Published:  March 18th, 2014 15:55 EST
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Slavery's Stain
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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
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