From a linked article. Especially as a Britisher, where 100-odd years seems pretty recent, it’s incredible to me that there were slaves so recently in the US.
Somehow that makes it all much more shocking.
Additionally, around six hours’ worth of audio recordings of these interviews survive as well, which means you can hear some of these ex-slaves tell their stories in their own voices. Those recordings are available here: https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/
(Note that there are some important caveats to keep in mind when reading these stories, mostly to do with the fallibility of memory when recalling events 70 years in the past and the distorting effects of presenting black peoples’ stories through the mediation of mostly white writers. It’s still a fascinating resource, but it’s worth keeping these issues in mind as you read it. The LOC has a good rundown of the issues here: https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-fe...)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barracoon-...
(He died in 1935.)
> 100-odd years seems pretty recent, it’s incredible to me that there were slaves so recently in the US.
That's a taboo line of inquiry in the US. In general, the line is to agree that slavery happened in the very distant past, so the institution cannot possibly affect the present.
Edited to indicate this person was the last enslaved person brought to the US from Africa, not the last enslaved person in the US.
This from someone from a wealthy family who attended private schools and has an MBA.
The "War Between the States" ended in 1865, so likely the last former slave died in the 1970s.
Wikipedia counts Sylvester Magee as the last living slave:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Magee
He died in 1971, as you intuited.
“Sylvester Magee (May 29, 1841? – October 15, 1971)”
https://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/02/slave.labor.ring.busted...
The slave trade is also once again booming in Libya.
We both know what I mean, when I say "The Civil War" so, I'd expect that we both know what is meant, when saying Slavery.
There are other words for the situation you discuss, and probably Human Traffiking is a better choice of words, when discussing that kind of thing among Americans.
The problem with human trafficking is that this is frequently used now for the illegal transport of paying customers across a border, which is a different kind of crime.
I got to see Nelson Mandela speak at Tiger Stadium before I have seen America do anything at all. That sounds a lot more harsh than I mean it to, it's just reality.
Not that they want it.
EDIT That's a trick question because Jim Crow was Apartheid.
And in the absence of a boat to float, one will sink.
Yes, master. I will make due with life on the brink.
And in the absence of a boat to float, one will sink.
Yes, master. I will make due with life on the brink.
When the word "Slavery" is thrown around in conversation, here in America, in English, it specifically means only one thing, and it only ever means that specific thing. Not unlike "Holocaust" only ever having one meaning.
You can choose to qualify "Nuclear Holocaust" and that will technically mean something else, although even that catches heat, and "Nuclear Armageddon" is preferred, especially by survivors.
So, go ahead and qualify "Cybernetic Slavery" or "Sex Slavery" or some such subgroup thereof, but even then, dilution of the term with qualifiers may still catch some flak.
Probably "bondage" or "indentured servitude" or "traffiking" or "imprisonment" combined with "forced labor" will more accurately describe what you're trying to communicate to American audiences.
When the word "Slavery" is used in America, it only means institutionalized laws endorsed by The U.S. Government, to specifically target Black People and only Black People, and deny them a normal existence among peers.
It might to some people. I consider those people to be somewhat wrong. Slavery has happened for a long time before Atlantic slave trade and didn't end with it.
> Probably "bondage" or "indentured servitude" or "traffiking" or "imprisonment" combined with "forced labor" will more accurately describe what you're trying to communicate to American audiences.
bondage: slavery or involuntary servitude; serfdom (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bondage)
> When the word "Slavery" is used in America, it only means institutionalized laws endorsed by The U.S. Government, to specifically target Black People and only Black People, and deny them a normal existence among peers.
Ok? Other countries have had slavery until much later (e.g. India until 1970's). What's your point. The reason why American slavery is getting so much attention is due to the clear racial divide between the two classes of people. This somehow makes it more morally reprehensible than other forms of slavery?
There's no trademark on the word "slavery" right? Stop making it seem like there is.
Please let me out.
Edit: you've broken the site guidelines a lot. Can you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and follow the rules when posting here?