One of the lead stories in the news yesterday was that Florida school boards had voted to re-define the way slavery was looked upon, by both blacks and whites, in their new texts. There continues to be a controversy as to whether to tell the “real story” of slavery in the United States.
I suppose it probably is the same in a lot of other countries.
It’s acknowledged that the United States was one of the last nations to abolish slavery — but — it wasn’t the last — even in the Americas. That distinction goes to Brazil, in 1888.
It’s generally accepted that the last nation to abolish slavery was Mauritania, a country in west Africa, in 1981.
Today human trafficking for labor, and other activities, continues to affect millions of adults and children — even though it’s “illegal” worldwide — and against international law.
I’m not sure teaching our kids that there were some benefits for the enslaved from the practice is beneficial to anyone…..
The fact is that slavery existed — and was not, in any way, a good thing. We may choose to look the other way, but we shouldn’t say we didn’t know.
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