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Entry: Two New Myth-Busting Books Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/two_new_myth_busting_books#5114 Post contents: I'm a Greek-American man. One day a racist black person called me a "cracker." I had no clue back then why he had called me a wafer of toasted bread. "A cracker," he explained, "is a man who cracks the whip--a slave owner!" So, all of a sudden I was a slave owner. I explained to the man that I neither now, nor have I ever owned a slave. He said it didn't matter--I was still a cracker. "You're white, aren't you?" he asked. "Yeah, why?" I answered. "Then you're automatically a cracker." he answered, with a satisfied grin. "You're ancestors enslaved my ancestors, so you're a cracker." Despite his illogical explanation, I made my point very clear. My ancestors were Greek. When the African slave trade began, my ancestors were already slaves to the Ottoman Turks for about a hundred years. When the blacks were freed in the U.S., my ancestors would continue in their slavery for about another hundred years. So, while blacks were slaves for 200 years in America, the Greeks were slaves for about 400 years. My ancestors never had the opportunity to become owners of black slaves. The gentleman was speechless. Then I drove the last nail into the coffin of his illogical rant. "I can prove that no Greeks were slave owners," I said. "How so?" "Do you know any black people who have a Greek last name?" "Umm...no," he said. "Well, there ya go," I said. "You need to learn some history before you say something that stupid again." I walked away feeling vindicated, and rightfully so. Sent at: 2008 05 16