LogFAQs > #963131738

JimBeamMeUp posted...

Why would any African American voluntarily travel back in time any further than like 1968? The risk seems to outweigh most rewards.

Once you go back past 1500 or so, they're no better or worse off than anyone else.

The racial component of slavery is mostly a comparatively recent thing. For most of human history it was more about your religion (ie, Islam was keen on slavery but couldn't enslave Muslims, so would go after "infidels") or about where you were from (ie, Romans would take slaves from conquered lands outside of the Roman sphere, while Roman "citizens" were immune). Or about wealth (ie, if you were poor and in debt you could be pressed into slavery to pay off your obligations). Or just heritage (ie, if your parents were slaves, you're born a slave, and so on).

Black slavery mostly became a thing because the Portuguese had easy access to African tribes, and Africans were better adapted to the hot conditions of tropical islands in the New World than most other options.