Many people who are trying to understand the relationship between black and white people in America sometimes come to erroneous conclusions because they do not know the full history of that very complex and turbulent relationship.

America was founded on the premise of White Supremacy, the whole political, social, academic, housing and economic structure of the country was founded on White Supremacy. In the 21st Century, there is no legal segregation and black people no longer have to sit at the back of the bus but the mentality of many white people have not changed, the evidence of that is very clear.

After emancipation, the efforts of a succession of racist presidents, senators and congress men were to keep black people “as close as possible to the condition of slavery“. It took over 150 years after emancipation, in some Southern States for black people to be able to vote. Black business and opportunities were systematically undermined and and destroyed, the Tulsa Race riots is a good example.

In 2020 Native Americans are sometimes told by racist white people that they should get out and go back to where they came from. Black men are being arrested for entering their homes because a white person thought they were burglars and called the police. Consider the racist slurs used to address Barack and Michelle Obama, like “Ape in heels”

Before and after his presidential election, Barack Obama has been depicted as subhuman in graphics, email, and posters. While turning politicians into caricatures is nothing new, the ones used to criticize Obama frequently have racial overtones. The president has been portrayed as a shoeshine man, an Islamic terrorist, and a chimp, to name a few. The image of his altered face has been shown on a product called Obama Waffles in the manner of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.

America has come a long way but it is obviously still deeply steeped in racism, many whites and blacks are very angry but for different reasons. The was forward is not in revenge and violence but in meaningful dialogue and respect for everyone as human beings.

Slavery By Another Name, America’s darkest hidden secret of atrocities against black people.

Slavery by Another Name is a 90-minute documentary that challenges one of Americans’ most cherished assumptions: the belief that slavery in this country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. The film tells how even as chattel slavery came to an end in the South in 1865, thousands of African Americans were pulled back into forced labor with shocking force and brutality. It was a system in which men, often guilty of no crime at all, were arrested, compelled to work without pay, repeatedly bought and sold, and coerced to do the bidding of masters. Tolerated by both the North and South, forced labor lasted well into the 20^th century.

For most Americans this is entirely new history. Slavery by Another Name gives voice to the largely forgotten victims and perpetrators of forced labor and features their descendants living today.

Like Martin Luther King, I dream of the the day when all Americans will live in peace as Americans and their humanity will not be defined by their race or the colour of their skins.