[Anamensis]

I've always read that slaves were captured by warring tribes, and then sold to outsiders. I suspect that outsiders, not knowing the lay of the land, would have a hard time just walking up to African villages and snatching people up.

[Squawk 8888]

You are partly correct- many slaves were captured by warring tribes and a very tiny percentage were captured by Europeans. However, the overwhelming majority were sold into slavery by their own tribal leaders. But since there's no money to be had from Africa, it makes more sense to blame whitey.