White America, don't let the likes of Oprah Winfrey lay a guilt trip on you. Only 1.4% of white Americans.....

Question

owned slaves prior to the Civil War.

Answer 1

I feel no guilt because I never owned a slave. Nor did any of my family. Funny isn't it how when we speak of Islamic terrorists, people start screaming that not all Muslims are terrorists and that we need to embrace them, support them and understand them. But when the subject of slave owners comes up, all white people are supposed to accept some responsibility just because of our skin color.

Answer 2

On the other hand, the entire economy of the South was based on the plantations operated by slaves. The history of the South and most of the North from the end of the Civil War to and through the 1960s is one of legal racial discrimination and bigotry. A vast conspiracy which resulted in Blacks being paid much less for the same work than Whites, thereby enriching the majority (White) economy at the expense of the minority.

And, of course, almost every Black that came to the US prior to the 1970s came as a slave.

Answer 3

White America? Interesting. Who is white to you? Are Mexican Immgrants with white skin white? Are Russian Immgrants with white skin white?

Oprah Winfrey...is the question about people who watch Oprah? or People who think black people shouldn't talk about Slavery?

guilt trip? you mean the recognition that it happened, or that it is in our constitution that certain people are 3/5. That racism is very real. That slavery had a chain reaction in the lives and history of families.....that affect them today....That no one is alive from 200 years ago so no one is responsible.

That is like going to a Memorial day event and telling the WW2 vets that most of are dead, its in the past, who cares.

1.4% of white americans.... 600,000 people died for
1.4% that is wrong.

Its funny that the racist and Jim Crow and Lynchings went on , Church bombings by the clan, MLK getting shot.
over 1.4%

The poorest states and americans still live in the south most are black.

You are a pretty worthless. Regardless we put the treachours south down. it was put in its place.
********************************************************
unless otherwise noted, all data is as of the 1860 census)

Total number of slaves in the Lower South : 2,312,352 (47% of total population).

Total number of slaves in the Upper South: 1,208758 (29% of total population).

Total number of slaves in the Border States: 432,586 (13% of total population).

Almost one-third of all Southern families owned slaves. In Mississippi and South Carolina it approached one half. The total number of slave owners was 385,000 (including, in Louisiana, some free Negroes). As for the number of slaves owned by each master, 88% held fewer than twenty, and nearly 50% held fewer than five. (A complete table on slave-owning percentages is given at the bottom of this page.)

For comparison's sake, let it be noted that in the 1950's, only 2% of American families owned corporation stocks equal in value to the 1860 value of a single slave. Thus, slave ownership was much more widespread in the South than corporate investment was in 1950's America.

On a typical plantation (more than 20 slaves) the capital value of the slaves was greater than the capital value of the land and implements.

Confederate enlistment data is incomplete because many records were lost when the South collapsed, but it is possible to estimate, very loosely, the number of men in the Confederate army who came from slave-holding families. For this discussion, click here.

Slavery was profitable, although a large part of the profit was in the increased value of the slaves themselves. With only 30% of the nation's (free) population, the South had 60% of the "wealthiest men." The 1860 per capita income in the South was $3,978; in the North it was $2,040.

Answer 4

What guilt trip? I never owned a slave, or my family. I don't owe anybody anything just because of the way the country was 150 years ago.

Answer 5

and what percentage of black americans had white slaves? 1.4% of anything doesn't sound like much but how many slaves does that work out to? Because it's only 1.4%, does that make it okay? My response may suggest to you that I am a balck american defending my race, but I am a white canadian.

Answer 6

My family is very new to the states. We know we didn't own slaves. Most people know their family history, and would know if anyone from their family had owned a slave. I don't watch Opera anyway. She's getting too big for her britches (and I'm not talikng about the weight gain)

Answer 7

Yes you know what is was a mistake that the Dutch introduced the slave trade. It is wrong that America forced blacks to come here. Maybe we can go back in time and stop it so all the blacks could have stayed in Africa and we wouldn't have to be bothered by them.

Answer 8

In Los Angeles we have a radio show called the conway and whitman show. It's on 97.1 FM. Every thursday night, they have a segment called "what in the hell is jesse jackson saying?" They play clips of his speeches and callers call in and try to guess what he is saying. It is so hard to understand that dude! It is effing hilarious!

Answer 9

Yes, indeed. Besides, that is entirely in the past by a hundred years and more. No one is responsible for what some dead guy did even if his skin color was the same.

Answer 10

I thought it was Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton? Oh well, once again I don't feel guilty.