Slavery
Mr. Chung’s Thoughts: After reading your comments the past few days on slavery, I felt the anger and indignation radiating from your comments. How could people treat each other this way? I am glad you feel this way towards slavery, but what bothers me is that we are clumping different groups of people together-Whites, Europeans, Americans, Black Americans, Black Africans and steoreotyping them. As we read more into history, we will learn there were Whites who were vehemently opposed to slavery and helped Blacks escape to the North; there were Whites who believed slavery was an abomination but still held slaves themselves (an example was America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson). There were Black Africans who actually helped the slavers capture people for slavery. There were European Whites who respected the ways of the Native Americans and actually went to live with them as equals. I mentioned at the beginning of the year, textbooks do not tell the whole truth but this applies to good examples as well. There are many people and events that are shining examples of American idealism. I wonder why these examples are omitted from our textbooks.
I am not making excuses for slavery, but this was the accepted paradigm of those times. Imagine growing up and experiencing racism everyday, and taught and shown that some races are superior and some races are inferior. You would just accept it as the truth. What is remarkable is some people questioned this paradigm, struggled with it, and overcame it. These are the stories we can learn from. We all have the ability to be good or bad. It is our ability to think and reflect that will help us make good choices, individually and as a society.
I hope by the end of the year, all of you will see the importance of history–that history is not just a group of facts to be memorized but it is about the choices people make and the consequences resulting from those actions. Our past is what makes us who we are now; and for us to create a brighter future for all of us, we in the present must make good choices.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I think slavery is wrong because no one would want to be treated like that. You would hurt other people. Imagine if you were the slave getting whipped and put in shackles.
It is not the Black’s fault that they look or believe in a certain way. There is nothing wrong with it. God made us all special. It is not how you look like in the end, it is what is in the inside that makes us special.
Just because we are different, we are still the same inside.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I think that slavery is wrong because why would you want to hurt or treat other people badly just because their skin is a different color. I think that everybody is the same and we are all people. It shouldn’t matter whether your skin is black or white. I don’t think that Whites are better than Blacks or anybody is better then anybody else. We are all the same and we should all be treated the same.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I think slavery is wrong because White people shouldn’t think they are better than other people with a different color skin and treat them like animals. The Whites think that it’s good for the slaves because they were giving them “Christianity.”
I think whether we are white or colored, we are all humans and we should all be treated the same.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I believe that slavery is wrong because it makes people do things that they don’t want to do against their will. This only happens to those with a different paradigm or colored skin.
It is exactly like making someone do all your work for you. Just because people are different in some ways on the outside doesn’t mean to go and make slaves out of them.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
We should not have slavery because people are people just like us, and we should all be treated with respect and how we want to be treated. We shouldn’t treat others badly because they are blacker than us, but how good their hearts are or how good their deeds are. White people do this because they think they are better than Blacks. Black people are good too.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
My paradigm about slavery is that it is wrong to just enslave other people just because of their skin color. I think that it is wrong because skin color doesn’t show how you act, feel or think.
Black people shouldn’t be working very hard just because of their skin color. People don’t stop to think about the Black people. Today I learned that if you look in the newspaper, no news is really about Africa. The White people just think the Black people are only good for work.
Black people should have equal rights like the White people even though they have different skin color. Even though the Black people may look different from us, we shouldn’t be treating them like this. I can’t imagine my life if the whole world had slavery.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I think that even though we come from different places and that we come from different paradigms, we shouldn’t discriminate against others. No one is better than another person because they are different from you. Everyone has jobs, responsibilities, families and almost everything else that we do everyday.
I believe that slavery is wrong because the ones held as slaves are forced to do things that they don’t want to do, even if it means hurting your brothers and sisters. Slavery is like treating people like they are rats. You treat them cruelly and they just want to become great people. I think slavery is a really cruel and nasty thing to do to people who are very much like you.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Slavery is wrong!!!
I think that although we may be different, that does not mean that we are better than others. Most of the slavery going on is because of skin color, different religions or different races. For example, Hitler hated people who were Jewish because he thought that that Jewish people were not as good as German people for exactly no reason and tried to wipe out the whole Jewish race.
Even though we have been keeping slaves from the 1700s to the 1800s because we thought that Black men were dirty and evil, at the same time, we called ourselves Christians!
September 4th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I think slavery is very wrong because people shouldn’t be treating other people unfairly. White men think they are better than Blacks but they are not. We are all human beings but they still treat them like there nothing. White men shouldn’t be treating the Blacks as slaves because we are all people. The White men say they are Christians, but Christians don’t act like that and they don’t have slaves.
WE MUST STOP SLAVERY!
September 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
My thoughts on slavery is that it is so wrong because it is people thinking that they are better than another race just because of their nationality. I do not know why people could even think of such things. White people think that they are better than Blacks just because they have a different color skin. It doesn’t mean you are better than them. Whites in the old days would take innocent Blacks to their country and use them for workers.
I bet if you put a White man in the Black man’s shoes and a Black in the White’s world, I would say that the Whites would hate it just as much as the Blacks.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I think slavery is wrong because you should be free no matter what color skin you have. God made us all the same! I think slavery is weird because if you were the one that was a slave, you would not want to be treated like that. Slavery is only happening because some people think that one skin color is better and has more power. They think that they can treat other people like trash or animals. I think that some people think that Black people are bad and evil. They are the ones that are not thinking and are evil and wrong. God made us all the same. We should be friends and not be evil to each other and hate each other. We should be friends and share everything.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
The White man believed they were better than Black people and that Black people were made to serve them. Whites believed that when they took the Black people as slaves, they were actually doing something good for them because they were taking them to a Christian place, but in turn, they had them work as slaves.
I think that slavery is wrong because all men should have equal rights and not be forced to do another man’s will unless he chooses to do it. I believe God created us to be equal and not to have one race better than the other. It makes me feel sad that slavery is still going on today and that people die everyday because of it.
Since we have been watching Roots, I realize how horrible slavery is. I had no idea that this happened in our American history. It makes me feel like we are hypocrites because this country was founded for freedom, and then we go and capture innocent people to make them our slaves.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Wow! I think slavery is mean, unfair and straight down wrong. I mean what if someone you loved the most was being kept as a slave or what if you were the one kept as a slave and prisoner. All I know is that if I were a prisoner and a slave I would not like one day of my life, and I would do anything to get free and free others from slavery.
Why capture the Black people and not capture the Irish people (no offense to the Irish). The color of the skin does not mean that they are not humans like us. It also doesn’t mean that just because one person is stronger and the other weaker or one talks better than someone else, it doesn’t mean we have the right to treat each other differently. Why should the world have slavery and why should the world have war between different countries?
Have you ever seen an article about Africa and the Black people in the newspapers? I haven’t. We White people think that the Black people are good for nothing and we treat them like dogs. We think we are giving them a chance to know God and become Christians, but instead of doing them a favor, we are hurting them and getting them angry! Who said the White people could control the Black people and that the Black people had to suffer and not get paid for their work. Black people have the right to be free and to go back to where they came from and not to be slaves. Why should the Black people suffer when they did nothing to harm the White people? The only time they hurt the crew members (which by the way were White people) was when they wanted to be free to turn the boat around to their homeland.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I feel that the White men who held Africans slaves were not thinking at all when they were saying that it is the Christian thing to do to hold the Africans as slaves. If they read the Bible carefully, Jesus was not unfair to anybody. I also wonder how the White men could even live with themselves after killing so many Africans.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Why would Americans treat Africans like animals because their skin is not white. It makes no sense.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I think slavery is bad because White people thought that they were better than the Black people. They used to say they were giving a gift by teaching Christian ways but they weren’t really practicing what they preached.
I feel we are all equal and that we should be treated the same way no matter what color skin we have, race we are, or where we come from. We are all humans and part of God’s family.
I think the poor slaves were treated very badly and this is wrong. I’d say that if I were a slave, I would be really unhappy. Just think, one day you’re at your own home doing normal things and the next, you are on a ship dwith no food and far away from your loved ones.
I’m glad we live in a place that when we see people who are different from ourselves, we don’t give it a second thought because in Hawaii, we all get along.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Slavery is just one terrible thing. White men are taking these innocent people and storing them away in this cramped boat, storing them like animals with chains on their hands and feet! I can imagine being in that particular position, and being whipped for not doing things that these White men are forcing them to do. But in that time and even now, people in our world still think some races are better than others. When I hear things that happen in history, I wish I could stop time and go back to a time when everything was equal and stayed there forever. The stories that come from slavery makes me shocked and sad. Even though our class had not finished Roots, I can tell it will be a remarkable movie.
I wonder why mankind does such horrible, wicked, disgraceful things to other people. It’s just sad to see. My core knowledge sure has grown since we started this whole thing. One really important fact I think that ties in with this whole subject is “hearing the truth hurts, but it’s just life.” Someday I would like to make a big speech about the horrible things that happened, and I hope it will open a new pathway to a fresh new beginning.
That’s my passion and my thoughts of slavery.
September 5th, 2008 at 9:33 am
After we watched ROOTS: episode one, I now know how bad slavery is.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I think that Americans are just judging a book by its cover because they think just because someone’s skin tone is not white, they need help to live a good life. Before the Americans came, the Africans were just fine. They could catch their own food and build their own shelters that were very resistant to rain and windy weathers. I think it’s very rude that they call them by very vile names like wench and barbarian.
It came as a very big shock to me that slavery is still going on. IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!
September 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
What I think about slavery is that it is very wrong and should not have happened. What really interested me about slavery is that the people that were doing this were Christians! I thought that Christians were good people and did not harm other people! Why would Christians do this? In “Roots,” the slaves did try to be free, but one of the Christian sailors shot a cannon at them and most of them died. If they wanted the slaves to be healthy, they should have fed them more so they wouldn’t have all died (the ones who did die). Just because someone is a different color than you, that doesn’t mean you are better than them.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I think slavery is very cruel. I can’t believe what we saw in the movie Roots. Roots is a movie about slavery. It shows what we did to the African-Americans when we took them for slaves. The people called themselves Christians. Yeah, right, would Jesus do what they were doing? I don’t think so. When the Whites were preparing the Africans to be sold, they were painted with tar to hide the whip marks. When they were sold, they were treated like animals.
I just can’t stand that slavery is still going on. I really want it to stop.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:04 am
After watching Roots, I realized how bad and scary slavery was. I never even knew that slavery is still going on today.
I hated how the white man treated the Black people. They treated them like animals by whipping them, leaving them in the bottom of the stinky boat, and then forcing them to take a bath in the salt water with all these cuts. They even thought they were doing the Blacks a favor.
I can’t believe what happens in slavery. It’s really cruel.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
SLAVERY IS WRONG!!!!!!!
If white men could have slaves, why couldn’t they be the slaves? I know they thought they were better than Black people, but we don’t like them. Why couldn’t they be our slaves?
How would they feel being far away from home, never being able to go back home, and throwing up all the way to America? Well, I would feel really sad. If I were getting whipped on the whole way there, I’d be practically dead.
The auction was the most upsetting! You can’t just sell a person! White people thought they were such Christian angels but they’re more like devils, doing such things to other people.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I personally think slavery is a horrible thing because there was killing, whipping, and other nasty things done to the Black men. Think of how you would feel if you were separated from your family and you didn’t know the way back? Also, if the White men were so holy, why would the White men do such a thing?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
SLAVERY IS ONE OF THE MOST WRONG THINGS IN THIS WORLD ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
How come only White people were not slaves? They thought they were doing something good by taking Africans to a Christian land. Whites thought there were different breeds of human, Black people were for work and White people were to command the Black people.
I know what I would feel if I were a slave. I would be dead by the time I got to America.
I feel sick to my stomach hearing that slavery is still happening today.
SLAVERY SHOULD STOP KNOW IT IS THE MOST HORRIBLE THING TO HPPEN IN THIS WORLD ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
September 9th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I think slavery is wrong because all people should be treated equaly.After watching Roots Episode 1 it explains how and what people wanted to do with slaves. It’s so sad how people kept slaves in the ship and treated them poorly and how most people or majority of the people or slaves died.I also hate slavery because there is alot of whipping and killing.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I think that it was horrible the way the Americans treated the Africans if they ran away. It makes me feel so sad about how a African slave who ran away would be punished by taking a metal axe and cutting off his/her toes on either one foot or both feet.
I think that God must’ve been very disappointed in the Americans because they were Christians, but what they did and how they treated the Africans was very un-Christian. I don’t think that God would’ve treated the people with different color skin like how the Americans treated the Africans. I don’t think that God would have whipped the people with a different skin tone, or cut off their toes.
I don’t think that the Americans would have liked it if they were whipped and treated like animals or were taken away from their families. The Americans would have felt very sad and scared if they had been taken away and been trapped in a small and cramped up little space where they got very little little food and never got to clean themselves. It makes me so sad when the Africans were forced to dance because an American was whipping their feet with a leathery material that leaves scars and cuts that get infected. Some people could actually die from the infections.
September 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I, Kyla, found out about the consequences for “bad” behavior in slavery. They get 20 lashes of the whip if they ran away and 10 if they looked a White man in the eye. Something else which I forget is you get your ears cut off if you lie.
That is so mean!
In ROOTS, Kunta (Toby) got his foot cut off for running away.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Slavery is just so wrong when I think about the fact that people made other human beings work just because of the color of their skin. Whenever I read about Harriet Tubman. I think, WOW, so brave and if it was not for Martin Luther King, the world would not be the same.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I don’t like the idea of slavery, I bet no one does anyways. That is just wrong. They shouldn’t have even started it. Just because someone is a different color does not mean that you need to treat them with disrespect. I think that Martin Luther King did a good job at releasing mankind from discrimination. We should really be thankful of him!