Slavery Was a Sin Against Humanity

by Ernie McCray

There’s an unsound
idea going around
that slavery
benefited those held in bondage
by giving them the opportunity
to learn trades
like blacksmithing
and carpentry
and whatnot.
And in some places
there are intentions to teach this sham
about slavery being a “Job Skills Program”
to our children
when the reality is it
was at its core
and at the far ranges of its periphery
a sin against humanity,
a picture of raw brutality:
people subjected to
rape and torture and lashings
and mutilations
for reasons like going to the fields late
or working at a slow pace
or running away,
an environment wherein
loved ones could, on a whim,
based on a slave-owner’s economic needs,
be snatched away from their families
like the cotton fibers being separated from the seeds
of a day’s pickings in a cotton gin,
never to be seen or heard from again.
But there are lessons
to be learned
from this sad chapter
in American History,
stories about how,
in spite of the brutal ways
they were treated,
enslaved folks, on the whole,
didn’t let their situation destroy their souls,
as their will to survive
is something glorious to behold,
their quest to become free
sought constantly and boldly,
filled with songs
featuring calls and responses
that might include
secret messages
warning them of dangers
they might face when they rebelled
or information regarding
routes to take
to where freedom awaits,
and the spirit of those days
have been kept alive and well
for centuries
by their Black descendants
and by allies
composed of other ethnicities,
a pursuit that eternally
has faced fierce opposition.

If such truths
were revealed in our schools
with heartfelt guidance,
our children could
see the need
for their generation
to correct
the sins of our nation’s past
and continue along a path
leading to what people who were enslaved
always had in mind:
the creation
of a better more equitable life
for all our nation’s citizens.

A history, based on lies,
can’t help them
complete such a mission.

the fact that you felt compelled to write this really shows a shameful moment in our history. Who would have thought that some are defending slavery at this late date?