I found this e-mail fascinating, particularly the historic references. At the time of Peter’s adventures anti-slavery advocates were pushing slave owners to deal only in blacks, as they argued that they would be better treated than whites because they were more expensive, and also that instead of enslaving a Christian, one would be enslaving a heathen and shepherding them into the Christian fold. The legend of the Sons of Ham adapted from the Old Testament was also being used as justification for Negro enslavement. I would like to thank B for this thoughtful research, particularly the linguistic notes.
In the morning, blessings, every Jew blesses G-d for, among other things, not having made him a slave (also for not making him a woman or a gentile.)
Why? I mean, G-d makes you a man and a Jew, but isn't it the case that a slave is something you become, like you become a plumber or a casualty of war?
It's not like slavery is something strange to us. We fought the Greeks (and won) who sold captives into slavery, and we fought the Romans in three major rebellions, which we lost. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were sold into Roman slavery. We have extensive laws on slavery, both how to own slaves and how to perform the commandment of redeeming Jewish slaves (pidyon shevuim):
(Notice the story of Rabbi Yishmael's redemption in the slave market of Rome, and imagine the heartbreaking context.)
But we never stayed slaves. We always bought ourselves and other Jews out.
Likewise, we see that white slaves who didn't die would find a way to gain their freedom.
Similarly, Indians proved completely unsuited to being slaves (although they owned slaves-the Cherokees had tons of black ones.)
Blacks, on the other hand, seem to have taken to slavery quite well in all times and places, and done very poorly with freedom. Ibn Khaldun says about them:
"We have seen that Negroes are in general characterized by levity, excitability, and great emotionalism. They are found eager to dance whenever they hear a melody. They are everywhere described as stupid."
"Here, we possibly learn another secret, namely, that man is a natural leader by virtue of the fact that he has been made a representative (of God on earth). When a leader is deprived of his leadership and prevented from exercising all his powers, he becomes apathetic, even down to such matters as food and drink. This is in the human character. A similar observation may be made with regard to beasts of prey. They do not cohabit when they are in human captivity. The group that has lost control of its own affairs thus continues to weaken and to disintegrate until it perishes. Duration be longs to God alone...Therefore, the Negro nations are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because (Negroes) have little (that is essentially) human and have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."
Slavery, it seems, is at its root an innate human condition for some people, and not for others. Due to exigent circumstances, someone who is not a natural slave may become enslaved, and vice versa, but time always puts everyone in his place.
James,
1. I couldn't watch the video of the black kid kicking around black toddlers. In general, I think the Muslims may have been onto something when they used the men for eunuch slave labor and the better looking women for concubines. They also apparently used blacks to populate malarial oases, which nobody else could inhabit. To this day, the Saudis use a black executioner:
link › youtu.be/UxmBp23W6nc
2. The interview with the headman is chiefly interesting for me in that it showed how patronizing the Arabs are to him. "And quite a man you are!"
3. Also, Prince Bandar, who ran Saudi's intelligence work with/in the US and apparently is responsible for a lot of the American debacle in the Middle East over the last decade, is the son of a black concubine, which makes him ineligible for the throne but quite useful for doing dirty work:
4. On a related note, I've been grinding through Ibn Khaldun's Muqadimmah, which is outstanding and full of insights and hate facts.
5. According to Carlo Cipolla, stupidity is behavior that is harmful both to yourself and to others, which is about the best definition I've heard. Therefore, when I heard about Lakeisha Holloway's murderous car rampage in LV, I just thought "TNB" and moved on. Then a picture of her looking crazy in a hijab came across my Facebook feed. Feeling intrigued, I googled her. This is the first thing that came up:
Apparently, "baby daddy" is now standard English usage. And her "baby daddy" is apparently what "triggered" her into mowing people down with her car.
6. Finally, did you know the word "mulatto" comes from the Spanish "muladi," meaning, the children of Arab conquerors and local, Spanish women? The Spanish word in turn comes from the Arabic "muwallad," which means "children" or "those who were born," same root as the Hebrew "yeled" or "child." So there you go.
