Why is American History so sugarcoated?

Question

They teach in the schools that the white man enslaved the blacks. That the white man captured and brought the blacks to America, that the blacks suffered greatly in the hands of the whites. What I've never heard being taught in schools though, is how most of the blacks who were brought to America by the white man were bought from African tribe leaders who sold their own people. How in the early 1800's before the Civil War, in the states that were known for slavery, almost 30% of the slave owners for each individual state were Black slave owners. How in South Carolina a Black man named Ellison became one of the major manufactor of Cotton Gins while using slave labor and owning slaves in the high numbers. Why is all this taken out of the History that is tought in our schools, why is it only pinned on the White man?

Answer 1

You forgot to mention that there was white slaves too. History and what actually happened are different things. One is in the past while the other is in our minds, forming what we believe. History is only as black and white as our understanding of it.

Why the school system chooses to present it in such a submissive way though? I guess because too many people accept what they are told as true without bothering to investigate further. Most people can't even grasp the version of history they are taught as it unfolded yesterday. Let alone think deeper into what happened before they were born. Perhaps if we were taught a more critical version of history then we would be more critical of the present.

Answer 2

Isn't it time we drop this and move on. No one today was a slave and no one today was a slave owner. No one owes anyone anything. History was written by men and therefore, history is subject to bias and prejudice just like Man is.

Slavery is bad, but don't think only Black man was enslaved. People of all races have at one time in history been enslaved - even by their own race and kind. Yes, African tribal leaders did sell their own people to the whites slave traders. This doesn't make it right and is no excuse. Yes, some slaves were mistreated. Not being able to come and go as you please is bad enough, but to be property of another is the worst. But have we learned anything about this. Today, people are still enslaving themselves to drugs and alcohol - selling themselves for a weed, powder, or lust.

Seems the past does repeat itself.

Answer 3

After the war between the states, Northerners decided what our history books were gonna say. Because our families told us our true history through the years, Southerners were able to keep the truth. We have records that were kept by Libraries and Museums.
Alex Haley used Spotsylvania's Museum to get a lot of his background that his family hadn't passed down to him.
3000 black landowners fought on the side of the Confederacy from Virginia alone.

Answer 4

Every country had slaves at some point in it's history. EVERY one of them. We're just the ones that had a civil war about it. This is the only country that tried to make amends and is continually doing so.

I think slavery is horrible and I'm glad that all the other nations let the practice die away.

Answer 5

Uhhhh.... Why do you call yourself a crackhead? And it's not only pinned on the white man, all the things you listed in your question I already knew. Guess what I learned them in school! We're you paying attention during American History class? BTW Slavery isn't bad, it dates back to the Bible days, what was bad is the way the slaves were treated, you know the basic lack of human desency they were given. However, I wouldn't change a thing about what happened, because it helped shape us into the country we are today!

Answer 6

Yeah...and this one too:
From "The Baylor Line," the alumnae magazine of Baylor University there is an article "The Lovelace Chronicles" by Andrew Black about Carl Lovelace, a late 1890's graduate of Baylor University. Lovelace volunteered for Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" who fought Spain in Cuba. He wrote articles for the Waco Times-Herald about his experiences and sent them to Waco from Cuba. In his second published letter Lovelace described the battles for the hills surrounding Santiago. "A more significant aspect of his letter dealt with Lovelace's observation and commendation of the Tenth U. S. Cavalry, a regiment of black soldiers. The taking of San Juan Hill, an uphill charge against an entrenched enemy, was seen as valiant but stupid to most observers. The dogged determination of the ***** soldiers as they marched up the hill under heavy fire startled the Spanish defenders and contributed to the U. S. victory. After observing their performance, Lovelace wrote of the successful 10th Cavalry charge up San Juan Hill:
”Get this out of your head that Negroes can't fight. They can. That Tenth cavalry amidst a hail of bullets, I saw them deploy and move up the hill as if on dress parade, with a grandstand attachment. At every step some of them fell, but the line never even wavered. They simply closed up to fill the gaps and kept advancing, shooting and cheering as they went. We made some good charges ourselves, but we don't make
them with the exquisite mechanical perfection of the Tenth Cavalry.” "The Tenth Cavalry earned praise for its performance in Cuba from many quarters, including Roosevelt, but despite their heroics, the courageous unit and other black soldiers in the war retained their second-class status in a segregated army." (and have received no credit even today, year 2006)

Yep, I'd say we have a definite communication problem...

Answer 7

"most of the blacks were bought ...from African tribe leaders who sold their own people

How does this negate the evil of the end user, or of the system. Slavery was BAD.

Answer 8

makes it easier to swallow.
BTW Arabs captured and sold most of the Africans to the Europeans, whom then sold them in America

Answer 9

There was fault on both sides, but I believe it's time to put this issue behind us and concentrate on the illegal invaders that are ruining our country

Answer 10

ahhhh...the whitwe mans burden...aint we moved on yet...??? lets get to the question of wether or not we are "african american" or just american...