Published:March 18th, 2014 15:55 EST

Slavery's Stain

Slavery`s Stain

Slavery

So many wish to speak of slavery

As a crime of the past

A stain of old

That never washes away

They tell of their ancestors

Who were taken from their homeland

And sold as slaves

To serve masters in the new world

Believe me

I understand this

For my ancestors

Suffered the same as well

Their story

For so many though

Lies forgotten

From their homes

They were taken

Brokered and bartered

By the Barbary corsairs

Into the ports of Tripoli and Tunis

They were taken

And sold at auction

To their African masters

For many families

They were simply listed as

Lost at sea

In a period that lasted

Over several hundred years

Over one million were taken

Many chained to oars of galley ships

Or sent to work in the mines

Their lives from that point on

Was measured mostly in months

Instead of years

The lucky were chosen to be house servants

Or ransomed back to their families

But these were few and far between

Yes

I know of slavery

For my bloodline is German, Cherokee, and Irish

And at one point or another

All have suffered this fate

Slavery though

Is not simply a ghost of the past

Something once suffered

But confined to books of history

For far too many

It is a gruesome and harsh reality

Even today

Yesterday

I spoke to a friend of mine in India

He had just returned home from a journey

A mission to rescue his niece

Into slavery she was sold by one of her uncles

She is only twelve

If you wish to know

What some value the life

Of a twelve-year-old girl

From India at

I can tell you

She was sold for five hundred dollars US

Slavery

So many wish to speak of slavery

As a crime of the past

A stain of old

That never washes away

I can tell you today

For this to ever finally become

Simply a stain from our past

We must all find a way to come together

And as one people

Work to clean it

Even from our own homelands

As well

Ed Roberts 3/15/14