RE: Why do some blacks moan and whine about slavery?
June 5, 2013 at 6:23 am
(This post was last modified: June 5, 2013 at 6:24 am by Whateverist.)
(June 4, 2013 at 4:19 pm)festive1 Wrote: I don't know about that Whateverist... There's some strange thoughts out there about claiming one's racial heritage. The phenomenon of "passing," where light skinned black slaves would simply blend into white society and thus to freedom... And sometimes, never going back and passing throughout life as a white person.
There was one instance documented where a slave couple, the man was light enough to "pass," traveled out of the deep south with his darker-skinned wife posing as his slave. He had his arm in a sling to cover for his inability to write his name into hotel ledgers. After slavery ended, this type of thing was seen as being a race traitor, yet understandable. They were often ostracized by their own race simply for having the ability to pass.
The whole "lighter than a paper sack" thing as well, where the lighter skinned you were was seen as a mark of superiority in the African-American community at one time (which I, personally, don't get, it means your ancestors were likely raped by their owners), but it still lingers. The rise of the black power movement in the 60's and 70's squashed a lot of this, but also made it kind of a taboo to discuss... Anyhoo, what I'm getting at is there are still a lot of people of African heritage out there who have odd, counter-intuitive views of their own racial background.
I don't disagree with anything you've said. I just think this guy is as phoney as a 3 dollar bill. So I'm skeptical of anything he says.