Thursday, February 19, 2015

On the False Belief that Only Black People Were Enslaved

a) According to Robert Davis's book, "Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters", between 1 and 1.25 MILLION Europeans (from Iceland all the way to Portugal and Italy) were captured and enslaved by North African pirates between 1530 and 1780, a number that actually exceeds that of black slaves sent to North America by the Brits.............b) According to Sean O'Callaghan's book, "To Hell or Barbados", at least 50,000 Irish people were enslaved by the British and sold to plantation owners in the Caribbean (some actually ended up in Virginia) where the vast, vast percentage of them were simply worked to death.............c) According to Don Jordan and Michael Walsh's book, "White Cargo", hundreds of thousands of poor English people (street urchins, paupers, criminals, etc.) were either kidnapped or tricked into bondage (told that it would only be for 7,8 years when it was actually for a lifetime) and sent to the colonies as slaves............................................................................................Yes, black people were treated poorly by Europeans, Muslims, and even by their fellow Africans (yes, folks, it wasn't white people who traipsed into the jungle and captured these slaves) but they aren't alone when it comes to suffering and wouldn't it be nice if a much more nuanced history was taught to our youngsters?

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