The Indomitable Spirit

This is a small (and wholly inadequate) tribute to the indomitable spirit of slaves and indentured laborers past and present, everywhere.

Why?
Following the high profile police brutality cases in the US and Black Lives Matter protests, I realized I needed to get a better handle on the history of race relations to understand the present. I had an inkling that much could be traced back to the formative years of the US; the importation of slaves, the Civil War, and so on. But the more I refreshed myself on the history, it dawned on me how little I knew about what had really happened (maybe it was the Canadian school curriculum, maybe I wasn't paying attention). Here's some things I learned that were surprising (you may scoff at its obviousness, but, just being honest!):
- people had been enslaving others since the dawn of civilization at Mesopotamia and thought it was _completely_ normal
- the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act set the stage for tensions between the North and the South in the US (eventually leading to the Civil War)
- even after the Emancipation Proclamation, the end of the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, AND 15th amendments there was widespread resistance to treating Black citizens as equals
- this continued through the 1800s in to the mid 1900s (the KKK, Jim Crow laws, Plessy v Ferguson, etc)
- the struggle to be recognized as equals continued with major milestones like Brown v Board of Education, Rosa Parks, the Little Rock Nine, and the integration of Ole Miss
- the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act were all passed between *1964 - 1968*. DUDE that was just 56 years ago!
- I know I'm missing a LOT (sorry. this is a good opportunity to reeducate yourself)

Takeaways?
- the idea that we're all equal is a NEW idea
- throughout history, it's been the "progressives/liberals" that have elevated humanity to do better and brought us kicking and screaming to a better place
- moral relativism (and some parts of being PC) stifle honest dialogue, inhibiting us from being better, and thwart us in our search for truth
- there's still much you and I need to do

Thanks for reading this far.