Gen Xers: Did your HS have a “freshman slave” auction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the actual F?
I went to a deep Southern school and there's no way in heck that we could ever get away with that. It was pounded into us how awful slavery was and how awful our fore-parents were from benefiting from slavery.

(even though only 1% of people owned slaves)

Yeah, but the vast majority of the other 99% aspired to own slaves and treated black people like animals.

OP, I was in high school in Louisville KY in the 90s, and this was definitely a thing.

[Anonymous]

Class of 1990, NoVA

our school didn’t do it and I don’t recall neighboring schools doing it but wouldn’t be surprised to find out it happened. And I can be honest back then I would have shrugged and thought nothing of it and never equated it with actual slavery.

[Anonymous]

Class of 2001 in NJ and we had this but I think it was just called a “senior auction”. I knew immediately what the post was asking from the title though so it’s possible it was still called slave auction. At the very least it was obvious you were paying for someone to be your “slave”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan, and NO!!

Ditto!

[Anonymous]

Ohhh wait, we did have this, I think it was NHS inductees got to be slaves for Seniors? I don’t know…my memory is fuzzy. NJ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the actual F?
I went to a deep Southern school and there's no way in heck that we could ever get away with that. It was pounded into us how awful slavery was and how awful our fore-parents were from benefiting from slavery.

(even though only 1% of people owned slaves)

Yeah, but the vast majority of the other 99% aspired to own slaves and treated black people like animals.

OP, I was in high school in Louisville KY in the 90s, and this was definitely a thing.

Do you get a kick from making stuff up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class of 1989 here.

I vividly remember being auctioned off in a “freshman slave day” back in 1984 or 1985. It was a fundraiser type of thing.

I think there’s a twist on this where seniors are the ones who are auctiones.

This was in Ohio back in the mid-1980s.

Wondering if it was common.

Class of '91 and nothing like this in the rust belt where I grew up.

[Anonymous]

Um, no. And I grew up in Mississippi.

[Anonymous]

Texas, early nineties - definitely not.

[Anonymous]

Private school? Yeah. Publics, def not. Even back then.

[Anonymous]

Whoa, a trip down memory lane. Yes, our Key Club in public high school in California did this - late 70s.

[Anonymous]

1987 grad from a public HS in central VA.

I had forgotten about the slave auction, but now I remember freshmen being auctioned as slaves to carry books, lunch trays, etc. for seniors.

[Anonymous]

1991 SW state and yes our school had it

[Anonymous]

NO way! And I went to a Baptist private school.

[Anonymous]

No. Class of ‘87, North Carolina