Mr. Fitzhugh,
In your writing, you are quick to classify us into a specific
social class and assume we are part of the capitalist system your are
vehemently critiquing. In both accounts, you’d be right but you also assumed
that in a society with black slavery everyone would automatically be happier.
This is extremely pretentious for someone forming an opinion in 1857. We are writing from 2013 to inform you
that a civil war was fought and won by the north whose ideologies eventually
led your nation to its position as the economic powerhouse of the world. This
status was achieved by none other than the capitalist system you were so quick
to judge.
If you so agree with black slavery you would have defended it,
rather than attacking the northern way of life. Let’s talk about your analogy
of white slavery and why it is as invalid now as it was when you wrote it down.
First mistake: white “free laborers” do not work for free at all. Granted they
do not gain a particularly high wage, but they gain some sort of economic
compensation for their work. Whites also have the right to quit their job,
protest against low wages, and are protected by the rights of the U.S
Constitution, all rights a slave never had. Finally, you make the grand
assumption that white workers are unhappy while black slaves live a happy,
careless life. What if I told you that black people now are still proud of
their status as free men? What if I told you that even after the Civil War they
would continue to fight against segregation in the attempt to be more like the
white man you attributed with a miserable life?
Your argument is fallacious at best, filled with assumptions
that cannot be confirmed or backed with any sort of evidence.
With this, we leave you to your opinion, but keep in mind that
it won’t change the way the world is headed.
Best,
Cristina, Carlos, Daniel and Ana Maria
(This letter was written as a reaction to some excerpts of the first chapter of Cannibals All! or Slaves Without Masters by George Fitzhugh)
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