When The Master Whips The Slave
By Firas Al-Atraqchi
It is very reminiscent of the type of slavery North America is famous for:
Plantation owner whips slave (non-white, non-blue-eyed, non-European) for coming up short on the cotton. Slave cries out
for mercy saying there was no more cotton to be picked. Whitey beats slave savagely for daring to protest and for the
speculation that declaring no more cotton means that some cotton has been hidden or stolen to be sold illicitly.
A bruised slave is let go and told he has seven days to come up with the missing cotton. The slave-master insists on
bringing his ranch hands to search for the cotton under the slave's pillow, inside the slave women's braziers; wherever
the ranch hands see fit. Slave fumes, but agrees.
Slave master is enraged. HOW DARE THE SLAVE FUME? HOW DARE THE SLAVE PROTEST? HOW DARE THE SLAVE THINK HE IS EQUAL TO
HIS MASTER? Slave master waves arm in the air; "His protestations are evidence of his guilt," he tells other slave
masters.
"So what if we can't find the missing cotton. He probably has them buried deep underground. We have to send marshals and
sheriffs (inspectors) to prove the slave is hiding the cotton. That cotton threatens us and our allies and friends. That
cotton can be given to other slaves who seek to harm us. We have to find them and remove that slave, that damnable slave
who dares to speak out against us."
"And if they don't find anything it just means they are hidden rather well or are being moved around on mobile mules or
burros. So we lynch the damn slave. We lynch his wives and children. But we will have smart lynching; innocent slaves
won't be harmed. We are humanitarian slave masters. We believe in human rights; not so much for the others though,
heathens they be all."
Welcome to international politics, circa 2002.
ENDS