BET weighs in on planking.
Needless to say, the amateur stunt, popularized by social media sites and mainly on Twitter, has become an Internet craze, but should people continue to plank if it really does have ties to slavery?
According to USHistory.org planks were used as beds for slaves. Placed two-by-two, men and women were forced beneath the ship deck of slave ships. The more slaves a boat could hold, the greater a profit the captain would make. When the planks were lifted, it provided holding collars for five slaves, and then the plank was chained down.
“The captives lay down on unfinished planking with virtually no room to move or breathe. Elbows and wrists will be scraped to the bone by the motion of the rough seas,” the history website reads.
