jim's op/ed

Keyes was pushing for reparations for slaves' descendants to get tax exemption..
the Yahoo msg board had a wide variety of posts, mostly racial..
Touchy subject slavery, all thru history and all over the globe.
Usually motivated by greed or power and control; some captured in war or some other attempt at world domination.

..A history in brief..

>China..1800bc-1910ad..
One of the oldest civilizations with a long history of slavery. Often war captives or victims of kidnapping and sometimes they even sold themselves to pay a debt.
>Rome Republic & Empire..509bc-476ad..
Enslaved enemy captives sent to work farms and plantations. Millions were war captives or kidnapped in lootings.
>South & Southeast Asia, India, Thailand, Burma..bc-today..
Yes, still continues today when children are sold into bondage as forced labor.
Some nations still sell youth into prostitution.
>West Africa..900ad-1975ad..
They had slavery as part of the social environment long before the Europeans came to the region. Later a regional trade route across the Sahara traded slaves into the Mediterranean and Arab world. Then in the 15th century the Europeans became a customer to this existing network and African rulers earned great profits from
this network of slave trade. Some were slaves as war captives, criminals or people in debt but because of the demand from the Americas, eventually they resorted to raids and kidnapping.
>Spanish Main..1516-1880..
Began enslaving and slaughtering Native Americans thru disease and miserable conditions. The Spanish had an enormous need for labor in their silver & gold mines as well as the plantations and cattle ranches of Latin America. At one point in history a Catholic monk brought attention to the slavery and death of all the Native
Americans which made them "hands off". The Spanish then began to import millions of Africans to fill the void.
More than the British or Americans brought to the U.S.
>Britain..1619ad-1833ad..
Dominated the slave trade over 100 years. Traded huge numbers of Africans to English, Spanish and French colonies in the Americas.
>North America..Pre-Columbian-1865..
Several Native American tribes were the first on this continent to employ slavery in small numbers. The European/American slave market is one we are more familiar with. The slave market profited with shipping and trading that started in the north. Over time the slaves ended up working the plantations of the south, until the end of the Civil War(1865)when Lincoln freed the slaves.
Of coure there is much more(..ie.. Germany and the jews) but trying to keep it kinda brief.

With such a rich history of slavery over the globe; it really makes a tough argument;
Can the sons be liable for the sins of the fathers?
I think not. Better to learn from history, move forward and evolve.
Don't get stuck with delusions of a disparaging past.
...peace...
In the words of Wolfgang Puck..Live, Love & Eat..