Americaa's new black overloards.

I'll start be saying that I harbor no racial bias whatsoever, and that I simply call em as I see em. What follows is an account of what I see taking place in America today.

History of slavery and the slave trade
Slavery traces back to the earliest records, such as the Bible and the Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 BCE), which refers to it as an established institution.[1] Slavery in ancient cultures was known to occur in civilizations as old as Sumer, and it was found in every civilization, including Ancient Egypt, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Ancient Greece,[24] Rome and parts of its empire, and the Islamic Caliphate. Such institutions were a mixture of debt-slavery, punishment for crime, the enslavement of prisoners of war, child abandonment, and the birth of slave children to slaves.[25] Records of slavery in Ancient Greece go as far back as Mycenaean Greece. It is often said that the Greeks as well as philosophers such as Aristotle accepted the theory of natural slavery i.e. that some men are slaves by nature.[26][27]

As the Roman Republic expanded outward, entire populations were enslaved, thus creating an ample supply. The people subjected to Roman slavery came from all over Europe and the Mediterranean. Greeks, Berbers, Germans, Britons, Thracians, Gauls (or Celts), Jews, Arabs, and many more were slaves used not only for labour, but also for amusement (e.g. gladiators and sex slaves). This oppression by an elite minority eventually led to slave revolts (see Roman Servile Wars); the Third Servile War led by Spartacus was the most famous and severe. By the late Republican era, slavery had become a vital economic pillar in the wealth of Rome.[28]
13th century slave market in Yemen

The early medieval slave trade was mainly to the East: the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world were the destinations, pagan Central and Eastern Europe, along with the Caucasus and Tartary, were important sources. Viking, Arab, Greek and Jewish merchants (known as Radhanites) were all involved in the slave trade during the Early Middle Ages.[29][30][31]

Medieval Spain and Portugal were the scene of almost constant warfare between Muslims and Christians. Periodic raiding expeditions were sent from Al-Andalus to ravage the Iberian Christian kingdoms, bringing back booty and slaves. In raid against Lisbon, Portugal in 1189, for example, the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur took 3,000 female and child captives, while his governor of Córdoba, in a subsequent attack upon Silves, Portugal in 1191, took 3,000 Christian slaves.[32]

Over 10% of England’s population entered in the Domesday Book in 1086 were slaves.[33] Slavery in early medieval Europe was so common that the Roman Catholic Church repeatedly prohibited it—or at least the export of Christian slaves to non-Christian lands was prohibited at, for example, the Council of Koblenz in 922, the Council of London (1102), and the Council of Armagh (1171).[34] However, the moral aspect was not considered binding by church representatives in regards to the enslavement of Africans.[citation needed] The 15th century Portuguese exploration of the African coast is commonly regarded as the harbinger of European colonialism.[citation needed]

In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, granting Afonso V of Portugal the right to reduce any "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery which legitimized slave trade under catholic beliefs of that time. This approval of slavery was reaffirmed and extended in his Romanus Pontifex bull of 1455. These papal bulls came to serve as a justification for the subsequent era of slave trade and European colonialism.[35]

The Byzantine-Ottoman wars and the Ottoman wars in Europe brought large numbers of Christian slaves into the Islamic world too.[36] After the battle of Lepanto approximately 12,000 Christian galley slaves were freed from the Ottoman Turks.[37] Christians were also selling Muslim slaves captured in war. The Knights of Malta attacked pirates and Muslim shipping, and their base became a centre for slave trading, selling captured North Africans and Turks.[citation needed]

Slavery was prominent presumably elsewhere in Africa long before the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade.[38] The maritime town of Lagos, Portugal, was the first slave market created in Portugal for the sale of imported African slaves - the Mercado de Escravos, opened in 1444.[39][40] In 1441, the first slaves were brought to Portugal from northern Mauritania.[40] By the year 1552 black African slaves made up 10 percent of the population of Lisbon.[41][42] In the second half of the 16th century, the Crown gave up the monopoly on slave trade and the focus of European trade in African slaves shifted from import to Europe to slave transports directly to tropical colonies in the Americas - in the case of Portugal, especially Brazil.[40] In the 15th century one third of the slaves were resold to the African market in exchange of gold.[43]
Hamoud bin Mohammed, Sultan of Zanzibar from 1896 to 1902. He complied with British demands that slavery be banned in Zanzibar and that all the slaves be freed. Zanzibar was once East Africa's main slave-trading port, and under Omani Arabs in the 19th century as many as 50,000 slaves were passing through the city each year.[44][45]

Spain had to fight against relatively powerful civilizations of the New World. However, the Spanish conquest of the indigenous peoples in the Americas was also facilitated by the spread of diseases (e.g. smallpox) due to lack of biological immunity.[46] (although the natives retaliated by spreading diseases like syphilis among the Europeans.) Natives were used as forced labour (the Spanish employed the pre-Columbian draft system called the mita),[47] but the diseases caused a labour shortage and so the Spanish colonists were gradually involved in the Atlantic slave trade. The first Europeans to use African slaves in the New World were the Spaniards who labourers on islands such as Cuba and Hispaniola, where the alarming decline in the native population had spurred the first royal laws protecting the native population (Laws of Burgos, 1512-1513). The first African slaves arrived in Hispaniola in 1501.[48] England played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade. The "slave triangle" was pioneered by Francis Drake and his associates. Slavery was a legal institution in all of the 13 American colonies, and the profits of the slave trade and of West Indian plantations amounted to 5% of the British economy at the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Source

The keeping of African slaves was a part of the colonization of the United States of America. Forcing the labor and thus the building of the nation that many enjoy to this day. The African people have endured great suffering at the hand of wealthy American land owners, or have they? Many slaves begun relationships with female descendants of land owners, thus perpetuating generations of "natural born" children.

As the issue of slaves becoming ever more "taboo" throughout the close of the 19th century, African slaves began to experience more benefits closley related to private citizenship. source

Today African Americans enjoy as many if not more benefits as the white American's enjoy.The descendants of black slaves should no be entitled to any repporations at all yet that is the case. The current people in relation to those who keep and cared for slaves are forced to "repay" the debt owed.

African American's That currently hold the title of " millionaire" has now rivaled that of any other. African American athletes are picked because of genetic superiorites and paid millions upon millions to play a game.

What makes this race of people so profitable?
Continued below.

[edit on 23-2-2009 by alyosha1981]

Today, we have seen a rise in African power, not only through the means of sports, politics, music, but in the form of sensitivity..... in that I mean that more and more corperations are allowing African Americans to hold positions only to avoid "racial discrimination"

The music market is flooded with hip hop music and "gangster rap" generating billions of dollars by making the "ghetto" life popular while artists reap the benefits. Exploiting the millions and millions of poverty stricken African African youth living in America today. These "artists" have plagued the market by making famous, the act of illegal drug selling and crime as a means of survival. Millions and millions of black and white American youth have thrown away their lives in atempt to emulate.

We pay African American sports stars Billion and billions of dollars a year to what ? play a game. Run a ball a few hundred yards? When paramedics and fireman make just below the federal poverty level. Why, Why has America become so remorseful that we will allow this kind of market?

Some caucasian people are so afraid of the intimidation posed by African American employees at their jobs that they dare not speak up for fear of being labelled as a "rasist" as African American's climb the ladder simply because of the color of their skin. Folks I want to empart that I believe all men were created equal, however, since when was it "cool" to be a certain race? When was it ok to promote minorities simply because of their skin color? Why is there a "nigro college fund" Why not a white college fund?

The cause that they fought so hard for (anti seggregation) is exactly what they got...seggregation only this time it's politically correct.

Here is where I got the motivation for this thread, is it " new black overclass" or " new black overlords"? isn't profiling successful people using their race, racist? how is it not? If a publication entitled " new white millionaires" hit the streets, it would most surly be blasted as being racist. Many white people have overcome tremendous odds to be successful but never put in the limelight because of their skin color.

My opinion, this book is indeed very racist on so many levels yet it goes unnoticed because society is supposed to "shed" it's racist views. Sorry this wasn't added when I posted the thread I had trouble remembering the name of the book.

[edit on 24-2-2009 by alyosha1981]

So, if you are not racist, what is your point? That professional sports shouldn't pay so much in salaries? White athletes make high salaries as well. That black people should not be allowed to progress up the corporate ladder, or to even "hold postitions?" Not every black person who is promoted is without merit. Not every black person is given their job just to avoid "racial discrimination."

You say that you are all for equality. The fact that there are black athletes in professional sports is a sign of equality. Remember they used to be barred from sports not too long ago. That there are black lawyers and doctors and CEOs is a sign of equality. Remember that they were barred from universities not too long ago. There are thousands of "white college funds." Do you feel threatened that you will be passed over in favour of a black person? If so I suggest you improve your own skill set in order to ensure that doesn't happen. It's easy to gloss over your own shortcomings by blaming someone else. I admit I am guilty of this at times.

As for the drug trade, whites were running it long before the blacks got involved. But, that is neither here nor there. There is a criminal element in all nationalities, except maybe Tibetans.

Don't even get me going with the pro sports. You make it sound like the only reason blacks get paid a lot is because the white owners feel somehow responsible for their plight. That's ridiculous. There are lots of reasons why salaries are so high today but let's just say it's a labour market based on talent. The best players get paid more and that is that. White, brown, black, yellow; the stars get paid big bucks to bring in fans and therefore revenue.

Anyway, I find your post wrong on many levels. And, contrary to your opening statement, it does appear racist to me.

I'm white.

Originally posted by alyosha1981
The music market is flooded with hip hop music and "gangster rap" generating billions of dollars by making the "ghetto" life popular while artists reap the benefits. Exploiting the millions and millions of poverty stricken African African youth living in America today. These "artists" have plagued the market by making famous, the act of illegal drug selling and crime as a means of survival. Millions and millions of black and white American youth have thrown away their lives in atempt to emulate.

I think you got this backward. Illegal drug selling and crime was there way before gangstas. The music we're hearing is only a depiction of what's there already unfortunately.

We pay African American sports stars Billion and billions of dollars a year to what ? play a game. Run a ball a few hundred yards? When paramedics and fireman make just below the federal poverty level. Why, Why has America become so remorseful that we will allow this kind of market?

Of course you know that this is not only for black sports stars but white ones as well. It is ridiculous that we pay that much for entertainment (to black AND white stars) but can't pay the people who risk their lives for us every day.

Some caucasian people are so afraid of the intimidation posed by African American employees at their jobs that they dare not speak up for fear of being labelled as a "rasist" as African American's climb the ladder simply because of the color of their skin.

That may be the case in some instances, but not all. If you find yourself in this situation then ask yourself why do you think that person is being promoted because of their race? Are you assuming it is just because of their race or do you know for a fact that they don't have some perspective, experience, etc.. that others vieing for the same position don't have. If the later is the case, then it absolutely should be brought up. I think a lot of people just assume that it is race driven.

Folks I want to empart that I believe all men were created equal, however, since when was it "cool" to be a certain race? When was it ok to promote minorities simply because of their skin color? Why is there a "nigro college fund" Why not a white college fund?

It is frustrating but you have to remember that black people only got legal equality only in recent history (at least in the U.S.). It's not so unthinkable that they would celebrate. It is new still. I hope that all of this will settle down and we all can just be people. Patience is a virtue and I think that we should think about it from their perspective and ask ourselves if it were us (collectively) would we (collectively) be any different?

The cause that they fought so hard for (anti seggregation) is exactly what they got...seggregation only this time it's politically correct.

Segregation is separation in society. It is non-access to advancement opportunities.

[edit on 23/2/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

This is all a matter of Genetics.

African American slaves were selected for their strength. And the ones that survived, survived because they were also smart.

So when you breed a lot of smart and strong people together - it just makes them stronger and smarter.

The African American race is greatly superior to many races on this planet, muchly due to this indirect breeding process which Slavery caused. They run faster, jump higher, lead a powerful nationi and can drive a car faster than anyone else in the world. Their skin is also highly resistant to UV rays and damage, and in this time of a reducing Ozone layer and climate change, they are the ones already adapted for survival in harsh environments.

They are stronger physically no doubt. They also have significantly above average sized reproductive organs. This is quite appealing to many female humans of all races. This will have an affect on their breeding and eventually we can only hope their genes are shared with the majority of the gene pool.

I believe that this is an issue of culture, not race. This is American thug culture you are talking about here, and believe me, it transcends race.

I do like the way that you have laid out a short history of slavery though. It is an interesting read. I do know that the word "slave" refers to the Slavic peoples who were raided be the emperor Charlemagne. What many people fail to realize is that white folks have held the title of slave longer than any other race. This is why I am firmly against any type of reparations. If every culture who was ever enslaved asked for reparations, we would literally all have to borrow money from Peter just to pay Paul. What I mean by this is that as soon as group A received reparations they would have to give money received to group B for their time in forced servitude initiated by group A. Group C, D, etc. would want their reps as well.

As for the whole sports argument, I hope we get to a day where we stop over-paying these undeserving people. How much these people get paid has nothing to do with race, and has everything to do with our cultures malady of celebrity and jock worship.

I believe that slavery is the 500 lb gorilla in the room, and not because of past slavery, (we can all surely trace our ancestry back to at least one slave) but the fact that slavery still exists today, maybe even more and worse than it has ever been. Slavery today exists to rob the children of many cultures of their innocence, and attempts to get to the bottom of this scourge of humanity have been thwarted by people in the highest levels of governments worldwide, mainly in the United States and Europe. For more information on this phenomena just google "The Franklin cover-up" or "Human Trafficking".

I do not need to quote some article, these are my own words, and yes I am black!

Blacks were once considered less than an animal or equal with property, this is sad and yes we have come a long way...please, this 40 year old or so legally sanctioned right granted by the voting rights act is so young in years in comparison to the attrocities that happened before it was (from pressure and efforts of the civil rights movement not sympathy or free will)passed, keep in mind that in 1865 slavery legally ended but we know for a fact that it continued beyond that so just keep those figures in mind.

Computations possibly needed to arrive at numerical, and monetary parity for what transpired and those acts can never be forgotten.
IMHO:
Can you really calculate almost 400 years of free labor multiplied by the number of individuals, with compounded interest, creating all sorts of things and creating companies, entire enterprises???
Can you really calculate the companies and other entities who even this very day can attribute their overwhelming power to the free labor and blood sweat and tears of slaves?
Can you calculate the banks and financial institutions that reinvested and gained from the benefits of those profits that should have otherwise gone to slaves ?
Can you really calculate the value of those who were murdered and butchered in the middle passage?
Can you really calculate the mental toll across generations that the relationship to a master is subliminally engrained and burned in?
Can you really calculate the GDP of severely underpaid blacks in comparison to their white or non black counterparts doing the same work which is a fact right now?
Can you really calculate the untold pain of being hunted down, publicly lynched and burned to death as entire towns cheered on these barbaric acts?

I can go on and on but that is not my point....

The true threat to all those who feel threatened and keep putting this crap up as something as a proof blacks have gotten their payback from slavery and who are under the impression that blacks are suddenly immune to institutionalized, hidden discrimination and racism who think that truly blacks are equal in all ways to whites because of recent events, would be the actual modernization, and complete decolonization of Africa from all European influences and their actual rise as a global power.

The Europeans were responsible for plundering and taking advantage of a seemingly less able militarily and more primitive people (sound a little like the Indians and the old west?) the thugs spoken about (hip hop culture etc) above in other posts have nothing on these slave traders who were much more heartless and cold blooded showing little regard for human individualism and respecting these people as equals, Africa should be left in complete control of all of their rich resources and learn how to use that to become an economic world power, kicking out the Chinese and other plunderers who are there just like in South America trying to be opportunists,

The African people actually being able to somehow industrialize and truly be a piece of the world economy, use their resources to enrich the country in a capitalist way and then have a full reconcilliation with the former diaspora that has populated the United States who can trace their roots back there, that would be the ultimate payback, now don't flame me for anything racist, I am simply completely fulfilling what would be considered self reparation and healing of the scars of Euro Centric Slavery and the tragedy of the middle passage, which at it's core cannot be equalled by any of the slavery taking place between tribes and dominant struggles on the African continent which is always used as a weak counterpoint somehow to minimize the injustice of the european slave trade, at that point I could care less about a reparation, also any pro athlete you can throw up there, there is an owner and manager and a few others swimming in that money above them that make more and don't do any athletic feats and I bet money 99 percent of those individuals are not black! think about that.


[edit on 24-2-2009 by phinubian]

reply to post by TheComte


All great points, and I will reply to as many as time permits me. I will make another disclaimer here.. I am not implying any kind of racism by means of this thread, nor am I attempting to degrade or otherwise slander the African American race. I wanted to point out and touch on some points I thought relevant to the current state of American society.

Affirmative action and non discriminatory practices: Force employers to hire and retain a certain number or percentage of minorities regardless of performance ( I'm sure this point will be attacked) employers have to "tip toe" around issues regarding a minority employee because the fear of litigation by means of "discrimination"

It is a well known fact that if two equally qualified people, one being caucasian and the other being African American apply for the same position, the latter will receive preference due to the above noted. Employers will always show racial preference to adhere to anti discrimination policies.
Here's the problem with this, people of all ethnic backgrounds hold positions from bottom to top and when you get a small group of ( to stay on topic) African American's occupying management positions you will see an increase in the hiring and retention, along with favoring of African American employees.

People are more often than not, most comfortable with others that are like themselves. This is where judgment gets blurred for many as the mundane day to day grind often entails conversations of personal nature aside from work, this is where the favoritism comes into play and racial boundries are often seen and IMO more so with African American's. Many have seen promotions based on race alone.

Certain parts of African American culture have bread generations of criminal minded individuals who impart very poor values on their children who in turn " do as has been done".

50 percent drop out rate, I’m telling you, and people in jail, and women having children by five, six different men. Under what excuse, I want somebody to love me, and as soon as you have it, you forget to parent. Grandmother, mother, and great grandmother in the same room, raising children, and the child knows nothing about love or respect of any one of the three of them (clapping). All this child knows is “gimme, gimme, gimme.” These people want to buy the friendship of a child….and the child couldn’t care less. Those of us sitting out here who have gone on to some college or whatever we’ve done, we still fear our parents (clapping and laughter). And these people are not parenting. They’re buying things for the kid. $500 sneakers, for what? They won’t buy or spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics. (clapping) A\Kenneth Clark, somewhere in his home in upstate New York…just looking ahead. Thank God, he doesn’t know what’s going on, thank God. But these people, the ones up here in the balcony fought so hard. Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged, “The cops shouldn’t have shot him” What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand? (laughter and clapping). I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else (laughter) And I looked at it and I had no money. And something called parenting said if get caught with it you’re going to embarrass your mother. Not you’re going to get your butt kicked. No. You’re going to embarrass your mother. You’re going to embarrass your family. If knock that girl up, you’re going to have to run away because it’s going to be too embarrassing for your family. In the old days, a girl getting pregnant had to go down South, and then her mother would go down to get her. But the mother had the baby. I said the mother had the baby. The girl didn’t have a baby. The mother had the baby in two weeks. (laughter) We are not parenting. Ladies and gentlemen, listen to these people, they are showing you what’s wrong. People putting their clothes on backwards. –isn’t that a sign of something going on wrong? (laughter)

Brown Versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We’ve got to take the neighborhood back (clapping). We’ve got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It’s right around the corner. (laughter) It’s standing on the corner. It can’t speak English. It doesn’t want to speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk. “Why you ain’t where you is go, ra,” I don’t know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk (laughter). Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t land a plane with “why you ain’t…” You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they’re moving ahead on this. Well, they know they’re not, they’re just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you’re just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out.

source

Why is it whites can' t have pride or organizations that are not considered racist? Gays, blacks, Hispanic you name it can all have ties to "ethnic" groups without fear of being labeled racist. If a black person says black pride there is nothing wrong with this, If I were to say I have white pride(which I do) am I a racist.?I have always heard celebrate diversity-No one proposes that Howard University be made more diverse by admitting whites.How about the National Hispanic University in San Jose (CA) I don't hear anyone saying it would be more diverse by admitting non-hispanics. Any white school, organization, neighborhood is suffering from a lack of diversity. Are whites being asked to devote themselves to the interests of other races and to ignore the interests of their own.? Do whites have an equal share in affirmative action? One example, here in Ohio the civil service exam for police officers gives and automatic 5 points just for skin color other than white. Why are we only taught in schools about black slavery, what about Irish slavery.? We are only taught about the Holocaust, what about the millions and millions of Russians that died in WW2. What's being done about the white farmers being slaughtered in Africa? wheres the media? If Ireland were to kill off the black farmers it would be front page news. What about poor white children in America,?There is this group that believes in white pride, they started this collection for poor white kids in Appalacia,and they went to schools and gave out school supplies, NO other organization was doing this.Newspaper article read White racist group gives out school supplies. If I were to reject the ideas of non-white groups or say the NAACP is racist for giving supplies to poor blacks, what would I be called. I thought we were to be diverse. Some may even be thinking I' m racist just for writing this, well I have white pride and proud of my heritage so call me what you want.

source

reply to post by Nick_X



Wow! For every strong "African American", I can find you a stronger "European American"?

Rant: That's why I hate using that term. If I call a black person an African American, and go on to talk about a white person, what do I call that white person?

I hope you were being funny, or sarcastic. I can find some fat, lazy black people and some fat, lazy white people. Some skinny black people, skinny white people. The average black person I see in real life is not stronger than all the white people I know.

Yeah, there's an increasing number of them in sports, but real life situations, it's about as mixed as you can get.