Anti-slavery

African Americans are perceived and treated as lower than animals and definitely not human. The only way enslavers could square this terrible treatment with their Christian beliefs was to see us as less than human. Therefore, they could proudly place such words in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution that state, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” To them, we African Americans were not human so this statement did not even remotely apply to us. The U.S. Constitution then goes on to tell us that we are only three-fifths of a person. That’s why people can kill us whenever they want without punishment.

In this day and age black lives are worth much less than white lives and this is very, very wrong. It also requires great violence to implement and maintain the worst form of human slavery known to humankind. It requires serious violence by enslavers, slave catchers, local, state, federal governments and the entire society. Maintaining slavery has forced us to be a very violent society that I can’t say I am proud to live in today.