Slavery's Children
The lines were blurred for prisoners who slaved
in mines or rowed the heavy wooden ships
for years, while overseen by men depraved,
who tormented and drove with leather whips.
As lines were crossed by those who felt no fear,
the practicality of slaves was tried
with natives in the western hemisphere,
who failed from heavy overwork and died.
So then these men brought slaves from Africa.
They purchased robust ones both skilled and tough,
for work in south and north America
and drove them hard and found them strong enough.
The Africans recruited slaves for pay,
receiving various, but small amounts,
as they had done for years. It was the way
they evened scores and settled their accounts.
They didn’t know that white men changed the rule,
regarding children born to those enslaved.
The African slave system was not cruel,
no matter how the parent slave behaved.
The children of slave mothers were born free,
full members of the tribe in every way,
were integrated in the family,
who nurtured them and made them want to stay.
But European men sought greater gains
and made the children suffer the same fate.
They classified them slaves in iron chains,
indentured as a lifelong subjugate.
Copyright © Gerald Greene | Year Posted 2020
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