billege

vermin, I've got to vehamently disagree that slaves were treated decently. The idea than an owned human being can be treated decently is flawed. The ideas are opposites. The mere fact of being owned by another human is so dehumanizing, I really can't believe anyone say "decent" in the same sentance.

When a human being is seen, and treated, like LIVESTOCK the entire experiance is identity rape.

Have you read Roots? I have. Alex Haley did not make up the story to sell as a movie script. The book is what the man found while discovering where he came from.

I feel bad that you seem to have accepted the propoganda which suggests that slaves weren't really treated that badly. Hell, they were just pets...

I want you to understand that even if a human is treated as well as a pet, that human is as debased as a raped baby. Do you understand that? Imagine being owned...would being treated like a dog be okay with you?
Imagine never, ever, having control over your life. Imagine your sons and daughters taken from you and sold. Heck, they're just pets, right? Pets breed and you sell the offspring you don't need.
Listen, I'll stop harping on that point, but I hope you realize that in slavery it is impossible to be "decent."

Industrial progress did make a large contribution to our nation. Let's just remember what came first, and the order in which our country built it's economy.

First came the settlers. They trapped and ate what they could. Eventually they learned what grew well in America, and they grew it. The 13 colonies were overwhelmingly farm based. Industry only came after the farms.

I'd also like to dispel the myth that northerners were Black friends. Many, many northerners dispised Blacks just like southerners. Many yankees blamed the civil war on the blacks. The south got the worse reputation, deservedly. However, let's not excuse the north for the part it played too. Blacks were animals wherever they went. Exceptions were few and far between.

For examples of how shitty the north could be, read the autobiography of Malcom X, as told to Alex Haley. Young Malcom grew up (some) in East Lansing, Michigan (Home to MSU). Many MSU students, and Americans in general, would be suprised to know that not even 40 years ago, blacks were forbidden from holding many jobs, and were not allowed in town after dark. Think about that number, 40 years. That means the parents of todays black youth had to watch what streets they were allowed on after dark. That's <i>recent</i> people. It didn't happen to long dead generations, it happend to your fathers, and your neighbors. Disgusting, isn't it?

I thank you for your complimentary words. You also express yourself well.


I'd like to throw in one quick shot about the music. It's far from my main concern here, but I still feel strongly about it.

I will ask a question:

The attitude displayed in lots of hip hop is women debasing, self-centered, self-indulgent, agressive, and violent.

Who exactly is that good for?

"War. What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING!"

Same idea.

__________________
I can sum up the clash of religion in one sentence:
"My Invisible Friend is better than your Invisible Friend."