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THE RIGHT TO RAPE[col. writ. 10/20/18 (c) ’18 Mumia Abu-Jamal] It is difficult to use the title that this commentary bears, but upon reflection, it must be so, for the truth supports it. For the truth is, this nation was born in rape. The rape of indigenous women (so called ‘Indians’) was considered but a spoil of war. African women were ravished aboard slave ships, clad in rags and chains.  Many women leaped into the dark, roiling sea, preferring death to how they were treated onboard by seamen. Indeed, if the slave ships were a horror, American slave plantations were worse, for here women were raped systematically. Why?Because the more they became pregnant, the more wealth they produced for the master class. Black male slaves also played a role in this tragedy, for by raping women, they also increased a slaveowners’s wealth. Such men were considered prize bucks for the wealth they created for masters. Indeed, up until the dawn of the 20th century, it wasn’t considered a crime to rape Black women; it was con