I read an article about Georgetown University promising to set aside four hundred thousand dollars a year for descendants of slaves. It was explained that nearly two hundred years ago Georgetown University had sold two hundred and seventy two slaves to raise funds. These funds kept the doors open. But I had several questions and problems with this that went unanswered in that article. The first one being, just how are you going to prove your ancestry to qualify for these funds? The records are surely incomplete and I just can't see any way to do that. So what's the problem? Is Georgetown University now setting aside funds for anyone that proves they are an African- American? If that's the case, wouldn't that be discriminatory? If you have to also prove you are descended from one of those slaves what are the requirements? But the question posed by that article was, " is that enough? " My answer to that is, no one is entitled to anything from an action that took place almost two hundred years ago. As uncomfortable as it may be, by the standards of the time it was a legal transaction. It was the Jesuits that sold those individuals. A portion of the money was used to pay the debts of Georgetown University. The Jesuits are Spanish missionaries, should the Spanish pay those reparations?
The narrative was, of course it was evil white guys that perpetrated this injustice. If Spanish Jesuit Priests are evil white guys that's true. They were holding those folks as slaves and subsequently sold to plantation owners in Louisiana. The Jesuits were quite active in the slave trade. So just where should blame be assigned? Is the current ownership of Georgetown University responsible for that? Should people that had nothing to do with that, in any way, shape or form, have to pay? But the larger question, one I posted to Facebook last evening is this: who is worse, the ones selling or the ones buying? Now I think that question can be applied to any number of circumstances. The buying and selling of human beings is the most abhorrent of actions! Amazingly it is still practiced in some countries! But my point is, we all know that it isn't right! In fact that institution only lasted 82 years in America! Yes it was 82 years too long no one denies that. All of that being said, you can apply that to anyone buying and selling anything that is harmful to others. Who bears the responsibility, the seller or the buyer? In the case of slavery in America, who was the first to sell them? The majority were " purchased " from the western tribes of Africa. Yes, it was Africans selling Africans to Europeans. The Europeans in turn sold them to other Europeans. In 1619 Dutch traders sold twenty slaves to British colonists at Jamestown. That's correct, they were not Americans. The slave trade was prohibited by 1808. In fact, in 1794 ship building and outfitting ships for that trade was prohibited in America. In December of 1865 following the civil war and the loss of thousands of lives by those opposed to the entire slavery issue the 13th amendment was passed. Who is to blame for all of that? Is it all white people of today? Or is it those willing to sell their neighbors for profit? If the Africans hadn't been selling other Africans there wouldn't have been any slave trade in the first place.
All of this is just asking a question. It's ridiculous that I even have to state this but I do not support or think the salve trade was alright! Where Africans treated unfairly, unjustly, and harshly? Of course they were! Did unfair treatment of African-Americans continue after slavery was banned? Yes it did and still does. Is there any amount of reapportions that will change history? No there isn't.
So the question remains, who is responsible? The seller or the buyer? Indeed, who is responsible for the evils in the world? Is it the " traffic " that creates the jam, or is it the " drivers ? "
The narrative was, of course it was evil white guys that perpetrated this injustice. If Spanish Jesuit Priests are evil white guys that's true. They were holding those folks as slaves and subsequently sold to plantation owners in Louisiana. The Jesuits were quite active in the slave trade. So just where should blame be assigned? Is the current ownership of Georgetown University responsible for that? Should people that had nothing to do with that, in any way, shape or form, have to pay? But the larger question, one I posted to Facebook last evening is this: who is worse, the ones selling or the ones buying? Now I think that question can be applied to any number of circumstances. The buying and selling of human beings is the most abhorrent of actions! Amazingly it is still practiced in some countries! But my point is, we all know that it isn't right! In fact that institution only lasted 82 years in America! Yes it was 82 years too long no one denies that. All of that being said, you can apply that to anyone buying and selling anything that is harmful to others. Who bears the responsibility, the seller or the buyer? In the case of slavery in America, who was the first to sell them? The majority were " purchased " from the western tribes of Africa. Yes, it was Africans selling Africans to Europeans. The Europeans in turn sold them to other Europeans. In 1619 Dutch traders sold twenty slaves to British colonists at Jamestown. That's correct, they were not Americans. The slave trade was prohibited by 1808. In fact, in 1794 ship building and outfitting ships for that trade was prohibited in America. In December of 1865 following the civil war and the loss of thousands of lives by those opposed to the entire slavery issue the 13th amendment was passed. Who is to blame for all of that? Is it all white people of today? Or is it those willing to sell their neighbors for profit? If the Africans hadn't been selling other Africans there wouldn't have been any slave trade in the first place.
All of this is just asking a question. It's ridiculous that I even have to state this but I do not support or think the salve trade was alright! Where Africans treated unfairly, unjustly, and harshly? Of course they were! Did unfair treatment of African-Americans continue after slavery was banned? Yes it did and still does. Is there any amount of reapportions that will change history? No there isn't.
So the question remains, who is responsible? The seller or the buyer? Indeed, who is responsible for the evils in the world? Is it the " traffic " that creates the jam, or is it the " drivers ? "
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