Why were the blacks the slaves and why not the whites?

Answer 1

Answerbot is wrong, It is entirely incorrect and absurd to discuss slavery without mentioning that European whites, Arabs, Asians, Indians, and Black Africans were all slaves before and after the start of the transatlantic slave trade. When slavery started, black people were not enslaved because 'racism.' Racism was most likely the result of individuals trying to justify 'slavery' later.

In fact, the first person in America to own slaves was a Black man. There were raids by European countries that resulted in black Africans being enslaved, but the majority of black Africans were sold as slaves to European countries, Arabic countries, Asian countries, countries in the Americas and the Caribbean because black Africans captured their enemies and sold them. They were sold to the world; if they weren't sold, they would have been enslaved or killed by their captures. During that time, other races were enslaved, including white Europeans. Almost every major country engaged in slavery, certainly every continent. White Europeans are blamed, but as the person said in their question/statement, there were similar systems in several countries; slavery is still going on today. India just got rid of its Caste System in 1950.

Britain and the United States of America were the only countries to physically travel around the world to stop slavery; the United States is the only country that went to war, killing nearly a million citizens, to end slavery. Look into what Arabic countries did to African slaves and read up on the East African slave trade.

I apologize, but black Africans did not become slaves due to anything other than other black Africans making them slaves. Raids, etc. may have resulted in hundreds of slaves, maybe a couple of thousand, no where near 12.5 million.

Be well.

See consensus below:

.... while Europeans did engage in direct raids, the vast majority of enslaved Africans were sold by African intermediaries—is accurate based on the consensus of modern scholarship

Answer 2

Historically, black Africans were enslaved by European colonial powers and later by Americans due to racial prejudice, economic interests, and the belief in the inferiority of black individuals. White Europeans and Americans held power and exploited their military and economic advantages to subjugate Africans, leading to the systematic enslavement of black individuals.

Answer 3

"because whites thought they were better then everyone else"

Actually, when White Europeans encountered Black Africans, the Europeans were much more advanced in science, technology, socio/political organization, business and trade and most other yardsticks by which we measure societies. In that sense White Europeans WERE better, and certainly had the force to subjugate Blacks. But in most of today's world we believe that human beings as human beings are equals in their fundamental right to freedom no matter what their racial, ethnic or economic origins and circumstances. That belief was not prevalent centuries ago and, in some parts of our world, variations of "caste" cultures still exist.