Will someone who is the decendent of a slave tell me how you are personally impacted by slavery?

Question

As I see it, without slavery most decendents of slaves would still be living in disease and poverty ridden Africa. So it appears that these decendents have actually benefited from their ancestors suffering. No, I am not condoning slavery, but I am questioning why slave decendents feel they have suffered some sort of loss from slavery.

Answer 1

I have been saying this forever! I agree completely!! Some of them will say, "I'd rather live free in poverty and disease than be a slave," and there is some phsychology to that, but admit that you have a much better life because of your ancestors' sacrifice and you wouldn't want to be living in Africa now, would you? So shut up about your restitution and enjoy your life with your health and your cell phones and your access to grocery stores and your college education and your clean water. Sheesh.

Answer 2

Well first off Blacks weren't Actually free in America until the late 1960's after the Civil Rights Movement. Anyway, It impacts A LOT. Mainly because there has NEVER been an apology by the American Government for what they did to our ancestors. They could at least do that, if nothing else. Also we were NEVER compensated from slavery. I know in the South after they were released (my ancestors) didn't even get any acres or a mule. (Even though that's nothing as well). My grandparents (after slavery about 5 generations back) still lived on the "MASTERS" farm and did work just to eat and pay off debts that didn't exist. And you call that freedom? Then they had to deal with terrorist KKK, raping and killing my people. This went on years after slavery until the 1960's era of Dr. King and Malcolm X.

Even today like WEB Dubois said knowledge without opportunity will get you know where. Especially down south it is HARD for a Black person to have equal opportunity, even now with a college degree

Answer 3

I would just like you to know that Africa is not as disease ridden and filled with poverty as the media likes to portray it.I grew up in Africa and im as normal as they come.Some times I even feel sorry for Black people growing up in America because they are exposed to so much racism.Before I came to this "developed country" and mingled with the "lucky ones" I had never witnessed any racism or discrimination of any kind.My ancestors, who have always been in Africa were not beated or raped or used for slave labour. I for one am GLAD I did not "benefit" from slavery.

Answer 4

I am not a descendant of a slave but its not that hard to see that if your great grandfather and my great grandfather came to this country a few generations ago and your great grandfather was put into slavery and my great grandfather worked in a factory, your grandfather may have been one of the freed slaves was extremely poor and had to work all his life to give his son (your father) just the esentials of life and your father worked hard all his life and saved enough to provide YOU with a small house in a poor neighborhood with low quality schooling and you had very little chance of going to college and ended up working in a blue collar job all your life, while my grandfather was sent to college and his son ended up becoming a doctor or CEO of a Corporation and I inherited this wealth and easily got into a major Ivy Leage college and am now living in the high class suburban neighborhood where housing values are in the millions... where would anyone get the idea that being a descendant of a slave would have any effect on them? Duh!

Answer 5

It's not that I suffered a loss, the fact of the matter is that I am stigmatized by slavery. I am for no reason of my own judged to be a second class citizen. My skin is dark, my nose is wide, my lips are full. I cannot hide the fact that I am not white. I can not blend in, the first thing people see is my color & most not all equate my color ( race) with being less than. Should I thank slavery for forcing me into this situation. I cannot & will not.
The Plantation my ancestors grew up on still stands today, in Natchez, MS. My families name came from these white people who owned them. From what I have been told, the light skinned branch of the family are the Masters bas tard children.

Answer 6

Yep the lucky ones were brought here. They were assured of a comfortable place to sleep, they were well fed, they escaped the never-ending tribal wars of Africa. There was far less disease on this side of the Atlantic.
When a country was purchased in Africa ( Liberia ) and free passage and land ownership was offered, very few went back.

Answer 7

I don't think that I am a descendent of a slave and no, I don't think that anyone who has relatives who were slaves are impacted at all. I'm sure a lot of our relatives struggled in the past whether we are white, black, brown, yellow....for example, a lot of the Irish were slaves but just not in this country. I don't really hear them talking about it anymore.

I think that slavery was a horrible thing, no matter where or to who it happened to but that is in the past and should stay there.

Answer 8

One thing is that I unlike many of you white people can not trace my ancestry back, I don't know where half of my family comes from.. I don't know who my ancestors on my mother's side were and yes that feels like a lost to me since I am searching for my family's history

Answer 9

You should be asking instead what profit the few loud and active ones gain from perpetuating the slavery angle.