Yesterday, I wrote about the War Between the States (the “Civil War”), and I promised another post about slavery. This is that post.
The Real Problem Was Deeper than Slavery
The problem with slavery in the mid-19th-century South was not slavery. It could be readily argued that slavery, in and of itself, is not wrong. Now, if I’ve ruffled your feathers, please hear me out. I may not be saying what you think I’m saying, but the whole post is necessary to convey the whole thought.
The problem with slavery in the mid-19th-century South was not slavery. Share on XThroughout history, throughout the world, nations have conquered other nations and taken their people as slaves. Even the ancient Israelites did so, with God’s blessing! Even today, the Constitution does not forbid slavery in certain circumstances. (Bet you didn’t know that!) It permits slavery in instances of debt (for purposes of “working off” the debt, essentially). Slavery was not the problem.
But there was a problem! So, if it wasn’t slavery, what was it? Wrong attitudes/wrong thinking. See, the institution of slavery in the American South was not like slavery in, for instance, ancient Israel. We did not have slaves by conquest. (It could possibly be argued that the slaves held here were conquered by other nations within the continent of Africa, so it’s “still the same thing,” but if we argued that, we would still be missing the real point.) We had (as a whole, at least) slaves by ethnicity, based on an incorrect understanding of personhood.
The American South had slavery based on an incorrect understanding of personhood. Share on XThe general belief at that time was that those with “negroid” features were somehow less human than their more European counterparts. Let me state unequivocally that this is absolutely, completely false! This incorrect belief was the real problem with the institution of slavery in the American South.
Why Does the Distinction Matter?
Now, it may seem like a minor distinction to say that this was the root problem, rather than slavery itself, but it’s not. This distinction has tremendous bearing upon the failure to properly integrate all members of society when emancipation actually did take place. How? Because we fixed the symptom, not the problem.
We did away with slavery but not with incorrect beliefs and wrong attitudes. Share on XWe did away with slavery (apart from that debt clause), but not with the incorrect beliefs and wrong attitudes. As a result, dark-skinned Americans had a hard time finding people who were willing to employ them, befriend them, or even live near them. In the 1960’s, we still had separate water fountains, schools, and seats on buses — all because we never fixed the underlying attitude. (I would venture to say that most people in the 1960’s wouldn’t say that darker-skinned individuals are less human, but there were still — and, in a few instances, still are — vestiges of this idea in the mistaken belief that we are fundamentally different.)
The Real Solution
We need to all recognize that people are people, period. The difference between your dark skin and my light skin is no greater a difference than the difference between my hazel eyes and my daughters’ blue eyes. God made us all of one blood. There is only one human race — the human race. To believe otherwise is the very definition of “racist.” (So, Uncle Sam, stop asking me for my “race” on all of your forms. If I’m filling out the form, it’s “human.” Any further distinction is racist.)
Photo via Murky1 on Flickr.
This is a very thoughtful post. I appreciate the depth of your reflection. Race as a category has been demonstrated in court to be completely arbitrary and a human construction, not a natural one.
But, I don’t think you’ll be surprised when I say that I find your conclusion a bit curious.
In light of the persistent inequalities that still exist in our country, the continued reverberations of our tainted past, I think asking about race is appropriate. We use those race questions to measure the progress that has been made toward eradicating systemic racism. The census (and I assume that is one of your concerns) can give a good picture of where populations are racially concentrated, and may be struggling with the typical problems that poverty breeds.
I don’t think the question is intended to dehumanize anyone, rather it can be used to aid us all in humanizing one another.
I’m not sure I have a problem with the question *ever* being asked. I have a problem with its *always* (or nearly always) being asked. On the census, for instance, I don’t think it’s an inappropriate question (although I very much prefer different terminology). But it seems that we see that question on everything, everywhere, and I see that as an overemphasis on something that we all say should be a non-issue.
It’s kind of like the old joke where you tell someone, “Don’t think about an elephant.” It’s pretty well impossible to not think about an elephant when that’s the very idea that’s just been planted in your mind! It seems to me that we have a culture that’s constantly saying, “Don’t think about race. What’s your race, again? Don’t think about race. What’s your race, again? Don’t think about race.” Taken as a whole, it’s counterproductive.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t ever times when it is appropriate and useful.
You make a good point. We do talk about it a lot, and in some ways this drives people more apart. My 10th grader asked me about this just yesterday. It’s standardized testing time in all the schools and the kids have to fill out demographic information on their tests. He was irritated at the fact that there were all kinds of categories for other people to nuance their ethnicity, but his only option was “white”.
The problem with that, as I see it, is not that “white” people are being deprived of something, but that all of the other listed race/ethnicity categories are being compared to white as though it is an objective standard. In other words, white is considered normal and everything else is a variation on normal. That’s really unhealthy for everyone if we want to honor all people equally, regardless of race.
One other aspect of the Wrong attitudes/wrong thinking is that the base for slavery was cotton production. Cotton production in the US was extremely profitable – not just because of the use of slavery, but because the exporting of cotton and fabric went CRAZY with it. The slavery issue was absolutely fueled by GREED as well as the idea that Africans were deemed less than human.
I’ve visited the old market areas in Charleston, SC, and I closed my eyes at one point to just imagine the horror that took place there. I felt sick by the time we left because I knew I could barely touch on the reality of it all.
Sadly, slavery is still happening all over the world – and in the U.S. – and human trafficking is another devastating, horrifying “profitable business” that prey on children. We cannot turn a blind eye to the injustice that takes place around us. Whether we join up with an Underground Railroad to fight slave labor, or work with organizations that fight human trafficking – God can use us to be his hands and feet on this earth to bring comfort and freedom to the victims of slavery.