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Old 09-07-2017, 03:34 PM   #24
rwidman
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City: North Charleston, SC
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I think it's important to remember (this is history, BTW so let's not forget it) that since the beginning of time, countries or groups of people have fought other countries or groups of people and the winners either killed the losers or enslaved them. The Pyramids and most of the historic buildings in the middle east and Europe were built by slaves. Not black slaves, but slaves none the less.

Many of the African slaves imported into the US and other new world countries were captured not by slave traders, but by other African tribes and then sold to the slave traders.

It's only in the last couple hundred years that the thought of owning other people has become to be thought of as wrong. People who owned slaves did not think this was wrong at the time. It was quite normal for well off people to own slaves.

We know now that holding other humans in slavery is wrong, but the common thought a couple hundred years ago was that it was not. It seems unfair to tear down statues and attempt to erase history for something that was acceptable at the time.

If we begin erasing everything that might possibly offend someone, we would not only be tearing down statues, we would be tearing down or renaming buildings, bridges and roads. And renaming streets and waterways.

Just like each of us as individuals, our country has done things in the past that many of us are not proud of. It's part of our history though and we should keep these things in mind as we head into the future. And try not to make the same mistakes again.
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