Legacy of Slavery

Hampton Plantation Slave Quarters, outside Baltimore

Legacy of Slavery

The Legacy of Slavery for African to the New World began in 1525 and lasted until 1888, both times in Brazil. In what became the United States, slavery began in 1609 and ended in 1865. The legacy of that “Peculiar Institution” is hiding in plan sight within U.S. Cities, the Caribbean, Latin-America, Africa and Europe.

When people of African descent visit former slave plantations or take an African-American heritage tour, we should first contextualize those visits in light of territorial fights that led African tribes to capture and sell other tribesmen to European Slavers on the coasts of Africa. Then, we must understand the brutal economic and morally corrupt motivations of Europeans to engage in chattel slavery. We must also remember that remaining African tribes passed the debt for their sin to future generations. By selling so many captured tribesmen over centuries, it weakened the whole of Africa and strengthened Europe, making it easier for Europeans to colonize.

To understand our place in the Americas, we must consider the aftermath of lives lost in both the Southern and Middle Passages, de-culturation and brainwashing of African tribes, and stolen economic wealth due to slave trade and colonization. Such context helps us understand why African-Americans, despite inventiveness, spirituality and durability, still measure lower on every socio-economic scale.

It will take us many more decades to overcome 256 years of slavery, followed by 100 years of Apartheid to achieve 1st Class Citizenship in America. A black U.S. President and increasing numbers of black collegians do not counterweigh bad on the scale of justice, but they do shift weight in the right direction.