[hurlyburly]

I don't know much about the how/when/why Africa became tapped for slaves, but if we hadn't imported slaves, Africans were still trading them to the Europeans, and understood that there was a world beyond their borders. But they may not have cared to emigrate. It could have occurred later, maybe along the same lines as the Middle East.

Where I thought you were presumptuous is here:
"the overwhelming majority of todays black Americans would be living in straw huts and burning dung to keep the Tsetse flies away. Ask them if they wish slavery never exisited. By wishing away slavery you deny them their piece of the American dream."

At first I thought this was pretty bold to believe that the black man today thinks he won the lottery by having slaves as ancestors. But I think that you may have touched on something. I'm not sure what yet, I've got to research a little deeper.