Where It All Started

A lot of people believe that they actually know how it started but they don't have all the facts. Yes, the Africans were taken from their land in Africa, but what people don't know is that the richer Africans sold them to the Europeans. They kidnapped them and took them to European boats to be taken to many different countries. The slaves taken were taken to many different North and South american countries. Now that we have this out the way lets go into the experience of being a slave in the United States. many people believe slaves were brought to this country as early as when Christopher Columbus came. The slaves were brought here on boats. They were chained together at the bottom of ships. Because of how close they were together and the diseases that traveled fast, many slaves died while chained together and the person next to the them would have to be chained to a corpse. There were occasions when they just threw their bodies overboard. Once they reached the coast of America they were transported all over from there. There is a story of the Igbo tribe. There were seventy-five warriors from Nigeria who took control of the ship and drowned their captors. They survived the passage to America but ended their lives by walking into the sea on St. Simons Island, Georgia. There was only 13 bodies recovered from this tragedy. They would rather die than live a life in bondage. The slave life was horrible for all. The men, woman, and children were all treated like property. Many families were separated and sold to different owners. The slaves had no rights. They were treated like animals and beat mercilessly. 

The last 100 years

After the slaves were freed, they didn't have rights. Black people were lynched and harassed for fun. Black people made it into 20th century. Things didn't get any better. Everything was segregated. There was a term for black people that was widely being used. They referred to black people as "niggers". This term was used in a very derogatory way. They also started blackface in the entertainment industry so they didn't have to hire black actors. They used this to mock black people and set stereotypes. During this time it was very common for black people to be lied on and killed by lynching groups. During the Civil Rights' Movement, white on black crime was very widespread. Around this time the Black Panther party started. The Ku Klux Klan was already a known party. The Ku Klux Klan which was a white power party started lynching innocent black people. At this same time the Black Panther party started fighting back with more violence. The US was filled with violence. The KKK blew up a church full of black people. Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were killed and 14 others were injured in the initial bombing. Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson were killed in the riots after the bombings. In both tragedies there were over 20 people injured. The pain from the past has been passed down through generations. These are just some of the many tragedies caused by racial injustices. Until we can accept that the pain that black people went through is real and contributes to actions today we will never be able to move on. 

If you would like to go read up on some of these facts I will leave links to articles.


Location: Florida, USA

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