I was the only euro American in the first Black History course in my high school. Seems whitey doesn't want to know about historical facts eliminated from our educational system. These 20-30 somethings do....thank fully. Correct history by teaching it accurately.

Imagine how much better things would be if after slaves were freed they received a heartfelt apology and had been welcomed into white society as fully equal citizens. Instead, every effort was made to "keep them in their place." The end of slavery was the beginning a struggle that continues to this day.

Over here in Scotland, this has been part of my college studies into American civil rights 1945-2020.

So much for "America, land of the Free, home of the Brave, land of Opportunity for all,"

I feel ill reading this. How dare this happen??? Its soooo wronggggggg!!!

There was the Civil Rights Movement, the equal pay act and various other attempts to gain equality - the Equal Rights Amendment has yet to be ratified BTW - starting in the 1950's and continuing thru the 1970's. Nixon began the war on drugs, this was how the government effectively dealt with Black Americans (mostly male) and the hippies.

The US in particular has always been fond of slavery in all of its forms, sharecroppers, wage slavery, black slavery, chinese slaves that were sent in as cannon fodder when building the railroads. It's never about how you climb in your personal goals but how many bodies you use as a ladder to get there which is what the game is all about. Disgusting, primitive and unproductive but that's Xstians for you.

Thanks for the post, it explains a lot.

Of course we weren't told, most our parents had racist views. Many of us had to look for knowledge elsewhere.

I had not known of the word "peonage" until recently. I would also recommend the book " American Prison" by Shane Bauer for more perspective

And now as it becomes harder and harder to lock people up for essentially victimless crimes like selling or using pot they are perfecting wage slavery where people live their entire lives with no savings, sometimes working 2, 3 or more jobs and then dying effectively as a ward of the state with nothing but debt remaining. I'm 100% sure that a good many people in this country would be more than happy with mass rounding up for homeless and those at the bottom and shipping them off to labor camps or even literal plantations so they don't have to hire brown people from south of the border.

As always, thanks for sharing. It's amazing the things you find out when you really dig into history.

We are good at this kind of shit here in the USA. I guess it's not that much of a surprise that most white folks never really caught on that this was happening all along. Up until now, it was never even a point of awareness for the white majority. Finally, it looks like that is turning around, at least from an awareness standpoint. Behaviors have to change, though, or what good is awareness? I hope they do , lordy I hope they do, but the history gives no real reason for optimism. The mindset that nurtured and encouraged systemic racism is still painfully there, institutionalized and codified by law. This is the struggle, and everyone has to do so much fucking better. None of us are free if even one of us is in chains.

Yep, slavery still exists in the U.S.
And now, with private prisons, more people are going to jail as debtors, something once considered unamerican.

Only today am I learning that some of this went on into the 1940's and early 1950's. I never lived in the deep South.