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24
29
Black Slaves only White Slaves too
Debate Score:53
Arguments:31
Total Votes:63
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 Black Slaves only (13)
 
 White Slaves too (18)

Debate Creator

lawnman(1106) pic



Black slaves or white slaves.

Most people of the U.S. who when referencing slavery (de jure) in the U.S., pre-civil war, think of slavery only in association with black people. 

When you think of slavery and the victims of slavery, do you think of black people only, or, and white people too?

Provide an explanation for your position.

Black Slaves only

Side Score: 24
VS.

White Slaves too

Side Score: 29
3 points

well, whenever i think of the term slave my first thought is of the black slaves. but "education" has done that to me... so the conditioned response will always be that.

But, the Africans held Jews as slaves (Egypt anyone?).

anyway, slavery was in Africa before the white man came. tribes would take other tribes as slaves. it's not like the white man turned them into slaves, they just reverted where they would become slaves.

Side: Black Slaves only
4 points

Hello Pyg,

You deserve a pat on the back. No joke!

Almost all Americans overlook the fact that the black slaves of the colonial United States were first purchased from black slavers. Moreover, almost all Americans never research the history of slavery within the United States and consequently realize that the slavery of white people was never condemned.

Discrimination? The worst form!

What is more worse than all of the above? People who no longer are capable of initiating a cognitive thought that asks the question: Am I a slave?

"It's easy to believe you are not a slave when you have been taught to believe you're free."--Lawnman

If you continue your research of slavery, you may just realize that the greatest enemies of the white race are men of the white race.

Did not white men foment (as taught) the Civil war against their white brothers by using the slavery of the black race as a justification?

Conclusion: The white man has now enslaved both white and black men under a state approved form of slavery, and he calls it: Freedom and liberty.

Side: moderator

As a product of American high schools, I first think of black slavery, but I'm very much aware of the innumerable amounts of slaves that have existed from completely different origins and for completely different purposes.

Side: Black Slaves only
1 point

I know slavery has always existed and the the victims include blacks, whites, Indians, Asians, Egyptians, Jews, etc. The list goes on, but when somebody talks about slavery the first thing that pops in my head is the thought of "modern" slavery and how blacks were the last to become slaves...

Side: Black Slaves only
Diluck(51) Disputed
2 points

Blacks were not the last to become slaves. Modern slavery goes on under the politically correct term Human Trafficking. And the institution is alive and far from over. Sure blacks were enslaved but any race can be.

Side: White Slaves too
JakeJ(3255) Disputed
4 points

You don't think it's normal for somebody who lives in the U.S. to think of blacks when they hear the word "slave"?

Lets not go out of our way to e PC.

Side: Black Slaves only
MKIced(2511) Disputed
4 points

Thank you so much for down-voting my argument. It really means a lot! (Notice the sarcasm)

"Sure blacks were enslaved but any race can be."

That's why the first thing I said was how every race has been enslaved. It's that list of different races, you see them?

"Modern slavery goes on under the politically correct term Human Trafficking."

Human trafficking exists, but it is not as widespread as any mainstream slavery of the past, it is illegal, and it doesn't necessarily mean a single race is oppressed completely by it.

Side: Black Slaves only
1 point

In my eyes I have only seen that the black people were the slaves.Have you ever hared of the white slave, expert in sex slaves? I didn't think so! but I'm saying this in the Black woman's point of view.

Side: Black Slaves only
1 point

Dude...this is hilarious..when you talk about salves the first thing that should come to your mind is infackt black slavery. Using the word ''slavery'' is an UNDERSTATEMENT of what actually happened in that time. man were killed, eaten by dogs, woman were raped and given unwanted child of mixed race. Withoput forgetting HOW the slaves were brought to America, stuffed in boats in chains like animals.An estimated 15 million Africans were transported to the Americas between 1540 and 1850. To maximize their profits slave merchants carried as many slaves as was physically possible on their ships. A House of Commons committee in 1788 discovered that one slave-ship, The Brookes, was originally built to to carry a maximum of 451 people, but was carrying over 600 slaves from Africa to the Americas.

Chained together by their hands and feet, the slaves had little room to move. It has been estimated that only about half of the slaves taken from Africa became effective workers in the Americas. A large number of slaves died on the journey from diseases such as smallpox and dysentery. Others committed suicide by refusing to eat. Many of the slaves were crippled for life as a consequence of the way they were chained up on the ship.

White poeple seem to find anything possible to justify or to appease what happened in the past. All races who have went through racism are over it now, there is no more traces and the world has grown from it. Black poeple were enslaved 400 years..consecutive generations of sons becoming fathers and grandfathers in slavery without any sign of hope. And till this day, they are still affected by it. They have lost their original roots, languages, culuture and religion, and have been IMPOSED to this white world they are lving in. Today...the slave left overs are the GHETTOS in which they grow and THINK they belong. And because of the poverty resort to crimes to be able to eat.

But society today decides to cover eerything up and find the perfect excuse to insult blacks and to destroy us from the inside. Killing our children making it look like they are dangerous human beings (Zimmeman case). anyways..too much...go check the pictures of the lynchings, the whippings, the people being burned on the streets to a cheering crowd, the woman being raped internationnaly from city to city...i dont call it slavery, i call it RAce Abuse in which the entire world is taking part...

Side: Black Slaves only
4 points

In the Turkish Empire Europeans were used as slaves and in pre-Columbian North and South America people from other tribes were used as slaves too.

Side: White Slaves too
2 points

The word Slave actually comes from some other language's word for "Slav." Might have been the Turks, maybe, but they were considered a slave race wherever.

Side: White Slaves too

I don't think I would mind having a few white slaves mixed in with my black slaves. Wait... what's this debate about? ;)

Side: White Slaves too
1 point

I'm thinking that while race has been a discriminating factor pertaining to specific eras, every race has been subject to slavery at one time.

I'm going with males slaves. They like it. ;P

Side: Male Slaves
0 points

Haha you're a kinky one aren't you?

50 character argument

Side: White Slaves too

Being raised in this country I think of our slavery in the USA. The Black history of our country is always there in front of everything else. We've also had our share of white slavery but the English called it bondage. Virtually the same thing but it had its limitations time-wise. There is little but history books or novels to remind us that white slavery, yellow slavery and brown slavery (India) were abundant in years gone by. I think it's wise not to forget that but it does seem the Black men and women here had it worse than others and perhaps it seems that way because it's always and forever a subject that is not let go of. It's quite possible that we must "keep it green" so that it can never happen again and a good dose of reminders is, most likely, the best way to do that.

Side: White Slaves too
1 point

Whies should be slaves because blacks have been for many years

Side: White Slaves too
1 point

Wow, is this a trick question? Seems like you already know. Yes, there were white slaves too... in America... during the colonial period... in fact, more white than black slaves... and more white slaves died in transport on the way over here. Admittedly, it's probably partially cause more white slaves were children at the time of capture, but likely the high death rate also related to the fact that they were less valuable. A white slave sold for less cause he was more difficult to recapture if he ran away, cause he blended into the crowd. He had to be taught a skill in his infancy (since he often was one), or he was an adult criminal (vagrancy). Plus, you had to lie to him to keep him enslaved, promising to eventually deliver land to him when you never intend to (the racket of indentured servitude). Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, a story about an orphan in a workhouse who narrowly escapes becoming a chimney sweep (which deformed or killed 4-year-old boys, yet they still had to beg in the streets for food). If Scrooge's question "Are there no workhouses?" has you wondering what a workhouse is, read: "They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America" by Michael A. Hoffman II, "White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America" by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh, and "The White Slave: Another Picture of Slave Life in America" by Richard Hildreth. Also, here are some interesting links:

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=IH171039&ext;=1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-446654/Revealed-Britains-white-childslaves.html

http://bobsblahblahblogs.blogspot.com/2009/04/there-is-so-much-untold-history-out.html

So yeah, there were white slaves too, in colonial America, alongside black slaves. Over time, despite the fact that they were more expensive, the shift turned in favor of black slaves over white because at least you could more easily keep your purchase, since he didn't look like everyone else, and because he didn't speak your language at capture, you didn't have to keep duping him and risking his rebellions each time. White slaves murdered more of their masters, typically right after their slavery was extended beyond that promised point of freedom... AGAIN.

Side: White Slaves too
0 points

All Races can be slaves although a majority of slaves are female. Slavery is rampant today despite what people think. The typical slave is a younger woman used for prostitution. Slaves come from all races and groups of people however a majority of slaves around the world today come from Eastern European ex-Soviet countries.

Typically the victim is somehow lured into slavery through promises of job opportunity. Other times children are sold into slavery to pay off debt. Regardless of how the people become enslaved they are then removed from their country and usually brought to a place with a different language far from their home. The slaves are usually kept in line through violence and intimidation and the fact that they are displaced.

Once in captivity the women are often used as domestic servants or prostitutes. Males which make up no more than a fourth of all enslaved individuals are often enslaved to be used for manual labor. Escaping slavery is difficult because it is often in a legal gray area that can be confused for other illegal things such as prostitution. Often women who try to get help because they are a slave face an uphill challenge trying to get any actual help.

Slavery is not limited to one specific race despite the fact that in America slavery was. Today the most likely people to be enslaved are white.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking

Side: White Slaves too