Sure, slavery was outlawed 150 years ago, after several centuries of practicing it, but after it ended, there was a separate regime of laws and extralegal terro

Sure, slavery was outlawed 150 years ago, after several centuries of practicing it, but after it ended, there was a separate regime of laws and extralegal terror that made it hard for former slaves to build wealth. There's a direct line to today, where most middle class families got a big chunk of their wealth from home ownership, which was explicitly racially segregated (not just the housing itself, but the loans). Now, is this technically "slavery"? No, but it comes from that past. Of course, millions of immigrants and descendants of former slaves have achieved economic "success", but it seems pretty clear to me that the shadow of slavery still shapes our economy in important ways. You may disagree, but calling it a "lie" seems a bit much.