Anyone who thinks that African American slavery is ancient history and has no relevance today, hasn’t been reading newspapers lately.
In 2002, a black alderwoman in Chicago wrote and led passage of a city ordinance forbidding the city government from doing business with any company that had historical links to the slave industry. The idea of black reparations for slavery, once considered a joke at best, is now being debated on the front pages of America’s leading news media.
Blood relatives of former slaves have filed lawsuits calling for judicial review and punitive damages for the treatment of their ancestors. Even more telling, some of the most prestigious institutions in America, from Yale University to Equitable Life Insurance Company, have made national public apologies as historical documents revealed their participation and profit in the slave trade.
More than ever before, Americans of all races are asking two key questions: What did slavery really do to black people, women and society as a whole; and can America truly evolve into a multicultural society, with respect and opportunity for all, without a full accounting of the legacy of black slavery?
Anyone interested in the answers to the above questions should see the dramatic production “Let My People Go: The Trials of Bondage in Words of Master and Slave.” The presentation is Friday at 11:30 p.m. in the College of Nursing Cooper Auditorium.