ISLAND COUNTY: Sound Off: Historical perspective of slavery is important (BILL HAWKINS/WNT)

Island County District Court Judge Bill Hawkins wrote a Sound Off column for the Whidbey News-Times regarding the history of slavery. Hawkins’ column appeared in the paper’s Jun. 16, 2023 edition.

They Said It

To more fully recognize the true meaning of Juneteenth and the end of slavery in some of the last reaches of the United States, it is worth knowing the full geographic extent of slavery and how the practice ended.

Slavery was widely practiced in the ancient world in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa. Most world religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as indigenous peoples around the world have struggled with slavery, capturing and enslaving each other for centuries in the Mediterranean countries, Western and Central Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa, India, the Americas, and Europe.