Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Apologizing For Slavery

Apologizing For Slavery

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed House Resolution 194, apologizing for slavery--which is fine. It costs nothing, and there is much to be ashamed about with respect to slavery. But there is one part of the resolution which is historically wrong:

Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;

Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;

Nope. Slavery in America resembled Muslim slavery in this respect quite closely. Arabs were capturing and selling of not only black Africans into the 20th century, but white Europeans into the 18th century. Classical civilization took slaves quite commonly as a result of war, and sold them. That's part of why the Jews of Masada committed mass suicide, rather than surrender to the Romans.

I know that the Democrats have to see the United States as among the greatest evils that the world has ever seen, but this resolution is just plain wrong.

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