Maybe most of you have thought about this already. There are some famous pictures of black North American slaves with scars on their backs, of lynchings, and so forth. They are often found in children's textbooks. In some the pictures tend to provoke disgust, sadness, self-shame for YT, guilt, a sense of obligation.
But when it comes to discussions about the photos, or about slavery generally, is it possible *something vital is missing* from the conversation. I'm just thinking out loud here.
Maybe what is being left out is that slaves who did not commit 'shines did not get harshly punished. Maybe what is being left out is that the scars and lynchings didn't happen by themselves, that maybe something preceded those scars, and maybe the scars are...wait for it...*consequences for bad personal behavior.* Maybe when we see photos of slaves who were harshly beaten or lynched, we are seeing the worst of the worst of the slaves. Maybe we're looking at a bunch of criminals. Maybe we're looking at animals. Maybe we're looking at scum. Maybe *we're basically looking at their mugshots.* In which case, there is no cause for pity.
Anyone know if there are facts to show this might be true, at least in some cases? If there is truth to this, then....blacks want whites to feel pity, guilt, shame and indebted for what, exactly? Because the black's ancestors behaved badly and were punished for it? Just like many blacks behave badly today?
I wonder if back in Africa some of the blacks originally wound up as slaves because of their 'shines, or the 'shines of their fathers or brothers.