Mehrsa Baradaran > Quotes > Quote > Hawa liked it

“Slavery, “America’s original sin,” according to James Madison, created the foundation of modern American capitalism.1 It was slavery and the “blood drawn with the lash” that opened the arteries of capital and commerce that led to U.S. economic dominance worldwide.2 The effects of the institution of slavery on American commerce were monumental—3.2 million slaves were worth $1.3 billion in market value, almost equal to the entire gross national product.”
― Mehrsa Baradaran, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap