Come now. It was a contributing factor but not THE cause. Indentured servitude of whites pre-dated slavery in the U.S., including the North. The indentured servitude of the Chinese during the 1850's was meant to be a "compromise". Slavery in the U.S. was on borrowed time during the 1860's for a variety of reasons. Remember,
you said it has to be addressed
honestly..
Did you mean to exclude Native Americans in your list of who whites had exploited? I thought you were inclusionary...
BTW slavery was, and remains prevalent in Africa today. Weren't the slaves sold to the slave traders exploited by other blacks as well?
Modern slavery in Africa is driven by ongoing political instability, poverty, displacement of people due to conflict and climate change, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.globalslaveryindex.org