I think it's important for people to understand that I am not trying to say that Black people don't deserve any respect or that what they have gone through is any less than anyone else, but we also need to realize that these terrible acts do not stand out alone for just black people. Terrible acts have been committed to many people of different colors, religions, beliefs, etc. etc. The Jewish faith for instance. The holocost(sp) was no easy task to overcome and many are still trying to overcome. Millions of people were tortured and murdered and put in concentration camps. They were separated from their families and the german army could and would rape many jewish women right on the street. Some were skinned and their skin was used to make lampshades, like a prize to be won. If any of you have read Ann Frank's diary, you know how they constantly lived in fear while in hiding. During that same time, many people from other countries that imigrated or were visiting the US were put into camps within the US. Most of the camps treated these people well, but some were not. I "rank" these terrible crimes right up there with slavery. As I mentioned before in another post, Irish peoples within the US were treated as dogs, and most people/books will tell you worse than black people. At the dawn of Christianity, and it's rise to popularity, many peoples, estimated from thousands to millions were tortured and burned at the stake for not being Christian and practicing witchcraft and paganism. Their families were ripped apart, their towns and houses were burned to the ground, their livestock killed or taken, their children beaten, burned, or sold.
I'm not saying that these things are any worse or less than what Black people have suffered. But let us not forget that there are other people out there that have suffered as well. I think all these crimes are right up there together as being some of the most devestating crimes in history, and most of the descendants today of those crimes that I have listed feel the impact still today, they feel the discriminating eyes of the rest of the world as well. Let us remember that there are other people out there that have suffered and feel the blows of the past.
|