Clint Smith, writer: 'It is impossible to understand the US economy without slavery'

[cbabe]

https://english.elpais.com/culture/2025-05-03/clint-smith-writer-it-is-impossible-to-understand-the-us-economy-without-slavery.html

Clint Smith, writer: ‘It is impossible to understand the US economy without slavery’

The New Orleans academic invites readers to discover his country’s past in his book ‘How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America’

ÁNGELES LUCAS
Madrid - MAY 03, 2025 - 00:00 ED

“My grandfather’s grandfather was enslaved.” This is how writer and academic Clint Smith, 36, begins the epilogue of his book How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.

The ties to that history aren’t so far in the past, yet those in power have been quick to overlook the deep human tragedy of slavery. Smith examines street names and questions the figures behind the monuments of New Orleans, New York, and Dakar in an effort to trace the roots of inequality.

Traffickers and politicians appear within the pages of a book that invites readers to unravel the unanswered questions of a history that was never written by the oppressed.

With a U.S. president who has ordered an “ideological” purge of the Smithsonian museums and a “restoration” of U.S. history, Smith’s voice feels more urgent than ever.

“I’m concerned about a country that’s in some way heading toward fascism, where the executive branch tries to dictate what should and shouldn’t be taught. That’s how authoritarianism works. And we have to fight it,” he said via videoconference from Maryland.

…

I’m very proud to come from people who overcame more than I could have ever imagined. They fought for freedom, for emancipation, for liberation. And the vast majority of them never had the chance to enjoy this, but they fought anyway because they knew that one day someone would. And I think that my life and my children’s lives are only possible because of them. This makes me think about my responsibility: to try to build a better world, to create more opportunities for my people, my community.

… more …

[IbogaProject]

1. 250 years of stolen labor

Then another 100-150 years of no recompense and systemic discrimination. Redlining and VA mortgage ban. And sadly the regressive, extractive nature of FICA payroll taxes. The regressive nature is how they leave most communities and end up in a select cohort of wealthy enclaves via deficit spending funded by Treaury notes sold to the social security trust fund. Reagan made it worse when FICA rates stopped being somewhat progressive, Reagan switched it to a flax rate. This is on top of it topping out and not gathering enough executive compensation let alone exempting returns on capital completely.

[cbabe]

2. Yes. And gi bill discrimination.

[dlk]

3. There is a reason that in 2025 the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25/hr and the minimum tipped wage is $2.13/hr

n/t