AIBU To wonder why and on what basis we attribute colour

I agree Polly, European colonists thought the native inhabitants savages and needed civilising by the white man.

Joolsnan I don’t want to sound critical but half caste is a terribly derogatory term and never used in this era it’s the equivalent of calling someone a ‘ spaz ’ or mongol never done now

www.africanecho.co.uk/africanechonews5-sept29.html

I am not only referring to the Slave Trade but the treatment of Indians by colonists, also of aborigines in Austria, blacks in S Africa during apartheid and in the southern States of the USA after abolition - and many many more examples.

Yes we know there has been other races involved in slavery and it still goes on, but this was not as systematic and on such an organised scale as the North American trade.

Well we know the Greeks and Romans had slaves, but in recent history the North Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the US and Caribbean benefitted Europeans and made huge wealth which we can still see evidence of today. Slavery wasn’t abolished in the US till the 1860s so it is relatively recent and within generational memory, plus segregation and lynchings in the US went on till the twentieth century. Whilst slaves were not used in England ( we had our own working class who though not slaves were often tied to employers and not seen as lessser humans) but used within the Empire and many British people lived lavish lifestyles literally off the backs of slaves, who were considered disposable property. Yes I know there were some Africans and Arabs involved as middle men in the trade ( the trade died out before the abolition of slavry itself) but that did not engender anything like the wealth made by Europeans. We shouldn’t brush this history under the carpet and should recognise that the effects of this period of history are still evident.

To believe that slavery was only perpetrated by white people against black people and has been abolished is to shut your eyes to what is happening today in areas of the world.

pollyperkins I disagree with your assertion that white Europeans were overwhelmingly the main perpetrators of slavery. Europeans were very late to the slavery arena, this had been going on for centuries before in Africa, the Middle and Far East and continues in a lesser form today. Slaves were sold by their kinfolk to passing ships and if you research the subject you will find that they were more than disappointed when UK called time on the practice. Initially those bought in Africa were known as indentured workers, the same status as many workers in UK. There is little comment on those regions that pre-dated the Europeans being sold slaves on the lives and treatment of the same.
And yes, very little comment on the white slave trade, or indeed the inhumanity shown to UK workers and those forcibly transported during the same period.

JenniferE yes there are instances of white slavery etc but historically there were overwhelmingly more cases of white Europeans (& other whites) subjugating & mistreating other races especially during colonial times. I don't think its really a fair comparison!

My dgs sang “baa baa happy sheep” - certainly not an urban myth

The points you made are very interesting Jalima1108 and absolutely true.

Any discussion about the evils of slavery should acknowledge that other races were involved too.

Strangely though, very few do, as it doesn't fit in with the 'vile white supremacists' rant does it?

Perhaps it comes from the distinction that was made in ref to South Africa in news bulletins & newspapers , they always refer to Black South Africans & White South Africans

I beg to differ Gillt. I was told tbis at staff training - don't say blackboard it is offensive. I was also told not to use the term brain stormig as it is apparently offensive to people with epilepsy. I couldnt bring myself to say board blasting instead though!
Also DD went to a playgroup where tge children were singing baa baa white sheep. I think there has been so much derision that no-one does this anymore. And anyway blackboards are a thing of the past.

anyone with the faintest idea about the way in which all sorts of ‘non white’ people have been treated over the centuries by ‘white’ people - bought, sold, excluded, segregated, discriminated against
and white people are not the only guilty ones as Arabs were well-known slave traders.
If we are talking about over the centuries then we must not forget that white people were enslaved too, taken from Ireland, Devon, Cornwall or captured at sea and taken to North Africa.

I am not sure that the blackboard story is true. The no black in Baa baa Black sheep is not true, an urban myth.

Absolutely PP, it helps no one if commonsense decends into Political correctness gone mad.

My point exactly. However using words which in the pat have been terms of abuse like the n word are obviously completely unacceptable.

I’m not trying to belittle the topic, but a blackboard is black,what is achieved by not calling it black. It seems an extremely perverse way of tackling racism.

yes,slope was a term used for asians/vietnamese and chinese.
i think it developed during the vietnam wars.whether from the french or other countries involved over the 30 years ,i do not know but have always found it distasteful.
haven;t heard it in about 20 yrs tho.
my many mixed races family call themselves mutts.

I did not say that at all maryeliza! Just that I cant see that it is helpful to keep referring to slavery etc all the time. Of course its important that we dont forget but continually referring to it does not help us all to get on togetger any better IMO.
I prefer to treat people as people without always thinking of their racial history although we have to be sensitive of course.
I cant see how saying chalkboard instead of blackboard for example helps anyone and tends to build up annoyancd and even antagonism.

pollyperkins I in no way condone slavery but those who rant about it should study the history of slavery, when and where it began, who sold what to whom, who ended (some of it) and then look at how the serfs and indenturedworkers of the U.K. we're treated both here in the UK and those who were forcibly transported to the colonies, however that may be another topic for another thread.

And even if racism had disappeared ( which it hasn’t) the legacy it has left would still influence how blacks people feel about their history.

Jennifer it’s so clear when some posts have no rational point to make - they use personal insults. Rant and rave, university students - oh please. So you and polly think that racism is consigned to history. Really? Really?

Sorry about typos. Sent it quickly without checking.
We all know
But not bug!

Well wd all knos how appallingly people of non white races were treated in the past bug surely its time we moved on!