No one except white men were considered men or even human. My grandpa didn't think black people had souls or could go to heaven. Women weren't even considered important. Perhaps human but a very low form and undeserving of voting or working outside the home. Perhaps an embarrassment to humanity and to be kept home.
It was a white man's world and under that definition, "All men" were created equal and if you weren't equal, you just weren't a man. Screwed up thinking, huh???
This was possible because all powerful societies are hypocritical. Communist Russia preached the brotherhood of man, but persecuted Jews and dissidents. Christian armies ignored the commandment "thou shalt not kill" and killed in the name of a God that had forbidden killing.
Mostly, nations only pay lip service to religious teachings or political doctrines, and ignore them wholesale when it suits them. America has a very fair legal system, but carefully set its terrorist suspect prison in Cuba so the inmates would be outside this protection, conveniently sidestepping both the Bill of Rights and the Geneva Convention in one move.
As the pigs said in Orwell's Animal Farm, "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."
Same when England Colonised Australia, my Great Grandfather would shoot Aboriginals, almost on -sight!
Even 25 years ago in Far North Queensland towns it wasn't considered a 'crime' if you ran over a drunken Aboriginal on the side of the road, the Police would just tell you to get out of town, back in your car and just don't stop....keep driven.
Because of Racism. Scientific Racism. [ Google It If You Dont' Believe ME] Scientists created ridiculous account of information about how Black people where inferior and less developed, or uncivillized. They turned their racist beliefes into fake scientific facts, which persuaded many naive people to belibe that Blacks where inferior.
Thank goodness that now-a-dys, the majority of us realise that we all are equal and our race dosent divide us.
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No one except white men were considered men or even human. My grandpa didn't think black people had souls or could go to heaven. Women weren't even considered important. Perhaps human but a very low form and undeserving of voting or working outside the home. Perhaps an embarrassment to humanity and to be kept home.
It was a white man's world and under that definition, "All men" were created equal and if you weren't equal, you just weren't a man. Screwed up thinking, huh???
This was possible because all powerful societies are hypocritical. Communist Russia preached the brotherhood of man, but persecuted Jews and dissidents. Christian armies ignored the commandment "thou shalt not kill" and killed in the name of a God that had forbidden killing.
Mostly, nations only pay lip service to religious teachings or political doctrines, and ignore them wholesale when it suits them. America has a very fair legal system, but carefully set its terrorist suspect prison in Cuba so the inmates would be outside this protection, conveniently sidestepping both the Bill of Rights and the Geneva Convention in one move.
As the pigs said in Orwell's Animal Farm, "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others."
Same when England Colonised Australia, my Great Grandfather would shoot Aboriginals, almost on -sight!
Even 25 years ago in Far North Queensland towns it wasn't considered a 'crime' if you ran over a drunken Aboriginal on the side of the road, the Police would just tell you to get out of town, back in your car and just don't stop....keep driven.
Because of Racism. Scientific Racism. [ Google It If You Dont' Believe ME] Scientists created ridiculous account of information about how Black people where inferior and less developed, or uncivillized. They turned their racist beliefes into fake scientific facts, which persuaded many naive people to belibe that Blacks where inferior.
Thank goodness that now-a-dys, the majority of us realise that we all are equal and our race dosent divide us.
Dark times. But intelligence has come a long way since even racists today understand black people are humans
because thats how it was back then.its over now.why keep bringing it up.its not gonna change the past.
and there was also white slaves to.and how bout the jewish people? i think they deserve a little conversation,dont you.they went through hell....
Because many of the early white Americans and early European immigrants were hypocrites.
They didn't believe them to be men, they didn't believe they were the same species.
But just before you go putting all the blame on americans, consider the fact some black people sold other black people to the americans as slaves.
They didn't see blacks as men or humans.
hypocrisy?