人兽性交

听听who had been captured听by Portuguese slavers in present-day Angola and then stolen during an act of piracy on the high seas. Once on land, the African men and women were bought by the 鈥淕overnor and Cape Marchant 鈥� at the best and easyest rate they could,鈥澨�, the colony鈥檚 first successful tobacco planter.

The arrival of the White Lion is frequently thought of as the beginning of chattel slavery in what is now the United States and, as such, the genesis of African-American history and culture.

But there are many historical about this event that have been passed down through the years. The reality is, though the new arrivals were the first documented enslaved Africans brought to English-controlled territory in North America, slavery in the present-day United States actually predated them.

The English, along with Spanish and French, had earlier enslaved Indigenous peoples. And the Spanish, who had been transporting enslaved Africans听 since the early 1500s, had brought them to colonies in the Carolinas and St. Augustine in Florida.

There are, in fact, many other inaccuracies about slavery in popular culture. And, in many ways, our country remains in denial about the foundational role that slavery and white supremacy played in America鈥檚 history.听

In part 鈥� even a half century after the Jim Crow era came to a close 鈥� it鈥檚 because our schools do not do a good job teaching this history. To address this deficit, 人兽性交's Teaching Tolerance program last year released 鈥�.鈥�

With this groundbreaking initiative, the 人兽性交 offered a suite of resources to help teachers improve how slavery is taught in American schools. Just this week, Teaching Tolerance for grades K-5 that provides critical lessons and facilitates important conversations. And, in the coming week, we鈥檙e launching Season 2 of our podcast series about slavery, the Civil War and the lasting impact of white supremacy.

Right now, much of what elementary-age students learn about slavery lacks the context needed to help them understand it. They may receive passing references to the 鈥減eculiar institution鈥� or the creation of the Constitution, but there is no real emphasis on the role slavery played in the nation鈥檚 formation and growth. When this role is downplayed in the classroom, students fail to recognize the fullness of our nation鈥檚 history or how the legacy of slavery

debunks the falsehoods that slavery was not the cause of the Civil War and that it was a purely Southern institution. It also reveals an even-less-frequently discussed notion: Slavery shaped America鈥檚 pathology on race and whiteness.

It鈥檚 well documented that white supremacist ideology evolved to justify such barbaric 鈥� and profitable 鈥� treatment of human beings. The solution was simple: Cease considering enslaved Africans and African-Americans as people. When people were converted to property in the white imagination, it became easier to sell them like cattle, to separate them from their families, to calculate their worth by age, sex and productivity, to believe they were unable to feel pain, or to rationalize a belief in biological inferiority. It also became easier to reconcile the of the dehumanizing institution of slavery with the promise of equal rights enshrined in our country鈥檚 founding documents.

Ever since, this white supremacist culture has underpinned a that has given us Black Codes, racial lynchings, convict leasing, Jim Crow segregation, federal housing loan discrimination, the destruction of black neighborhoods for 鈥渦rban renewal,鈥� environmental injustice, wealth inequality, voter disenfranchisement, mass incarceration, and police brutality.听

The illnesses of white supremacist ideology still infect our country. That鈥檚 clear even in government at the highest levels, and it continues to fuel racial violence, hate crimes and mass shootings.

Another significant truth that 鈥淭eaching Hard History鈥� reveals about the legacy of slavery: America's economic success was largely made possible by the coerced听labor provided by such a cruel institution.听The business of slavery fueled the growth of Wall Street, the insurance industry, and shipping fortunes.听The labor of enslaved people reaped the cotton that fed the New England mills that launched the Industrial Revolution and听built a sprawling rail network, propelling the country's enormous economic growth in the nineteenth century. That wealth, created by enslaved labor, attracted millions of European immigrants to the nation鈥檚 shores well into the 1920s.听And when slavery was outlawed, our society built systems that would keep African Americans in . It has created a reality in which the economic vitality of our country has been entangled with and racial subjugation.

The economic system produced by slavery, and the vast inequalities it was predicated on, had no small part in ensuring that the United States remains one of the most unequal developed nations in the world. The southeastern United States , where slavery was most prevalent, has ,听affecting poor white people and people of color alike.

This inequality lies at the root of the 人兽性交鈥檚 work fighting hate, seeking justice and teaching tolerance.

We鈥檙e fighting to rid the South 鈥� and the country 鈥� of the racist systems and policies that are firmly rooted in the institution of slavery and white supremacist beliefs that continue to marginalize communities of color and people living in poverty.

It鈥檚 our hope that by accepting the truth about America鈥檚 history and the ways in which our country鈥檚 original sin continues to echo in society, our country can put itself on the path toward a more equitable future, one where everyone鈥檚 rights are, in fact, 鈥渦nalienable.鈥�

The Editors

P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:

听From Vogue

听FromThe Atlantic

听from The Atlantic

听from The New York Times

听from NPR

听from The New York Times

Photo by: AP