Depends on what you mean by "justified." If you mean, as he seems to, that there are economic and social benefits to both slaves and owners, it is arguable. If you believe, as I do, that the right of the individual to be free is primary, then the arguments must fail.
I spent a few weeks in 1998 reading up on the history of slavery for purposes of a running argument I had with a friend of mine, who argued that Africans were better off having been captured and sold into slavery, because they were better off economically and socially. I read books on slavery in ancient Greece, Rome, and the history of slavery in the Americas. The best book I found is relatively new, "The Slave Trade," by Hugh Thomas, copyright 1997, but with footnotes it is more than 900 pages, not light reading.
None of my rational arguments were as effective as taking him to see "Amistad."
I grew up in Louisiana, and I know what slavery did to the black people who were enslaved there. We may rejoice that the misery was balanced by some benefits, but that does not justify the practice. |
