to divide the Union (a unified nation), to address slavery. During this war, the nation fought to keep 11 of its 48 states from dividing the union.
The United States fought to put down a rebellion that sought to legally dehumanize an entire race of people for personal gain in riches and status for generations to come. The Confederacy fought to arrogantly claim superiority over an entire people because of the color of their skin.
This ever-present reality, using “skin color as a differentiator,” affects every person of color, especially Black people. I am a Black man, and every other person of color is embodied in me. We all share the experience of racism based on the color of our skin, no matter the shade. We must understand that injustice or justice toward anyone is also the reality for all sharing the same distinction and has a relevant impact on the entire human race.
So here we are again, in 2023, propelled into a position where the discussion, the real talk, must be done. But it must be more productive than talks of the past. Let’s look at what this nation has encountered in the comprehensive battle to live out the tenets of our very own Constitution.
What History Has Taught Us
History should teach us to be better in the future, but it seems like we have learned nothing.
The Civil War set me, the Black man, free legally, resulting in an Emancipation Proclamation, which eventually led to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution in 1865. But I soon realized that I was not really free in America. Black people were “set free” and yet remained in bondage to every sort of scheme rigged in a system designed to continuously oppress
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