So much to digest there Max. You seem to have completely missed the point that the type of chattel slavery practice in the US is unknown in Africa. I haven't reassessed history, I'm just telling you a history of which you're unaware.

I'm not trying to shame readers (white ones I assume you mean). I am trying to enlighten as to things rarely if ever taught in the history books. The one thing we can agree on is that we are never free of the past, there are winners and losers today as a result of the past which is why there are people protesting in the streets all over the nation.

Your recognition that "slavery added to the value of the US" totally disregards that with few exceptions it only added to the value of white people at the expense of Black and Native American slaves. These benefits didn't end after the Civil War, they continued with the Black Codes that more or less replicated slavery, they continued with Jim Crow, trade unions that initially didn't admit Black workers. It continues today in disparity of wages, jobs, and in voter suppression, to name a few things.

Clarence Thomas can't enjoy his success (except in some circles) because he can't get away from his past as a serial sexual harasser. Republicans (and Joe Biden) didn't want to hear from the witnesses that could have proved the point but the shame follows him for a lifetime. He appeases the few in his rulings that praise him and has completely forgotten what made his advancement possible.

Racism today has everything to do with racism in the past. The Constitution, Electoral College, school; systems, college admission policies, and voting rules are all entrenched in racist beginnings.

Lastly, I'm not a writer first, I bring to my writing all that I am, a father, grandfather, male, and all my lived experiences including my experiencing and knowledge of racism. Leaving that out of my writing would be the loss.