I know of four times that I sat down to write this article, but left, because I felt sick. I really felt sick. I wanted to write something about black people which would make others stop and think the next time they acted with prejudice towards the blacks; and I wanted the message to hit hard, and leave no room for discussion. I wanted to have the article either make a person continue to hate, distrust, and feel awkward around blacks – or stop the ignorance and lies of racism, and change. My plan was to hit hard with fact upon fact about slavery, which would shame the racist…, but when I started collecting the information, I got sick. Like all of us, I’ve grown up in a world desensitized to violence – as blood and death are shown in bold color in the media; but the old black and white photos of slavery made me look away. They were so sharp in their brutality; with no political angles, and no agenda. The written documentation was worse. In a few words I’ll give you some if the images that struck me.

Black people were grabbed in their villages and surroundings, chained, and placed on slaveships; where they were crammed in under the decks by the hundreds. The slave traders would pack in many more, knowing that a great many would die on the trip across the ocean. The blacks would be chained around the feet and/or necks with heavy iron collars for the whole trip. Once in the United States, they would be lined up and sold at a slave market, where anyone could simply walk up to them and inspect them; as if they were cheese or furniture. A potential buyer could even strip off the clothes of either male or female to inspect the slave closer, and could submit him/her to any other humiliation he chose. Women would have their clothes ripped off in front of groups of men! From there, they would be sold and transported – still in chains – to some plantation, where they would immediately be made to pick cotton from sunrise to sunset, until death.

The cotton picking would be based on weight, and if the slave underpicked – he could be whipped. And if the “master,” didn’t want to whip him himself, the slave would be sent to a company who would be paid to do the whipping. The slaves would all live together and have to grind their own flour and provide their own wood for the fire – and all this after 12 or 14 hours of work. Slaves were allowed to marry, in order for the children to then become slaves of the master; and husband, wife and children, could be sold off and separated forever, at a moment’s notice. – The family could be sold, individually, and never see each other again! If that didn’t happen, the mother and her children could expect to see the father whipped in front of them at any time. Some mothers drowned their babies instead of making them live through the horror of slavery.

The slaves who worked on the land would bend over for hours on end, and get beaten if they worked slowly or if they talked; while the slaves who worked in the house had to live through the daily humiliation of serving their masters. They could be beaten by any white person – the husband, his wife, a visitor, a neighbor, or even the kids. The slave had no rights whatsoever; he could be made to do anything, and even murdered, without anyone caring.

The slaves would try their best to learn to read and write, but their masters would beat them if they tried this; because power could only be kept if the slave was defenseless. The facts are almost endless.

When the Civil War ended – and the slaves became physically free – many assumed things should have gotten better, but off course, they didn’t. Immediately upon receiving their freedom, the black was bullied and terrorized by violent people who were furious that they had lost the war, and by men who quickly arrived in the South to exploit the blacks. The situation worsened, as with no work, threats, continued violence, and the unbelief that they were really free – many thousands of blacks headed north to the big cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia; where once there, they were met with prejuduidism, no work, no housing, and isolation. It wasn’t long before they were ghettoized.

From there, the blacks suffered alongside fellow Americans in such things as the World Wars and the Depression, only much worse. Their troubles were certainly physical, but of more agony, was the emotional degradation; as the blacks couldn’t go to a white school, library, restaurant, hospital, hotel – or even a white park bench or water fountain. The degradation was also on buses; where blacks had to sit in the back and give up their seat to a white. In bus and train stations, like everywhere else – they were segregated. If a black was beaten up or harassed in any way – he would never report it, because nobody would listen. Throughout this, shootings and lynchings of blacks were common. (A “lynching,” is where a group of people grab an innocent person, and hang him.)

The blacks, under the severest of conditions, kept their dignity, and did their best to survive. Most notably; some black universities and colleges started, alongside black businesses and organizations. And as the situation in the ghettoes worsened, a sense of black pride emerged; which outraged many whites. The result of which was the Civil Rights Movement; which challenged way things were. At this time, strides were made and barriers wobbled – without actually falling down, but the racists weren’t finished yet. They would threaten newspapers, public officials, and any one else who would defend the blacks; and would go into black areas and harass the people to try and get a riot going. These same people would defend all laws that hurt the blacks, and try to deny him his right to register and vote. Law enforcement was frequently against the blacks, and thuggery against them was widespread – and protected.

From there, the 1960s saw thousands of blacks forced to fight in Vietnam – based only on their poverty – and government housing projects warehousing thousands of people in high density, filthy, high crime places.

The point of this article, is that if we have prejudice against blacks; we have no idea what they’ve been through. If we see a black teenager hanging around a convenience store and it makes us nervous, just remember – he’s never had any of the opportunities that our kids have had. And, if we see a black who is a little uncommunicative or nervous around us; try to think of how many jobs he didn’t get – because of his color; or how many people have insulted him over his life. If we had to carry the burden of the black person’s history on our backs – how would we react?…probably worse.

What does the Bible say?

“Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” (Mathew 22:39.) Every human is our neighbor; and we are responsible for everyone’s wellbeing.

“From one man He [God] created all the nations of the earth.” (Acts17:26.) We were all created equal, and descended from the same ancestor.

“Christ is all, and is in all.” (Acts 10:34.)

“Do not exploit [use, hurt] the foreigners who live in your land.” (Leviticus 19:33.) This does not just apply to foreigners, but to everybody.

Black people are amazing; as they have lived through the worst indignities imaginable – and yet they remain intact. How many of us could do that? They have lived through slavery, and every misery possible, and still – they accept Jesus. Praise God. Are the blacks responsible for the lives many of them have now? No. It is our (the white man’s) fault for starting the horror; and everybody’s fault who keeps the blacks down. It is our responsibility to ensure they get a chance to succeed; and this is done through getting them jobs, school, social/economic networks, and simple respect. We must not say the job is too big, or we don’t know what to do, or someone else is doing it, or the worst: our taxpayer money is fixing it. As Christians – it’s our job.

The Bible tells us we will have to answer to God about every word, thought, and action that we ever had; so the next time we see a black person, we must be aware that how we deal with him/her, will either please, or anger God. It’s as simple as this: We are responsible to God for everything we do (or don’t do), so be warned.