The Lasting Effects of Slavery

CSIfan...

Now, BH is going to direct you to her victim thread. Not sure what's in it, but I guess you might be interested in reading it.

But really, you have to face reality; most white people don't give a DAMN about our slave heritage. If you keep this in mind, a lot more things will make sense for you.

I feel your pain, CSIfan, really, I do. But, I suggest you stick the finger high in the air (or a fist, if you like) and do what you do. Do NOT let the taurus feces our people went through cause you serious psychological problems. It's ok to be pissed, sad, or ashamed, but don't let it drive you to throw your cash away at a shrink's office.

Just remember, all the spit we've been through, and we're STILL here! We're STILL standing! That should say a lot to you. At the same time, be aware that the system in this country is NOT set up for us. Be aware that you'll have to put in a LOT of work to attain what people paler than you get through unfair advantages.

Be strong, sister.

[edit on 29-3-2007 by truthseeka]

Timeless,

You have a lot of courage, yes, for putting your thoughts so openly here for all to see, and I agree with much you have said, and for the things I don't agree with, I am not "miffed", lol!

Checking back, you will see that the chief culprit in my "rant" is not a White Person, sure, it was Whites who did all the nasty stuff to my ancestors, but without the approval of government (who taxed and benefited from the slave trade), this could not have happened in America.

No one can tell me how to feel, you know that. But there are many circumstances that would not exist if America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, had been just that!

I want to feel like an American, I want to tremble at the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, I want to truly love my Country (the only Country I know), but I can't just up and feel that way. That hurts, it hurts that the promises did not protect me and mine. That the Constitution says that I am 3/5 ths of a Man! That most of the Country was "in on the looting" of my ancestors souls! Yes, even The Government!

I want to wake up and find that it was a HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE, something that didn't really happen.

This went on for hundreds of years. And, wasn't a bit similar to the Royal hierarchy in Europe...that would have been like heaven...to just be one of the group, instead of one that the group can step on and torture.

I feel every whip lash, I suffer silently and sometimes weep loudly. And, as a human being, I have that right. That's all, and no one can take that away from me.

This, on American Soil, this is what I speak of. My Experience, my Life.

[edit on 29-3-2007 by CSIfan]

BH,

Thank you for that.

I feel as though tonight I'm holding a "wake" for my poor tortured soul, and you and the others have gathered to help put my tortured soul to rest.

I'm actually starting to feel better, and it's strange, but I feel a burden lifting.

Thank you for listening, and most of all, understanding.

Truth,

You are aptly named, for what you speak is the sure enough TRUTH.

But, I just had to get this out. I know, I know...but, it had to be said.

I feel better.

And don't think I don't DO ME.

There are so many people moving around inside of me, so many centuries, so many "scenes"...I am just busting out! This may be the beginning of something "big", heh, heh...

So, today I exploded...only one little blip (of many), for there is so much more to come!

Be ready!

Thanks for you being you!

Originally posted by CSIfan
I'm actually starting to feel better, and it's strange, but I feel a burden lifting.

Wow... That is really great! I hope it continues for you. It's amazing what having a few people listen and understand can do!

I want to say a couple things that might help you. If you wish, reject them, but I don't want to leave this thread without saying this...

Originally posted by CSIfan
I want to wake up and find that it was a HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE, something that didn't really happen.

"Forgiveness is giving up all hope of changing the past."
When we forgive someone, we do it for ourselves. We do it so we don't have to continue to carry around the anger and feelings of injustice anymore. Because they can get very heavy and cause undue stress on the joints (and the heart).

If you want to hear more about this, U2U me. Good luck and take care!

BH,

Those are good things for me to think about...thank you, but our government is guilty.

Guilty as Sin!

And other groups have been compensated for acts committed by our government, Native Americans, Vietnamese (and they weren't even Americans!). I feel slighted, and the suffering of my ancestors has not been properly "acknowledged"...AN APOLOGY DOES NOT DO THE JOB!

There are less than 50 million African Americans in this country, and many of them are not descended from slaves. So about 40 million may be in the group, and I believe that we should get at least $1 million each from the government, for once and for all, get it over with. Let the government take responsibility for being involved in this ugly slavery they PROFITED FROM ON AMERICAN SOIL!

Let them compensate the descendants of the affected people. I think that criteria can be established, i.e., a person applying for reparations should have documentation or birth records of ancestors in this country who suffered either during slavery or segregation (going back at least 100 years). That should make it simple. Latecomers would be disqualified. There may even be less than 30 million who qualify.

Why not?

You are aware that this administration has "lost" $9 BILLION DOLLARS somehow in Iraq? Somebody, somewhere, is happy about that, I'm sure!

That's not in yen, that in American Taxpayer Dollars!

I refuse to just forget...

Originally posted by CSIfan
I refuse to just forget...

I didn't ask you to FORGET. I mentioned forgiveness. Do you think I have forgotten being raped? No, but I forgave the rapist because of what carring around the burden was doing to ME. As I said, forgiveness is for me, not to let anyone off the hook.

If you read carefully what I said, you'll see I didn't suggest you FORGET anything.

And if you don't like what I said, disregard it. No hard feelings.

Originally posted by CSIfan
Pleased to meet you!

Pleased to meet you too.

Many ran away...and many did what they had to do, and could do, in order to promise their descendants that precious gift of life, and a future that a slave could only dream of.

That staying took a lot of courage, I think.

Originally posted by truthseeka
Not exactly true.
Slaves ran away quite often. Why do you think they passed the Fugitive Slave Act? Hell, slaves would even kill their masters in an attempt to escape slavery. Then, you have slave rebellion.

I know that slaves ran away, I know some "revolted" and I know that some even tried to kill massa, they however were in the minority, and usually didn't have good chances of continuing their line...at least not in the US.

The ones who stayed were the ones who were afraid to do anything else. The ones who were whipped into submission, then accepted Jim Crow, and then US apartheid, they are the ancestors of modern US blacks.

I am sorry but I see no strength in submission, only weakness.

Overriding the instinctual drive for self preservation by taking matters into your own hands and attempting to better your lot in life at all costs... or to at least die trying...now that is strength.

At least IMHO.

Truth, man I hate skinheads and KKK members but seeing your BLACK POWER pic makes me wish someone would post a white guy doing the white power pose. It won't happen cause that person would get banned but it ain't right that you can have the same image just as a black guy doing it so it's ok.

Originally posted by Scrub
Truth, man I hate skinheads and KKK members but seeing your BLACK POWER pic makes me wish someone would post a white guy doing the white power pose. It won't happen cause that person would get banned but it ain't right that you can have the same image just as a black guy doing it so it's ok.

That's only because you don't understand the difference between black power and white power.

White power is the philosophy of racial superiority, black power is the philosophy of black empowerment, two completely seperate things.

Originally posted by phoenixhasrisin

Originally posted by Scrub
Truth, man I hate skinheads and KKK members but seeing your BLACK POWER pic makes me wish someone would post a white guy doing the white power pose. It won't happen cause that person would get banned but it ain't right that you can have the same image just as a black guy doing it so it's ok.

That's only because you don't understand the difference between black power and white power.

White power is the philosophy of racial superiority, black power is the philosophy of black empowerment, two completely seperate things.

I'm pretty sure black power is for black superiority as well. Black power speekers are for the good of blacks only same as KKK members or skinheads for their race.

[edit on 30-3-2007 by Scrub]

MLK on "Black Power"

King immediately called the slogan "a cry of daily hurt and persistent pain" but not without the "implications of violence that the press had already attached to the phrase." He saw the connotations of Black Power as a result of the disillusionment of the people who had "accepted blows without retaliating" and "allowed themselves to be plunged into the filthy, stinking jail cells" of the South. King felt that Black Power was "a response to the feeling that a real solution is hopelessly distant because of the inconsistencies, resistance and faintheartedness of those in power."

Moreover, while King saw the idea of Black Power as a positive way for "black people to amass the political and economic strength to achieve their legitimate goals," he was concerned that its advocates focused too much attention on what he felt were its negative meanings: black separatism, retaliatory violence, isolationism, and a defeatist attitude. King argued that "Black Power is a nihilistic philosophy born out of the conviction that the Negro can't win."

What a brilliant man! I think his death threw the biggest wrench in the works of race relations ever. If he had lived, I honestly believe we wouldn't be having the race-relations conversations we're having right now...

And I'm not at all sure you, CSIfan, would be going through what you're going through today. You may be through it and on the other side.

Originally posted by Scrub
I'm pretty sure black power is for black superiority as well. Black power speekers are for the good of blacks only same as KKK members or skinheads for their race.

True, proponents of black power usually are solely concerned with the betterment of their race, however, they are not concerned with the inferiority of other races, nor is domination/subjugation/annihilation part of their philosophy either.

Black power was about helping out other blacks, not killing whitey.

Hey Guys,

Where did all this talk of Black Power come from?

I just want my money! Punitive damages...my government should pay!

As hard as my ancestors worked, I didn't inherit one dime...plus, I was born with a bad reputation at that, and had to fight just to be able to vote, in my own Country! In the fifties and sixties, my parents paid taxes to support national and local institutions i.e., universities, that they were not allowed to attend.

No one could possibly equate the Black Power Movement with KKK or the Skinheads.

KKK and Skinheads are hating and wanting to kill people. They are afraid that they will lose their unfair advantage and have to one day compete on a level playing field with minority citizens. It's their only hope, to spread hate and hope it catches on, that's how they keep themselves in "the catbird seat".

They can't possibly consider themselves superior. That's laughable!

Originally posted by CSIfan
As hard as my ancestors worked, I didn't inherit one dime...

Uh... neither did I.

and had to fight just to be able to vote, in my own Country!

You did? How old are you, anyway? Let me rephrase: Somehow I doubt you're old enough to have had to fight for the right for blacks to vote.

In the fifties and sixties, my parents paid taxes to support national and local institutions i.e., universities, that they were not allowed to attend.

And today, I pay taxes for public schools even though I have no children that go to them.

Originally posted by CSIfan
I just want my money! Punitive damages...my government should pay!

As regards you "wanting your money", good luck on that. I want my money, too.

Originally posted by Scrub
Truth, man I hate skinheads and KKK members but seeing your BLACK POWER pic makes me wish someone would post a white guy doing the white power pose. It won't happen cause that person would get banned but it ain't right that you can have the same image just as a black guy doing it so it's ok.

You think I give a DAMN? Why don't YOU post a Klan member holding a burning cross? I do find your ignorance on this pic funny, though. I'd school you on it, but it'd be a waste of my time.

Phoenix, now I see your point, and unfortunately, you have a damn good one. That's what I meant when I told CSIfan about being ashamed. It doesn't make you feel too good to know that that's a part of your heritage.

Were I born in those times, I would have went out Nat Turner style, though...

Originally posted by truthseeka
Phoenix, now I see your point, and unfortunately, you have a damn good one.

Seriously, I find it fascinating that those who could withstand the passage, couldn't fight back en masse. You do know that there was a time when slaves outnumbered whites in the US, right?

That's what I meant when I told CSIfan about being ashamed. It doesn't make you feel too good to know that that's a part of your heritage.

I don't look at it as something to be ashamed of though, I have plenty of my own shizz to be ashamed about, I don't need to take on any of my ancestors baggage.

Besides, I kind of like the idea of descending from a centuries long program that bred human beings for nothing but pure physical strength.


[edit on 30-3-2007 by phoenixhasrisin]

Originally posted by phoenixhasrisin

Originally posted by Scrub
I'm pretty sure black power is for black superiority as well. Black power speekers are for the good of blacks only same as KKK members or skinheads for their race.

True, proponents of black power usually are solely concerned with the betterment of their race, however, they are not concerned with the inferiority of other races, nor is domination/subjugation/annihilation part of their philosophy either.

Black power was about helping out other blacks, not killing whitey.

So it's ok to have white betterment groups as long as they are not concerned with the inferiority of other races? So we can say white power as long as we make it clear that we mean the betterment of our people?

BH,

The systematic denial of education for hundreds of years, coupled with government complicity to tax slavery, but not demand that workers be paid...that has led to a dire situation for African Americans, one that you can easily observe today. There was no fortune to amass through hard work, no fortune to pass down...a total Nation of Americans, mistreated and abused with the full permission of the Government! No way that can be forgotten!

If you know any other group in America who have been treated this way, please advise them that they should demand punitive damages as well.

Voter's Rights

When I was 12 years old (1964), the Voter's Rights Act was signed into law. This law prevented African Americans being beaten, threatened or intimidated at the polls, and it prevented the levying of Poll taxes which forced them to pay to vote. I was born without the right to vote in America...it took a law or an "act" to insure that right.

Taxes for Schools

When I speak of my parents paying to support institutions that they could not attend, I mean they could not attend because of discrimination. After the Civil Rights Movement, the NYC University system was forced to accept all students in the City...but of course, it was no longer free! WOW, when it was discriminating against African Americans, TUITION WAS FREE, BUT WHEN WE WANTED IN, ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WAS TUITION, and that tuition has increased steadily through the years.

This country offered such freedom and opportunity to all, except African slaves and their descendants, who had given so much...

Originally posted by truthseekaYou think I give a DAMN?

Of course not but that wouldn't stop me from saying what I think. Just cause I'm the only one that thinks black power is racist against us every other race just like white power I'll still say it I don't care if you give a dam