Black slaves usually fell into one of three categories: (1) captives taken in war or those kidnapped by black chiefs (2) convicted criminals such as killers, thieves, etc.) (3) those born into slavery.

How did you come up with that, especially the killers and thieves, it minimizes the trade in itself. We are talking about something that occurred over a nearly 300 yr time period so i think it would make sense that the Europeans clearly had a lot to do with the proliferation of the trade. Whether Alex Haley plagiarized from the African is a moot point the fact is he actually did go back to Gambia and was told by griots that one Kunte Knite went into the woods one day and was never seen again, that being as late as 1767 i doubt very seriously that,that situation was uncommon.

When slavery is discussed it usually focuses on Southern slavery with more heat than light. Slavery has been a reality since Joseph was sold into slavery in the early days of civilization as recorded in Genesis. Far more Whites have been slaves than Blacks, and it has always been wrong. Slavery is far older than Joseph being sold by the Ishmaelites

How do you assume far more whites have been enslaved? And never were whites enslaved in the millions because of their whiteness, it’s odd how whites always try and make that point always searching for symetry, when in reality the enslavement of blacks is extreme in that it was an enslavement of a race period. I think it is important to note however that the word slave comes from the word Slav, the Slavic region was a main source of slaves hence the word, also slavery in Europe is one reason for the homogeny of Europeans.

It is suggested by some that white men introduced slavery to the African continent; however, that is a fairy story. Slavery was known throughout Africa for centuries before white traders sailed into African ports. Slaves were used as money to pay taxes, to purchase a wife, cattle or, crops suggested by whom surely there was slavery in Africa as there was slavery everywhere else.”

“Slaves were used to purchase a wife” - Don’t confuse dowry with payment for a wife, is this supposed to be scholarly because that statement was nonsensical and condescending.

I would be unfair and inaccurate if I implied that Blacks were without some guilt in this whole wretched business of slavery. Richard Hufstadter wrote in America at 1750: “Africa had a system or systems of slavery long before white men came to the Guinea Coast, and had regularly enslaved war captives and criminals … Other persons sold themselves or their families for food during famine, or were kidnapped by native gangs. Many native kings ran profitable slave businesses, and responded eagerly to opportunities for greater profits. The slave trade became a recognized and entirely legal form of business in Africa.”

Again looking for this symmetry, dude blacks lost in the long run not one society that exist today in Africa is still sitting on a high horse financially for their participation in the slave trade, but could one say the same of various European nations. The European demand for slaves created the dynamic of the slave trade, period. That is the point, not to point fingers, but lets deal with the facts.

“There are other problems: Who funds the scam and who profits from the scam? Since the money would come from the general U.S. Treasury then all taxpayers would be paying. That means Blacks would be paying for their own reparations! It also means that recent immigrants would be paying as well as descendants of those who arrived in America since the Civil War who had no connection to slavery. Furthermore, Northerners would be paying reparations when their distant relatives fought and died “to free the slaves”! By what logic can that be justified? There were 7 million whites in the South and 6.5 million of them did not own slaves so why should their descendants pay for slavery perpetrated by others? Should American Indians pay reparations since they were here before Whites or slaves? Of course, some Indians owned black slaves and even ate them during bad times!”

Those folks who fought in the civil war did not die to free a single slave that is a pipe dream, but even if they did those deaths appear to be small in comparison to the amount of Africans who died over 300 yrs. Come on the civil war deaths are dwarfed by the Africans deaths. Reparations are meant to repair how many people talk about what’s wrong with blacks today? Indians ate black slaves during bad times wow!! I am sure whites would have done the same. its funny because you probably think your passage blog makes so much sense and its just a bunch of rambling the same type thing i hear all the time from whites.

“I suggest that black leaders stop “using” the race card to enlarge their bank accounts, enlist more followers and expand their egos. They should spend their time helping build the black family structure and help cement black/white relations. (Some of those black reverends might even do some preaching since they are supposed to be “preachers.”) They would do well to be honest and admit that the many problems in the black community have not evolved from slavery or mistreatment by “whitey” but by the personal failures in black society.”

wow how self righteous, admit that problems??? come on if you look at someone who is rich and he descended from richness it is easy to see why he is rich but if one emerged from a situation where they often believed that their own humanity is in question,are you telling me that it wouldn’t have an affect on the said group. the reason your arguments seem so silly to me is because believe it or not you all say the same thing,

If reparations (for long-past crimes) could be justified, then why shouldn’t Jews demand payment from Egyptians who kept them in slavery for hundreds of years? Some black extremists tell us that Egyptians were black so that makes a whole “black” civilization slaveholders! How far back do we go to really be “fair”?

That is ridiculous, one there is actually no proof at all that the Jews were actually enslaved by Egyptians, that is a story in your bible. Ther is no evidence of such enslavement and also your point is moot since that was not a slavery of jews it would have just been slavery of others, the fact is that this country was built on the back of slaves all of the wealth produced has to have a root and the fact is that this country as well as most of Europe and the western hemisphere was built off of enslaving blacks that is a fact not some fictitious story of a man parting a sea, that is a tired argument and shows that you have very little to say actually.

If slavery were the main cause of black problems, then why would those problems have been less dramatic 40 years ago than they are today? Forty years ago there were not the problems among Blacks as there are in our day. There is 70% black illegitimacy in inner cities! In 1960, “only” 23% of kids were born to female-headed homes but today it is 62%! And there, I believe, is the major cause of black problems: Black males, who make up 6% of the population commit 40% of violent crime; black gangs (there are 31,000 gangs in the U.S. with about 1 million members and 80% are Blacks#; the high school dropout rate; juvenile crime, 60% of the juvenile murder defendants in criminal court are black males; 72% of the rape defendants, 78% of the robbery defendants, 61% of the assault defendants and 65% of defendants charged with other types of violent crime are also black males.) [Source: Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report.] So, if black problems were a legacy of slavery why would the numbers have been better 40 years ago? Could it be a problem of choices, values, and character? Put the normal, Biblical family back together and we will see a major change in white and black households.

where would these values have come from you can look at much of America and say the same thing about any group, things have gotten progressively worse it didn’t stop.