When Americans talk about our national history, we tend to emphasize the positive. We like to talk about immigrants yearning to be free. It is a compelling national story which gives Americans a sense of pride in the nation we have built. Our history highlights our exceptionalism. The conversation grinds to halt however when we talk about the big divisive issue in American History – the Civil War and the racism that supported the institution of slavery. This is all rather unpleasant and difficult.
In the past few years, people have even tried to reframe the American Civil War. They say that most Confederate soldiers did not own slaves, how could they be fighting for slavery when they didn’t own slaves? That had to be motivated by something other than slavery, something nobler. Or the rebels fought for states rights not the continuation of slavery. What upset southerners was the imposition of northern ideas on the South. We are told that Robert E. Lee hated slavery, so he fought for the South because he loved his home state of Virginia and could not fight his neighbors. The South’s struggle, in other words, had nothing to do with slavery and therefore racism need not be considered either when looking at the war.
More importantly, it saves us from thinking that our ancestors are racists. Making slavery irrelevant to the Civil War obfuscates the real causes of the conflict and makes the southerner’s position sound almost noble. It was just a dispute between two groups about how a democracy should function. One group believed that the Federal Government takes precedence over the State Government, the other side believed the opposite. After all, we still are debating the role of the Federal Government in American life today.
Except that it isn’t the truth. The truth, however, is pretty horrible and that is why people prefer to downplay the importance of slavery in the war. Because if slavery becomes the cause of the Civil War, then our ancestors are responsible for some pretty horrible things. What is slavery? Why did people want slaves? Why were black people made slaves and not white people? Why did white people think they could black people slaves?
Even now when we do learn about slavery, we learn about in the passive voice. Slaves were brought to USA. But exactly who brought African blacks to the USA? Who made them slaves? Who bought and sold them? Slavery and racism happened to blacks as opposed to someone imposing it on them. We use this passive voice because it is difficult to explain the ugly truth. White people brought African blacks to this country against their will for the purpose of slavery. The vast majority of white people in the south thought they were superior to blacks and that this gave them the right to use blacks as slaves. In 1860, white southerners thought that Lincoln would abolish slavery so they risked civil war to prevent him from taking away what they viewed as their property. Following the Civil War, when southern whites regained control of their state governments, Jim Crow laws were set up which created laws that blocked blacks from education, housing, jobs, voting and ultimately justice. While blacks gained full civil rights in 1965, whites resisted these new laws and continued enforcing Jim Crow laws on an informal basis well into the 21st century. Blacks had to use the courts to force whites into complying with the new civil rights laws.
Racism didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It was created to defend whites owning slaves. This is why white people bear the burden of changing a racist society. Yes, there may be racist blacks but blacks have never held power over whites. And by power I mean the power to force whites to provide unpaid labor, to stop them from living in certain areas, to stop them from voting. Whites have done all of these things. You may argue – this is still unfair. Not all white people participated in slavery and Jim Crow. Yes but they did stand by when other white people did. Just because you weren’t a part of the lynch mob doesn’t exonerate your actions when you know who was in the lynch mob.
It is completely understandable why white people find it difficult to talk about slavery. It is embarrassing. Our ancestors were horrible. If white’s were to face up to this history, they would realize that, at best, their ancestors watched injustice go on for years without lifting a finger to stop it, and, at worst, were wrapping a rope around a tree. How do you explain this in school to students in a white majority nation? What would the students think about their history? Their ancestors? We can only change what we can face and it is time to face the ugly actions of our ancestors and move forward.
Mind Stewing, Fingers Typing 
Ok ; have you looked into the history of slavery in Africa which is still going on today. From east Africa slaves were being taken by the Arab rulers to serve them in what we now call the middle east. During our recent trips to the area there is still huge resentment against the Arab world due to this. I believe I’m right when I say that this has only recently been banned by law. There is still modern day slavery in the middle east where the law exists that migrant workers (largely from the Philipines) have to surrender their passports to the authorities which leads to terrible abuse.
Slavery, as I understand it, is still practiced in a lot of places in the world. The worst thing about slavery is you have to dehumanize the slaves in order to justify your actions. It is a horrible thing. Thanks for reading, you are most loyal reader right now and I appreciate it.