Re: Slavery - Holocaust - Apartheid -- Revolutions and Democracy in Latin America

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:04:11 04/26/02 Fri
Author: Cynthia Boaz
Subject: Re: Slavery - Holocaust - Apartheid
In reply to: Patrick 's message, "Slavery - Holocaust - Apartheid" on 12:09:23 04/26/02 Fri

I honestly don't have the mental energy to give your arguments the thoughtful responses they deserve, so let me just say that 1) I know these topics aren't directly relevant to the course theme per se, however, the larger topics of democracy and social change ARE relevant, and at some level, it seems inane to dissect the political systems of Latin America without a little prior or periodic self-examination, especially because of the signficant role of the United States in Latin America, 2) I wonder- do Europeans talk about the American history of slavery? What is the "conventional wisdom"? Do they (Europeans in general) find it odd, hypocritical, bizarre, etc...that slavery history is so underacknowledged by most Americans? What is your impression?, 3) I also find it bizarre and disturbing that American students know more...much more...about the Holocaust and crimes of the Nazis than about the crimes of their forefathers. As you said, to make this point doesn't (nor should it) ameliorate the heinouness of the Holocaust, but let's call a spade a spade. Hitler's goal with the Final Solution was to eradicate a "race" of people from the planet because in his mind, Jews were less than human. That is not qualitatively different from slave plantation owners who had no qualms about owning another person. Plantation owners paid insurance and taxes on their slaves, just as they would a piece of land or some other property. To view another person as a piece of property is to totally dehumanize him. Both the means and ends were different between slavery and the Holocaust, but both phenomenon required essentially the same type of ignorance and inhumanity in order to exist. So I agree with you, students should be required to learn that history as it actually was, painful and uncomfortable as it might be-- you don't heal a wound by pretending it doesn't exist, 4) The real difference, as far as I can see, between Apartheid and the early years of the US government, is that slavery was not codified in law/constitution (though it was certainly permitted through the ambiguitites and loopholes), while Apartheid was not just a policy, but a constitution and a regime. It's a weak difference, I know, but at least the same consitution that allowed for slavery also called for (through it's evolution w/ the Civil War Amendments) it's eradication. Ending slavery, per se, did not bring down the US republic, wheras ending apartheid meant bringing down the entire system. But...still, I see your point and the fact that I cannot answer this question to my own satisfaction is a source of great discomfort and frustration for me.

Have a good weekend.
-cb

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: Slavery - Holocaust - Apartheid -- Emilie, 08:48:22 04/27/02 Sat