Black People Owned Slaves, Too!

Deflecting responsibility for racism

In my recent piece, “The Big Lie of Slavery,” I pointed out that the number of Black people who died as a result of the slave trade was millions higher than we were incorrectly taught.

I typically get thoughtful responses to my essays, including ones that disagree with me. I tend to learn the most from those.

But this time in response, I got the following email:

“You know that Black Americans owned slaves, too, don’t you?”

Ahhh… the good ol’ “Let’s deflect against any guilt we may have and point out some outlier information about Black people doing bad things like white people” argument. It’s all the same, isn’t it?

Let’s get it out there. Yes, Black people owned slaves in America.

Free Blacks owned slaves in the 13 colonies since the 1600s. Some in Boston by 1724 and in Connecticut by 1783. By 1790, 48 Black people owned 143 slaves in Maryland. One Black Maryland farmer, Nat Butler, regularly purchased and sold Black people.

In 1830, 13.7% of America’s Black population was free. Of that group, 3,776 owned a grand total of 12,907 slaves, out of a total of 2,009,043 slaves owned in the entire United States.