There is a lot of talk of reparations for Black people for their slavery over 100 years ago. I do not understand why. Slavery in America is not something to be proud of. We all get that. But, who are you going to blame for it? Are all White men responsible for the slavery of Black men? The point America has not discussed is the fact that everything that brought the Black man out of slavery was at a cost to the White man.

I find this interesting: “Where did the supply of slaves come from? First, the Portuguese themselves kidnapped some Africans. But the bulk of the supply came from the Nigerians. These Nigerian middlemen moved to the interior where they captured other Nigerians who belonged to other communities. The middlemen also purchased many of the slaves from the people in the interior . . . . Many Nigerian middlemen began to depend totally on the slave trade and neglected every other business and occupation. The result was that when the trade was abolished [by England in 1807] these Nigerians began to protest. As years went by and the trade collapsed such Nigerians lost their sources of income and became impoverished.” (from, “It’s Time to Face the Whole Truth About the Atlantic Slave Trade” by  Sheldon M. Stern )

American history is full of misdeeds by men, but not all men. For every evil created there have been men that have stood to fight that evil. The Black man has not reached freedom without the help of others, and at what cost to those others? Black people fail to realize that at least half of this Nation has supported and fought for their freedom. Yet, Black people blame the White man for their troubles.

Going back through history to before the Civil War, White people were working to free the Black man from slavery. During the Civil War half of the Nation took up arms against the other half in effort to free the slaves. Slavery was eliminated in America via the efforts of people of various ethnicities, including Caucasians, who took up the banner of the abolitionist movement. The names of the white leaders of that movement tend to be better known than those of the black leaders, among whom were David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Dred Scott, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, and many others. When Congress passed (and the states ratified) the 13th Amendment in 1865, it was the culmination of many years of work by that multi-racial movement.

Then until the Civil Rights movement very little progress was made for Black people: “The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.”

Do you think the civil rights movement was just the Black man? Do you really believe that there wasn’t White people fighting for equal rights for Black people? “

If necessary, please re-read the “Civil Rights” paragraph above: “They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality.” Believe it or not folks, Martin Luther King did not march alone.

And, if you continue to follow history up to present day, you will find at each step taken White men have walked with Black men for the betterment of Black people. What did the White man get out of it? A program called Equal Opportunity Employment was one of the thing White man got for his efforts to obtain equality for Black people. What that program did was require that unqualified minorities were hired for positions based on the color of their skin ahead of White men that were much more qualified. Seldom did you hear complaint of this government created racism, but how did such effect White people’s lives.

And, working our way further towards today has any progress in equality taken place? “Progress is the largely suppressed story of race and race relations over the past half-century. And thus it’s news that more than 40 percent of African Americans now consider themselves members of the middle class. Forty-two percent own their own homes, a figure that rises to 75 percent if we look just at black married couples. Black two-parent families earn only 13 percent less than those who are white. Almost a third of the black population lives in suburbia.” (Black Progress: How far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.)

9 ‘Facts’ About Slavery They Don’t Want You to Know

What I have been trying to point out to you, the Reader. Is that the fight for equality of all men has never been just a Black fight. Today there are intelligent Black men that fail to see that everything the Black man is going through, so are the men of other races. Look around you. Look at your coworkers, your friends. Sure those with wealth or the entitled few are not going through it, but those not of such privilege, just like you are going through it. Did you really believe te Black man the only one suffering?

If you want to stop racism, stop creating racism. Nobody deserves reparations for anything unless they are still alive and were actually a slave. Quit using the color of skin as an excuse to cause disharmony. And stop this bullshit movement as it is undoubtedly going to create more government sanctioned racism and send us backwards to a lesser time of equality.