Did blacks benefit from slavery?

Question

I hear a lot of black people say that whites benefited from slavery, but none talk about how black people also benefited from slavery. Today's African Americans enjoy the highest standards of living amongst any group of black people in the world and have enormous benefits and opportunities that they receive simply by being born in America as the decendants of slaves. Clearly slavery was terrible for black people at the time, but today's blacks certainly have to be greatful in a way that this occured, otherwise they would be living in Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, etc. Some will also say that agreeing with this would be like approving of slavery, but i disagree. Most American's ancestors came here in very dire conditions, and it should be a sense of pride that african americans today have so much because of their ancestors' suffering, instead of being used for political gain. So, why not be honest and say that we all benefited from slavery, either directly or indirectly?

Answer 1

yes we now enjoy working for the white man for money now..lol

Answer 2

Benefits Of Slavery In America

Answer 3

I am going to say the best country in the world for a Black to reside is France, not the US.
Slaves in Africa were kidnapped chained and sold to slave traders by rival tribes. I'm going to say most slaves probably came from poorer tribes. So there may have been limited benefit. But, still a great injustice.

The biggest injustice was the Emancipation Proclaimation. When the Slaves were freed, it should have been like the Jewish exodus from Egypt, taking gold and things of value with them.

Proud to say I am of Swiss and Danish heritage. Traced my ancestry to 1132 CE. No one ever owned a slave or servant. But came to America as bonded servants in 1690. Slavery for a period of 8 years.

Eldridge Cleaver was disappointed in Africa. But did like France, Algeria and Libya.

After more than 150 years, isn't it time to be called Americans instead of African-Americans? You never hear European-American. Only minorities are referred to by continent instead of country. I think that racist.

Answer 4

Well, maybe if so much hadn't been taken out of their countries by those same people who forced them into slavery, they wouldn't be in that state. Yes, they may have benefited from it eventually but everything had its benefits and losses.

If it hadn't been for slavery a lot of the wealth America has today would not exist, perhaps it would be more equal and many of the poorer parts of Africa would not be as poor. Also, a large amount of the effort for the fight for equality came from black people.

Answer 5

According to Jefferson Davis, the first and only President of the Confederate States of America, blacks benefited enormously from slavery. In Davis' view, they were unprofitable worthless savages in Africa, but were brought to the United States, where they were taught the Christian religion and how to be productive laborers, and thus some benefit to society and to themselves.

Answer 6

I suppose so, if it weren't for the slave trade my ancestors probably wouldn't have come here, and if it weren't for white guilt about slavery, I may have not gone through college and med school for such little money (compared to what most pay). So thanks to affirmative action, I was able to get a job which allows me to live better than not only blacks in Africa, but even the descendants of the white people that enslaved my ancestors...I guess I should be thankful that my ancestors for being slaves, in a strange and sick sort of way.

Answer 7

we would've benefited from slavery if after the civil war was over we wouldn't have been left to be killed and hunted by people who didn't want the slaves to be free. we were freed from slavery but had to break or damn necks to get equal rights and didn't get them until YEARS later. thats why we didn't benefit from it because if we are still looked down upon to this day and still have yet to be treated like regular human beings. and also we couldn't have benefited because i think we paid our fare share to this country to deserve the so called highest standards of living were getting. And BTW, Ghana and Nigeria are two of the richest countries in Africa. If we were still there i don't think i'd be breaking my neck to get to America. Especially with the immigration debate going on today and all these Americans showing their true RACIST colors.

Answer 8

I understand your question fully and I once asked this question myself and here's the answer.

No. African Americans did not benefit from slavery. Aside from every African American having an indentity crisis - imagine not knowing your family - but that's a different topic.

I digress. Imagine you're in America, the richest country in the world, someone comes along, kidnaps you forces you to practically build another country and then say to your greatest grandchildren, aren't you lucky to be in this richest country in the world?

Africa was not always the state it is in today.
AIDS was not in full force in Africa. Trade in Africa was good. It was the richest country in the world. Do you know what a blood diamond is?

Timbuktu was apart of Africa's golden age. Africa wasn't always a poor disease ridden country. Africans had everything laid out in a way that the whole country was great.

Think about it would you make slaves out of people who weren't strong or smart? What happend was the early settlers of America saw the way Africa was and wanted to beat out Britian so they took the best and brightest of Africa and made them work to build America.

Yes, America is a great country, but based on the way Africa was before all the other countries France and America and Britian took over it was the place to live.

I love living in America, but I do wish slavery never happend.

America is the uncle who r@ped you but paid your way through college.

I hope I answered your question.

Answer 9

You're taking credit for our "conditions" in America? Interesting since we had to march, get lynched & murder, protest-get beat & killed-just for basic human & civilian rights-hmmm pretty stupid on your part. I guess you think the conditions of black ppl everywhere else had nothing to do with slavery and/or colonialism-sure. Oh I forgot you're suppose to be black.

Answer 10

About as much as Jews benefited from the Holocaust or Europeans benefitted from The Plague.

Answer 11

Yes and no. Yes, because we're here in America, a country that our ancestors contributed to. No, because we have 400 years of brainwashing that we're still working on undoing.