It depends on the situation. I can think of examples that place emphasis on either. Generally, I weigh both equally while asking, "What's really going on here?" As mere humans we are never privy to every level that's happening.
In most people's ancestry if you go back far enough, there were slaves and slave masters, at different points. I think the collective karma of these things is hard to gauge based on first-hand appearances of what's happening now. That shouldn't change our momentary reactions, just pointing out that there may be a larger drama unfolding than we realize.
As I've expounded upon in previous threads, the soul is here to learn certain things, through various trials and expiations we are here to undergo. What's happening on a mundane level, as well as our reactions and judgments of it, are all tied into that higher process.