There is so much irony in white men ( I'm taking a leap here, but I think black men would be talking differently about these tags), congratulating one another on finding these tags and discussing their value. It is part of our history, an ugly part of it, the ugliest actually... Money shouldn't be made off a piece of human suffering. Donating them to a museum would be the the respectable thing.
Sadly, the true history of our past is often misunderstood and seemingly based more on popular media hype, TV, and Hollywood movies, rather than actual fact. Having spent years growing up in New York and attending school will intercity blacks, living in Southern California, and also living in many areas of the South, as well as traveling for business throughout numerous states, an interesting point was learned in that the greatest misunderstanding and prejudice generally exists among those living in areas where slavery was
never an active part of life a couple centuries ago. The black people I met and became friends with over the years in the South and around Charleston SC, were the kindest, most polite, and caring people one could ever meet anywhere in the world, and treated me and my family as their own family.
There is a huge part of history involving slavery, that is largely overlooked and rarely do the true facts emerge. There were in fact wealthy free blacks that owned slaves as well as native American (Indian) slave owners. During the American Civil War, thousands of black individuals actually fought for the South, on the side of the Confederates, and carried arms that they used to defend their homeland as well.
May I suggest as a beginning to provide better understanding, an excellent book that deals with the history of slavery in one prominent family in South Carolina covering over 300 years of history:
SLAVES IN THE FAMILY
Amazon.com: Slaves in the Family (9780345431059): Edward Ball: Books
CC Hunter
