I watched quite a bit of coverage of the Harlem Book Festival last week on C-Span.  Following a panel discussion on black identity in today’s society, a black man who appeared to be in his thirties walked to the microphone to ask a question.  I was shocked by his apparel!  He was wearing a t-shirt with the words “RETIRED SLAVE” written across the front!

I immediately thought to myself, “This is horrible!  I want to know this man’s home country, because any government that still allows slavery must be exposed.  And, if this retired slave lives in the United States, we must find his employer and report that person to the authorities immediately!  Did the person who kept him enslaved give him the t-shirt upon his retirement instead of the standard gold watch?  That is just plain insulting.”

After those initial thoughts, I was hit by a second wave of musings that included, “What if this man never really was enslaved at all?  What if he is just comparing his life to the lives of those who suffered through generations of actual slavery?  In reality, I don’t think that slaves were given the option to retire.  There was no pension plan in place.  Does he realize how ridiculous he looks wearing that shirt?”