Don't confuse slavery with racism.
African American slaveowners did not view slavery differently, then white people. Nor is there any evidence that black slave owners treated black slaves better than white slaveowners. Likewise, Native Americans owned black slaves. The groundbreaking study by Larry Koger regarding free black slaveowners concluded the following...
"...free blacks who held loved ones bought other slaves to be exploited for profit. To classify these transactions as benevolent would be a mistake. Even though these slaveowners usually demonstrated benevolent behavior towards their slave relations and friends, a commercial and materialistic exchange existed between them and their slaves purchased as investments. In fact, the free blacks who maintained a dual relationship with their slaves had no universal commitment against slavery. To them, slavery was an oppressive institution when it affected a beloved relative or a trusted friend, but beyond that realm, slavery was viewed as a profit-making institution to be exploited."
Why is this important? Because it illustrates that slavery as an institution was not an act of white supremacy, rather it was a global institution practiced by all races including African Americans against fellow members of their own race and other races in other parts of the world. This suggests that as the quote highlights that slavery was more about profits than skin color.
This is useful to understand for two reasons. First, just as people of all races engaged in slavery, other people of all races strongly opposed it and ultimately worked to extinguish it. In other words, people of all races have been opposed to slavery since it was first imported into this country by Europeans.
When viewed through this lens, it reveals rather than white supremacy a common bond of humanity shared by good people across all races has existed for centuries.
Meanwhile, both racism and slavery persist to this day. There are more slaves today, than ever in global history. Let that sink in.
"According to Global Slavery Index, there are estimated 46 million people living in modern-day slavery. 58 percent of people in slavery are living in just five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. India has the maximum numbers of slaves at 18.40 million, compared to 3.4 million in China and 2.1 million in Pakistan." The single worse country with respect to slavery on a percentage basis (versus absolute numbers is Mauritania in Africa with 20% of the population estimated to be "enslaved". Sadly, too many people are caught up in the 1800s to devote the needed energy to address this serious global issue going on right now. If slavery is bad, what are we doing to end it?
Unrelated to slavery is the issue of racism, which also continues to exist across all races and nations. Racism is a form toxic tribalism. Tribalism is a normal human behavior and so the primary way to end racism is to promote cross racial tribalism. Racially focused identity politics promotes tribalism and racism, but shared identity as Americans helps to minimize racism. Only be seeing fellow Americans as "Americans" and not African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc. can we hope to diminish racism.
At present, I see our nation shifting away from this shared identity toward a much more fractured one and so I fear racism will be with us for the foreseeable future.
