I was reading an article about Louis Farrakhan demanding "reparations" from the Jewish community for past injustices. Apparently, he included the two (2) books below with his demand.

"The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews” and “Jews Selling Blacks: Slave Trade by American Jews”

Here is a quote about the subject-matter in these books; “an undeniable record of Jewish anti-Black behavior, starting with the horror of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, plantation slavery, Jim Crow, sharecropping, the labor movement of the North and South, the unions and the misuse of our people that continues to this very moment.”

Okay, I think Louis Farrakhan is a racist, lying, self-promoting "nut", but I am curious if there is any sourced material in these books? This topic and the subject matter is probably self-censored, due to the current society and "political correctness". I have always wanted to know more about the connection between Northern big business and Southern plantation slavery and the slave trade. Unfortunately, the subject is generally taboo as it reflects poorly on "the good guys" and complicates the simplistic issue that Slavery was solely a Southern institution and protected and promoted only by Southerners.

Several years ago, I read about a Master's Thesis done by a student at "Ole Miss". His beginning position was to study the difference in the levels of enlistment between the Delta/Large Plantation region and the other areas of Mississippi with smaller slave populations. The premise was to prove that the rich plantation owners did not enlist or fight in the war at the same percentage as the people from the poorer sections. Basically, he was trying to prove the old saying spoken by some about the American Civil War, "rich man's war, poor man's fight".

He proved his premise and found that Mississippians outside the Delta region did serve at a higher percentage, but some of the reasons for this were interesting. First of all, the government considered farming and the income produced from cotton as essential for the war effort, so special consideration was given to the owners and operators of these plantations. The big surprise; however, was that he also discovered that over 50%, (I can't remember the exact number, but I believe it was closer to 70%) of the large commercial Delta plantations were owned by first or second generation Northerners. Many of them had family relationships with Northern textile mill owners and operators. The student discovered that many of the Delta plantation owners left or sent their families North during the war. For that reason, they were unavailable for military service.

Perhaps, though controversial, the books above may touch on this subject. Unfortunately, the source of the books is troubling. Please be very thoughtful with your responses to this posting. I'm just wondering if there is some morsel of truth in Mr. Farrakhan's ravings. I'm not so interested in Jewish involvement in the slave trade and the plantation system. I'm more interested in Northern business participation in these institutions, generally.

Jim