The Slave Trade
I'll probably get slaughtered for this...

Yes, the Slave Trade was despicable thing, that caused untold suffering to many hundreds of thousands of people. What I don't quite understand is why said descendants feel that they are entitled to a financial handout and apology for something that happened to an ancestor that they never even met, because they are "still suffering the consequences today".

If you look at the family tree of any random human on the planet, you will know doubt find a history that's rich in loss, suffering, death, disease, war, upheaval and violence. It's what made us, it's also the reason we happen to be alive today. It seems to me that these people are essentially arguing that they wish they had never been born. Many of my ancestors were Jews that fled Tsarist Russia to escape persecution. Was their persecution a good thing? No. but I wouldn't be here if it hadn't happened.

Of course we shouldn't ignore the lessons of the past, but there is plenty of bad shit being done to people now, shouldn't this be our focus?
(Nitrous Nitrous, Thu 1 Mar 2012, 23:50, 25 replies)

Short and honest answer
they're not. It's a focus for other discontent. Irish people's ancestors were about as oppressed as black people. However Irish people don't want reparations because (for example) the police don't stop them on the street for no reason.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 5:20, closed)

The Irish are the most oppressed people ever.

( Ring Of Fire A petty, drooling belming butthurt retard., Fri 2 Mar 2012, 7:40, closed)

Apart from the black people in Ireland?

(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Fri 2 Mar 2012, 8:23, closed)

what black people in Ireland?

(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:06, closed)

You roicist
you.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:16, closed)

Phil Lynott?

(McChinaman banned, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 14:01, closed)

Yeah.
Barely a days goes by without someone demanding that I apologise for the sins of my ancestors, and pay out some compensation.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 7:05, closed)

I know!
I've paid out literally zeros and zeros of pounds over my life for this very reason.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:48, closed)

why the gibbering fuckmuscle do they insist on being call african american?
if they so dearly want the rest of the country to embrace them for who they are and what they can do for there community and country then shirly they should be called american?
or do they/are they using the term as scape goatse for being lazy lying rapeyrobby overweight dimshits and expect sympathey for there cause?

i am from a scotish mother and a welsh father and i call my self English because that is where i was born and that is who i am, at some point in the past i have romany gypsy blood in the family line but i do not bleat about it and try to make it in to an excuse for being who i am and what i am. hell my family even had a slave or two in the past but i do not make appologies for that part of my history or expect to make a payment or say sorry for my great great great great grand farther.
man up and accept teh fact that you are american whether you like it or not you have turned being called african american into the new nigga* word and now you expect every one else to feel sorry





* used in context and not as a derogatory but if you still dont like it tough it is part and parcle of history
( fluffybunnykiller Is feasting on the clitoris of life, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 7:52, closed)

I like your spelling, grammar & punctuation.

(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Fri 2 Mar 2012, 8:25, closed)

Were you drunk when you posted this
or just trying to get a rise out of people?
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:07, closed)

I don't mind you Welsh/Scot halfbreeds settling here,
but you could at least learn the bloody language.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:28, closed)

TL:DR
But I used to work with a guy who went on holiday to America. Apparently, somebody once heard his sarf Lahndon accent and said, "So you're an English African-American?"
( Afinkawan Yes I can hear you Clem Fandango, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:29, closed)

Ahem!
They were 'forced' to go an pick cotton in the US and I think it may be there way of reminding themselves where they originally came from....Just an idea...Your Scottish mother and Welsh father comparison is laughable, so thanks for the humour at least. Grimsdales prob spot on, you were drunk right?
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:42, closed)

Short answer: They don't.
Long answer: They don't, it's PC white people who invented the term.

There's a black American comedian who sums it up saying 'Everytime a white person calls me African American it sounds like they are trying too hard, and I just think 'Man, you had to think of a way not to call me nigger'
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:50, closed)

Long History
The use of "African" for a black American is very long established. I used to think "African-American" was a bit silly, but since they also have Italian-Americans, Scottish-Americans, Japanese-Americans and so on, African-American is actually quite a logical term, and is about more than skin colour.
(ubergeekian, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 12:00, closed)

I don't know what is worse of me,
that I am happy to take my knowledge of Black America from a comedian without checking any further or that I am willing to stand corrected by a B3tan on the same basis.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 16:08, closed)

Some of my best friends are slaves

(TheColonel, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:02, closed)

some of my friends are slaves they on work exp in maky ddss
(todj, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:21, closed)

apparently
This really irks some Jewish people who bring it up with them. This really irks african-americans. Mentioning the pyramids doesn't help apparently.
(skgorsky, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 9:32, closed)

Cecil B. DeMille
Is responsible for the 'slaves built the pyramids' misconception.

They were largly built, as with all the other monuments and temples, by skilled artesans and workers in lieu of tax. You could, instead of paying tax during the farming season, work on municipal projects during the annual innundation of the Nile when farming was impossible.

You can build big things with slave labour, but you can't build them well. And the pyramids and temples of Egypt are absolutely incredibly well put together with a level of accuracy that defies belief.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 11:32, closed)

the grunts dragging the rocks?

(skgorsky, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 12:02, closed)

Again, they weren't dragged by teams of labourers
But there were very advanced (and therefore operated with care and knowledge) lever and pulley systems as well as movable pinion-based lifters.

The old 'massive mud ramps' idea was flawed, as it would have taken more mud than was available in Egypt...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 17:37, closed)

Did Jewish Slaves Build the Pyramids?

skeptoid.com/episodes/4191

Rather good article on the subject. Top website too.
(Nitrous Nitrous, Fri 2 Mar 2012, 18:16, closed)

Is this like working for your benefits?
Seemed to be quite effective.
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Fri 2 Mar 2012, 14:34, closed)