A very simplistic answer is that nearly all societies have had a despised lower class. Says everything and nothing. Slavery in the Americas, consisting of taking people from one continent and selling them into a lifetime of no-personhood and being owned by someone that was inherited eternally is different from the the Indian caste system which de-humanized people and was inherited -but weren't owned. Medieval serfs.
Indentured servants (according to my magpie learning) reminds me of Biblical slavery -- you could choose to enter into it, but it had a definite ending date. Oh, gosh -- just checked Wikipedia: " About half of the white immigrants to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were indentured. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries poor children from England and France were kidnapped and sold into indentured labor in the Caribbean for a minimum of five years, but most times their contracts were bought and sold repeatedly and some laborers never attained their freedom.[1]"
What we have to deal with in the USA, is the history of slavery based on easily identifiable skin color, and the excuses made to justify it. Yes, there are other very bad things that have happened all over the world, all through history, but this is our bad thing that we have to face up to.
And yeah, your last paragraph. You can see that manipulation in the media. Nasty.
Re: Oh my stars and garters.
Indentured servants (according to my magpie learning) reminds me of Biblical slavery -- you could choose to enter into it, but it had a definite ending date. Oh, gosh -- just checked Wikipedia:
" About half of the white immigrants to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were indentured. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries poor children from England and France were kidnapped and sold into indentured labor in the Caribbean for a minimum of five years, but most times their contracts were bought and sold repeatedly and some laborers never attained their freedom.[1]"
What we have to deal with in the USA, is the history of slavery based on easily identifiable skin color, and the excuses made to justify it. Yes, there are other very bad things that have happened all over the world, all through history, but this is our bad thing that we have to face up to.
And yeah, your last paragraph. You can see that manipulation in the media. Nasty.