In addition to D. Harvey's and N. Burlakoff's excellent
points, it should also be observed that, even in the
English colonies, Native Americans were enslaved before
Africans were transported here. Plus, during four
centuries of American slavery, the enslaved population
(even considering just the African-derived part)
increased in cultural complexity: combining recently-
transported Africans (of various nations), American-
born descendants of previously transported Africans,
local variation in the assimilation of regionally-
variable colonial culture, &c.

This is why terminology is important, and not just "PC
newspeak": it makes us remember that history (and now)
is much more complex than the simple concepts we have
come to associate with words like "slave," "African,"
and "American."

L. Johnson


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