Well I learned something quite new today....something I had heard about before, but never realized was so prevalent in the Civil War....The extent of free blacks who owned slaves in the south! Some of them owned LOTS! I was quite surprised to say the least. It certainly puts a new spin on the entire thing for me, and brings up a point I've made many times...that while the white community certainly perpetuated and contributed the most to the institution of slavery, the black community has never really acknowledged the role of blacks in this institution. RARELY do you hear of the Africans who sold other Africans into slavery, and you certainly don't hear of black slave owners.....Nor do you hear of the actual numbers of whites (and blacks) who owned slaves, which was actually quite small compared to the overall population...But, here it is....I've included a link to the article of course, and the author of said article references several books and other articles. Very interesting. Seems that this should be talked about more often, in my opinion. Ever since slavery ended, it has been talked about many times about the horrors of this terrible institution, and the subsequent legacy of racism in America of whites towards blacks, which is a completely fair statement and observation. It is undeniable to any thinking person just exactly what slavery did (and indirectly, still does) to this country. However, I think it is time that the black community as a whole acknowledges the role of blacks in the subjugation of other blacks, instead of trying to paint this as a purely whites-against-blacks thing. Read the article, I bet you'll find it will shock you, or at the very least, surprise you. It certainly did me.
http://americancivilwar.com/authors/black_slaveowners.htm
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