Racism and Slavery (3)

In the process of working through my own biases, I contemplated the profound evil of slavery. For the first time, I thought through what it means to treat another human being as inanimate property to be bought or sold. I reflected on the practice of taking a child away from its mother to be sold at auction. I considered that breaking up families for profit was normal and acceptable practice. And I came to understand for the first time that treating people as less than human—that is, race prejudice—had its roots in slavery.

What shocks me the most is the depth of the evil inherent in slavery. I’m beginning to understand that slavery is only possible when the enslavers refuse to see the humanity in the enslaved. And from that perception comes the racial bias that is still with us today.

We have serious work ahead of us to repair our nation.