However, we are not supposed to speak or write about the “noble savage” being so ignoble.

Free Blacks also owned slaves, black and white and of course, Whites owned slaves, black and white. Slaves were not taken or purchased because of their color but because they were available. Profit, not racism was the motive.

In the colonies, Europeans carved out a civilization from the forests, drained the swamps, removed the rocks, dug precious metals from the earth, and built the most philanthropic, powerful, and prominent nation in history.

Admittedly, much credit goes to black slaves who were forced to work the tobacco and cotton fields of Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Furthermore, much credit goes to white indentured servants who chose to work those same fields to pay off their debts for travel to the colonies.

During the 1600s, slavery became a trade and a valuable commercial venture. The early Puritans thought slavery was justified if the captives were taken in a just war, and even Roger Williams condoned slavery for a time!

I would be unfair and inaccurate if I implied that Blacks were without some guilt in this whole wretched business of slavery. Richard Hufstadter wrote in America at 1750: “Africa had a system or systems of slavery long before white men came to the Guinea Coast, and had regularly enslaved war captives and criminals . . . Other persons sold themselves or their families for food during famine, or were kidnapped by native gangs. Many native [black] kings ran profitable slave businesses, and responded eagerly to opportunities for greater profits. The slave trade became a recognized and entirely legal form of business in Africa.”

In different parts of Africa, slavery became a major source of income for the authorities. The river ports became an efficient way to move slaves from the mainland to the New World. Whites and Blacks cooperated in this nefarious business of selling humans.

One black King of Bonny said in response to England’s demand for an end to slavery, “We think that this trade must go on,” he exclaimed. The king continued: “That also is the verdict of our oracle and the priests. They say that your country however great, can never stop a trade ordained by God himself.” And the trade went on until it seemed as if some countries would be emptied of its strongest people. Notice that the black king appealed to religion to justify what he was doing to his own people. Of course, men have used religion to justify their wickedness for centuries.

Some countries protested, but the trading in human lives went on—and grew, aided and promoted by local black chiefs. One former slave wrote, “But I must own, to the shame…of my own countrymen, that I was first kidnapped and betrayed by some of my own complexion, who were the first cause of my exile and slavery; but if there were no buyers there would be no sellers.”

And there were plenty of buyers—Portuguese, French, English, and Dutch.

Historian John A. Garraty wrote: “The local king dictated the rules of trade and filled a slave ship in his own good time. The Europeans’ power lay in the insidious luxuries which became necessities: liquor and firearms.” So Whites used liquor and guns to reward black kings and chiefs for attacking their own villages at night and carrying away in chains their own people to be sold at auction in the markets of the West Indies, Latin America, and Jamestown.

The slaves were sold for two ounces of gold in some ports while in other ports, a healthy, strong male brought 115 gallons of rum to his owner. Women sold for ninety-five gallons of rum.

Some slavers were convinced that the Blacks didn’t have souls so that made slavery acceptable! However, the Portuguese believed Blacks had souls and could be redeemed like anyone else. They convinced themselves that slavery was not wrong because slaves would be taken to Christian lands where they would be exposed to the Gospel. Many thousands of black slaves were sprinkled (called baptism by some church leaders) before the ships sailed out of the harbors of the Congo and Angola.

Some have estimated that from ten to twenty million blacks were sold into slavery yet many never reached land and were buried at sea. Garraty reports they were kept below decks “in two rows, one above the other like books on a shelf.” One ex-slave Olaudah Equiano wrote, “The stench of the hold (beneath the ship’s deck) while we were on the coast was intolerably loathsome but now that the whole ship‘s cargo were confined there together it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, was…aggravated by the galling of the chains.”

Many colleges use Equiano’s book; however, few admit that he was not born in Nigeria as the story is told, but in South Carolina and got his very interesting information from other slaves. However, Equiano’s statement was true. The air was so foul below decks a candle would not burn! Many Blacks committed suicide rather than endure such conditions while others simply stopped breathing, dying of suffocation.

Those who lived were sold on auction blocks in Latin America and North America and were destined to be worked, beaten, and sometimes killed by their owners. Twenty Blacks arrived in Jamestown on a Dutch ship in 1619 and were sold to tobacco planters. The tobacco planters had large tracts of land that had to be worked and they had now found workers. There was a large profit in tobacco, more than six times as much as in grain.

Obviously, the slave system was a major building block of the economies especially in the tobacco colonies. However, less than three percent of all the Blacks sold into slavery in the Western Hemisphere came to America. Most of them were sold in Central and South America and the Caribbean area. Slaves were treated worse, worked harder, and had a higher death rate in those areas than in America.

Slaves were not only working on the tobacco plantations in the south but they were also laboring in every colony in the north. The northern masters were just as cruel as those in the south were and penalties were just as harsh for unacceptable activity.

And the face of America received a scar that has never healed because racists keep picking at the scab.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA TODAY for 8 years. Boys authored 18 books, the most recent Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! eBook is available here with the printed edition (and other titles) at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don Boys, Ph.D.; and visit his blog. Send request to DBoysphd@aol.com for a free subscription to his articles, and click here to support his work with a donation.)

American Blacks had and have incredible opportunities to be successful in our nation for which I am grateful; they have opportunities they would not have had in Africa. It is also a fact that the poorest Black in the roughest U.S. ghetto is many times better off than those Blacks living in totalitarian “nations” in Africa. In fact, if I were a Black, I would thank God that my ancestors were brought here so I would have the privilege to live in such a free country where I had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Christ instead of living in constant fear of pagan gods, pandemic diseases, predator animals, tribal wars, starvation, cannibals, etc. While the slave trade was horrific and all connected to it were incredible criminals, there are some positive residual effects for which I would be thankful if I were black.

My boyhood hero Booker T. Washington wrote in Up From Slavery, “Then, when we rid ourselves of prejudice, or racial feeling, and look facts in the face, we must acknowledge that, notwithstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery, the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country, who themselves or whose ancestors went through the school of American slavery, are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe.”

Even Cassis Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali, who fought George Foreman in Zaire for the world heavyweight boxing title realized his advantages because his ancestors were brought to America. Ali won the fight, and upon returning to the United States, he was asked by a reporter, “Champ, what did you think of Africa?” Ali replied, “Thank God my granddaddy got on that boat!” Only a fool, a fanatic, or falsifier would disagree.

While we must never slip into the darkness of defending slavery, we must also not veer into the academic crime of inventing history or not revealing the totality of an issue for fear of being thought infamous, incompetent, or ignorant.

It is a fact that the Romans conquered Great Britain (then a gaggle of uncivilized tribes) at an enormous price in savagery; but the basic infrastructure, the foundation for law, and technology that they left behind had much to do with Britain becoming a world-girdling empire upon which it was said, “The sun never sets.”

Julius Caesar invaded Great Britain in 55 and 54 B.C. and installed a local boy as king who was responsible to Rome. Rome permitted the locals to take care of Rome’s business. The empire was ruled from the towns where councils formed of local citizens were responsible for tax-collection and keeping order in the surrounding countryside. It was a masterful plan that worked well for everyone. A great nation was in the making.

While the victims of Roman invasion could not have seen anything positive in the Roman invasion of Great Britain, the present generation would be dishonest or uninformed if the many positive residual benefits were not recognized. The crude villages became replicas of Roman towns with market squares, temples, bathhouses, shopping malls, and hotels. Caesar was very wise to not position foreign overlords to administrate the towns and collect taxes but permitted the locals to rule for them. Everyone was happy as Britain rather quickly morphed into a miniaturized Rome. But Rome was crumbling and under constant attack from pagan tribes and the emperor left Roman soldiers stationed in Britain to fend for themselves. By mid-fifth century, the Roman influence had almost disappeared as the soldiers (not getting paid from Rome) became farmers, laborers, outlaws, and vagabonds in far-away England.

Rome left its mark on Great Britain using their troops (occupied in fighting only 10% of the time) to build water systems, sewage, and sanitation systems, beacons, canals, ports, aqueducts, walls, bridges and roads which are legendary–some even being used today! Even with that, the major contribution of Rome on England was the extent which Roman law played in the development of common law of England and consequently in the United States.

For an Englishman to say that he owes nothing or very little to the Roman invaders (or that they owe him) is foolish and not factual. And for modern Blacks not to recognize that there were major residual effects from slavery is not factual but foolishness and false and has the earmarks of fanaticism.

While no sane person defends slavery, all honest people recognize that modern Blacks are far better off than their ancestors who sat around camp fires with a lifetime threat from cannibals, hunger, pagan religion, and often rival chieftains and slavers.

Yes, Muhammad Ali was right to be delighted his granddaddy “didn’t miss that boat.” Being a rich World Champion boxer was better than sitting around a jungle campfire swatting mosquitos and cuddling with a cobra in a thatched hut.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

The UN group even likened the police shootings of Blacks in recent months to KKK lynchings! Devotees to reparations are expecting Obama to give birth to reparations by executive order before he leaves the White House. If he does so, it will support the charge that he is a dictator with a Harvard degree. He will also set off a massive explosion that will continue to tear America apart.

Reparation groups have been meeting for years demanding that “Whitey” pay for mistreated of Blacks more than 150 years ago. I think we overpaid reparations in blood when more than 700,000 Americans lost their lives resulting in freeing the slaves plus the trillions of dollars in welfare and affirmative action in recent years. Of course, no white person is alive who participated in the evil of slavery and no black victims are alive either. So, it’s a standoff. Let’s all go home.

Several black American groups are seeking reparations from the United States government for the time their alleged ancestors spent as slaves. The African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission is demanding an astronomical $777 trillion! When pigs learn to fly in formation and do somersaults over the White House!

Radical blacks have demanded that U.S. taxpayers pay the descendants of slaves a suggested $100,000 each! But it gets worse because black leaders know they can parlay white guilt into much more cold cash. Hundreds of people attended the National Reparations Convention in Chicago on February 2-4 of 2001 where Howshua Amariel proposed that Blacks should receive free education, free medical care, free legal advice, and free financial aid with no taxes and if they wish to immigrate to Africa, they would each receive a million dollars!

H. Khalif Khalifah, founder of the National Black Reparations Alliance website, boldly declares, “There are no bad black people” and “Keep white people out of our membership ranks.” Check out the résumés of the major preachers and promoters of this scam. Many Black radicals such as screwy Louie Farrakhan, Congressman John Conyers, Father Divine, Johnnie Cochran, Elijah Muhammad, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Randall Robinson, etc., have supported reparations. Many Black Muslims are demanding a slice of the pie.

Of reparations, The Washington Post admitted, “The subject is scalding hot, untouchable as public policy. Even the brave run from it.” Yes, it is “scalding hot” but no, some of us are not running from this illegal, immoral, and incredible shakedown. And, make no mistake, it is just that: a shakedown, swindle, a scam of major proportions.

Furthermore, slavery was legal in the U.S. until 1865 with the passage of the 13th Amendment. Consequently, there were no laws broken. That is unless our black friends want to make slavery a crime retroactively.

Let’s establish some facts as a foundation for this discussion. Slavery has been a reality since the early days of civilization for a simple reason: Men are inherently wicked. Theologians call it “sin” that came down to us through our parents from Adam and Eve. Although far more whites have been enslaved than Blacks, that makes little difference in this discussion except for the record.

It is also a fact that black African chiefs enslaved their own people, marched them in chains to the west coast of Africa and sold them to Arab, Portuguese, English, and American traders. When the white slavers refused to pay the black slave traders’ asking price, the chiefs simply refused to sell. They knew how to get their price. It’s called waiting. The white slavers pouted in their ships just off shore as their food and water were depleted. Eventually, they capitulated and paid the asking price. The slaves were then distributed all over the world.

I also want to make clear that no slaves are alive today in America. If there were, I would agree that they be compensated. When I wrote AIDS: Silent Killer in 1987, I dealt with the now infamous Tuskegee study where black men were used and abused in medical experiments for many years by the U.S. Government. On numerous national and local talk shows, I advocated the prosecution of all responsible U. S. officials still alive and reparations for the few black men still living. But no slaves are alive today and it is insane to suggest any kind of payment after 150 years. Besides, that bill has been paid!

There are other problems: Who funds the scam and who profits from the scam? Since the money would come from the general U.S. Treasury then all taxpayers would be paying. That means Blacks would be paying for their own reparations! It also means that recent immigrants would be paying as well as descendants of those who arrived in America since the Civil War and had no connection to slavery. Furthermore, Northerners would be paying reparations when 350,000 of their distant relatives died “to free the slaves”! By what logic can that be justified? Since only one in five Southern families owned slaves why should all southerners pay for slavery perpetrated by others? Should American Indians pay reparations since they were here before Whites or slaves? Of course, some Indians owned black slaves and even ate them during bad times!

Then there is the task of determining what Blacks qualify for payment. All Blacks did not descend from slave parents. If one could justify reparations for Blacks who are descendants of slave families, how do we know which Blacks are descendants of slaves? Many present-day Blacks are descendants of free Blacks! Some Blacks would be receiving money for mistreatment that did not involve them or their relatives. That is dishonest. It is all based on self-identification–not reliable when big bucks are involved.

There is another problem that is unknown by most Americans: About 3,775 Blacks owned slaves in the South so how do we differentiate between those living Blacks who had ancestors who were slaves and those whose ancestors were not slaves but were in fact, slaveholders? By paying money (ripped from hard-working taxpayers of all races) to Blacks whose ancestors owned slaves, we would be rewarding slavery.

Many Americans are aghast at the possibility that Blacks actually owned their own people, but it is a fact of history. The American Heritage magazine cited the 1830 U.S. Census: “There were 3,775 free blacks who owned 12,740 black slaves! The father of American slavery was Anthony Johnson of Northampton, VA. His slave was named John Casor who was the first slave for life. Both owner and owned were black!” (Philip Burnham, “Selling Poor Steven,” American Heritage, Feb./Mar. 1993, Vol. 44, p. 90.)

But the Johnson case is even more tangled because he (and other Blacks) also held white slaves! Johnson (died 1670) was an Angolan slave who lived in the colony of Virginia. He was an indentured servant, as were most white workers in early Virginia, and earned his freedom and became a wealthy tobacco farmer. He bought the contracts of five indentured servants (four were white and one black). As bad as this was, it was usually not racist but economic. So, in the Days of Reparations how are we going to pay the descendants of the white slaves or don’t those slaves matter?

But in the end, I must endorse reparations! Every living slaveholder should go to prison for life and every living slave should receive one million dollars. That should take care of that.

Now I can go home since I solved that problem.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.