Slavery: The Stain on America’s Soul

One of the most significant events in America’s history was the enslavement of Africans that began in Virginia in 1619 in what would become the United States of America. 

Those first Africans, whose villages were attacked in the Ndongo region of Central Angola on the West Coast of Africa, were considered to be uneducated inferior people. Over the next 350 years that one incident would lead to legalized slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and ambiguous Constitutional laws.

When the American colonies broke from England, the Continental Congress asked Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. He wrote, “We hold these truths to be evident that all men are created equal.” But did he mean only white men since he owned slaves? His words proclaimed America’s ideals of freedom and equality, which still resonate throughout America today. But to Blacks, it was a continuation of the status quo. At the time these words were written, more than 500,000 black Americans were slaves. What became evident was that people of color were not treated equally and would be denied the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Those who were enslaved still had to work in the fields on July 4th and continued to be enslaved for another 89 years. 

The Africans were experts in farming crops such as tobacco, corn, and vegetables. They were experts in herding animals such as pigs, goats, and chickens. They also had skills in astronomy, agriculture, literature, religion, medicine, music, and philosophy. They were expert basket weavers and blacksmiths, and they respected their elders. These were the skills the Virginia Colony needed to survive. 

The original Africans who were born in Angola were raised as Roman Catholics and had been baptized, although their religion was not recognized or honored by the Virginia Settlers. By 1860 there were approximately 500,000 free people of color and over 3.5 million still held in bondage. Slavery in the USA was finally abolished in 1865, ending 246 years of human bondage. What began as slavery, ended in the triumph jubilation of Juneteenth, when people of color finally got freedom. 

It was our Emancipation Day. Slavery will always be a stain on America's soul. It cannot be washed away or written away. Even reparations cannot erase the impact of slavery, the dehumanization of people, and the social and economic disparities created over 400 years and counting. 

~ Calvin P.