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8 of the Biggest Myths Propagated About Black American History

Mansa Musa

Black People Were Better Off in America

Many historians have argued that slavery somehow saved many Black people from the primitive “Dark Continent” of Africa. Yet, Africans were succeeding far before European intervention. Black History Month: Debunking the 10 Biggest Myths About Black History, released by thegrio.com in 2012, argues that “we will never know what Africa would have been today without the disruption of slavery and colonization.” Before Europe’s presence on the continent of Africa, dynasties and civilizations characterized by wealth and power could be found throughout the continent. The article continues on to convey that “one cannot begin to put a price tag on what the separation of families, loss of cultural ties and lost wages has cost the black community.”

(photo by Gil Michael/Shelby County Sheriff's Office)

(photo by Gil Michael/Shelby County Sheriff’s Office)

James Earl Ray Killed Martin Luther King Jr.

Children across America have been conditioned to believe that James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Yet, evidence has shown that the FBI and other government agencies could likely be responsible. Records show that the bullet that killed King did not match Ray’s confiscated gun, King’s security guards were told to leave about an hour before the assassination, and the FBI, in 1968, attempted to persuade King to commit suicide in a letter. This notion was better proven when, in 1999, William F. Pepper won the case of The King Family v. Jowers and Other Co-Conspirators. According to a Dec. 9, 1999, New York Times article, the trial concluded that governmental agencies of the United States of America were guilty of the wrongful death and assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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