HOW DID SLAVERY COME ABOUT AND WHY BLACK PEOPLE?

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The Truth About Slavery: How It Started, Why Africa, and Why It Still Affects Us Today

Slavery didn’t begin with chains. It began with greed, gold, and lies. The transatlantic slave trade, one of the most brutal and dehumanizing systems in history, reshaped the world in ways that still affect us today. But to truly understand its impact, we must go back to the beginning.

The Great African Civilizations Before Colonization
Before European contact, Africa was home to vast, thriving civilizations. Empires like Mali, Songhai, Ghana, and Benin were rich in knowledge, trade, agriculture, and governance. Cities like Timbuktu were centers of education, where scholars studied medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. Africans were skilled farmers, builders, metalworkers, and traders—far from the image of “savages” painted by European colonizers.

So why Africa? Because it was full of wealth—gold, land, and skilled people. That’s exactly why it was targeted.

How the Transatlantic Slave Trade Began
The early European explorers set out in the 1400s in search of spices, land, and wealth. When they reached Africa, they saw an opportunity—not just in trade but in human labor. Initially, Europeans engaged in trade with African rulers, exchanging goods for captives taken from rival tribes during conflicts. However, this soon escalated into a full-scale system of kidnapping and forced labor.

Over 12.5 million Africans were trafficked across the Atlantic. The Middle Passage—where captives were crammed into ships under inhumane conditions—resulted in millions of deaths before even reaching the Americas.

The Justification: Lies, Religion, and Pseudo-Science
To justify slavery, Europeans rewrote history, religion, and science. They claimed Africans were inferior and incapable of self-governance. They distorted Christianity to argue that slavery was part of God’s plan. Later, pseudo-scientific theories emerged, falsely categorizing Black people as biologically lesser. These lies were used to justify brutality, exploitation, and systemic oppression.

Slavery in the Americas: The Birth of Racial Hierarchy
While many nations participated in the transatlantic slave trade, America created one of the most brutal, race-based systems in history. Unlike in some other regions, where enslaved people had chances for freedom, the U.S. designed slavery to be lifelong, hereditary, and violently enforced. Families were ripped apart, and resistance was met with extreme punishment.

When slavery was abolished in 1865, the oppression didn’t end—it evolved.

The Evolution of Oppression Post-Abolition
The end of legal slavery was followed by new systems of racial oppression:

Jim Crow Laws enforced segregation and second-class citizenship for Black Americans.
Redlining and Economic Discrimination kept Black families from owning property and building wealth.
Mass Incarceration criminalized Black communities at disproportionate rates, continuing forced labor through the prison system.
Voter Suppression ensured that Black voices remained politically powerless.
Slavery ended, but systemic racism took its place in new forms.

Why This History Still Matters Today
The effects of slavery and colonization are still present:

The racial wealth gap persists due to centuries of economic exclusion.
Education systems often erase or distort Black history.
Black communities still face disproportionate policing and discrimination.
Global anti-Blackness continues to stem from the narratives created during slavery.
Understanding this history is essential for dismantling the systems built on it.

Taking Back Our Narrative
This history was deliberately hidden, rewritten, and distorted to maintain power structures. But the truth is our weapon. By reclaiming our history, we challenge the lies that justified oppression. We honor our ancestors who resisted, survived, and built legacies that still inspire us today.

Read it. Share it. Remember it.

Because knowing the truth is the first step in reclaiming everything they tried to erase.

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