African slavery in the Americas

Who benefitted?

Thought for the day

     If you want to punish those who benefitted from African slavery in the Americas, you would have to punish all humanity, including the descendants of the slaves.  Why?  Because the sugar and cotton that the slaves produced stimulated a great commercial expansion of the world-economy, enabling the further modernization of production, which was the foundation for the great human achievements in science, technology, literature, the arts, and sport.  “Race,” we should understand, is a fictitious division of the human species, created to legitimate African slavery.  We also should understand that slavery was one of several forms of forced labor that drove the development of the modern world-economy.  These various forms of forced labor were imposed everywhere beyond Western Europe, including Ireland, Eastern Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. 

      If you want justice, look beyond superficiality.  Do not look for statutes to topple or appreciated historic figures to discredit.  Do not seek compensatory benefits for persons of a particular so-called “race.”  Rather, seek to move humanity toward a more advanced stage of common human development.  Look for creative and intelligent ways to protect the social and economic rights of persons, to promote the socioeconomic development of communities, and to support the development of all nations; with particular emphasis on persons, communities, and nations that have been left behind with respect to the benefits attained from slavery and forced labor, regardless of their “race.”  

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