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Slavery – Reparations Needed – By Akasha

14 January 2004 No Comment

A nascent tourist industry is developing around the sites where slaves once were sold. The tour operators claim that when theses sites are shown to tourists they are supposed to serve as a reminder of our brutal oppressive history. Yet the truth is that these institutions, by themselves, are not of much value. Especially when all the countries that participated and gained economic advantage from the slave trade barely acknowledge their roles.

BBC News Online’s correspondent Tom Housden estimates that the amount of slaves exported to other countries range between 10 and 28 million. Slaves were procured in a variety of ways. First they could be obtained the good old-fashioned way – with guns and chains and whips. In effect millions of people were kidnapped and shipped away. Portugal profited from this greatly as it alone transported 4.5 million Africans. Britain transported 2.5 million slaves. Another method of obtaining slaves was via the African Chiefs themselves. The Europeans traded guns for slaves, although not always. There are proven examples that slaves were traded for worthless trinkets such as beads and cowrie shells. This was a symbiotic relationship in that the chiefs obtained guns and were able to expand their territory and therefore sphere of influence. Slavery has always existed within the African context, although on a much smaller scale. Slaves were obtained during tribal warfare. Those who were criminals or debtors were enslaved. There always existed the possibility of that enslaved person being freed and allowed back into the community. It formed part of the society’s social fabric. In the European instance that was not possible at all. 

Slavery was a profitable business. It formed part of the triangular trade. First goods were transported from Europe to Africa. Then slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas and elsewhere. The final leg of this trade was the return of slave-produced goods (such as cotton, sugar and tobacco etc) to Europe. The trafficking of human lives was so profitable that companies were established to deal exclusively with this trade. 

England established the Royal African Company to endorse the trade. In fact all the First World countries gained their great wealth on the backs of the slave trade. Christianity not only justified the slave trade but also gave it greater credibility.

Slavery was abolished in the 18th century in various countries. Many attribute this to the Enlightenment phase that swept through Europe. It revolutionized the morality and ethics of Europeans. However, could it be that the slave trade was becoming a less profitable business? The following quote from the article British Slave Trading: The End of an Institution gives an interesting perspective on the matter.

“Slavery was seen as expensive, as slaves still had to be paid for and provided with necessities like food and clothing when they were not working. It was also inefficient, as there were no incentives to work hard, and there was only ever a limited work force. Working in harsh conditions resulted in limited production and limited returns. With the progress of the Industrial Revolution and increased demand for products such as cotton, slavery was never going to keep up. Slavery was becoming a liability, and it is the reason slave trading stopped has nothing to do with a moral crusade or righteousness, but simply because people felt that the profits to be gained from not having it far outweighed those ever gained with it.”

After all this time not one single country that gained from the trade in human lives have offered to pay reparations. Countries such as Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland will not acknowledge their role in this trade. Yet an interesting question that has to be asked is this…what happened to all the slave descendants? Where are they? Gretchen Gerzina in her book Black England, adds that: 
“By 1596, there were so many black people in England that Queen Elizabeth I [who herself participated in the slave trade and benefited greatly from it] issued an edict demanding that they leave.” Not even the descendants of these African slaves are acknowledged within these First World Countries!

We live in a world where the fortunes of the poor are dictated by a small amount of First World countries. The wealth of these countries was achieved by the use of slave labor. This relationship continued in various forms until today. First it was called slavery, then imperialism. Today we call it Globalization. Yet they claim that our world is a different – if not a better place. Then there are the apologists who claim that colonialism improved our collective lot. I wonder if the countries that were occupied under the Nazi regime feel as grateful for their occupation as the colonized African countries and stolen slaves are supposed to feel for inhuman treatment that slavery, colonisation and globalism legitimises. So the politicians erect monuments and make big political speeches. Still it means very little. If the Jews were paid for the human rights abuses – why should African not be? Surely the money could be used to educate and enlighten our communities. It would never repair the damages committed in the least – but it could alleviate the burden these communities were placed under.  If not reparations then the Third World debt should be written off as the First World countries are responsible for the biggest Holocaust ever committed against a people. Maybe then other nations would think twice about enslaving another nation or people.

Written by Akasha for Africasgateway.com

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