The Gross Inhumanity of Race Based Slavery

OK, let me preface this post by saying that this is actually a response I recently sent to a friend of mine studying in the U.S. I did not spend that much time on it, so, it is basically “off the cuff.” One of my specialties is the subject of History so even though I did feel comfortable giving her this answer, it is not my most academic submission to say the least. Also, I am in no way disrespecting, degrading, or diminishing any ethnic group, nationality, religion, etc. or their contributions to society. I am just restating factual information that has been supported and documented by countless scholars for many years. Slavery, as we all know, is an ugly blemish upon the history of mankind as a whole, and we as humanity will not be fully free until this most awful of all social institutions is completely obliterated. Please enjoy…

You wanted me to elaborate a bit about slavery, namely some of the fundamental differences between racial slavery and slavery taking place within a society where racial differences were not necessarily the determining factor per se. Well, I do not claim to be an expert in this field but I have read quite a bit about it. I will limit my discussion to what took place here in Africa. You already have a basic knowledge of the African/Atlantic slave trade. You fully understand that that sort of slavery was based purely on race. It found its origin in the Caribbean when natives began to die off massively (through genocidal acts and their inability to naturally fight off diseases brought from Europe) and the colonial powers that be needed to replace the dying labor force with one that could deal with the elements. At the suggestion of a high ranking Catholic official (eventually a Bishop) in the area, Bartolomé de las Casas, the colonists starting importing massive amounts of West Africans. This was already being done elsewhere but his suggestion gave the colonial powers even more reason to delve deeper into this practice. Many historians blame him for the Atlantic slave trade's eventual growth and domination in terms of large scale its use for cheap labor. This trend eventually spread to North, Central, and South America with the majority being imported into Brazil. Over time, the tension between enslaving humans and the moral and religious arguments opposing such behavior presented the individuals involved with an issue to be addressed. The religionists used the Bible through the twisting of scripture and other contextual tricks and decpetive means to justify the subjugation of Black Africans in this manner. In their view, the Africans were both cursed and destined by the Almighty to live lives as slaves, while White people were destined to rule. Their argument was that this was simply the natural order of things. The other part of this religious viewpoint was that these Black Africans were ignorant heathens and were in need of being exposed to Christianity. This is ironic in that Christianity reached Africa well before it reached Europe (read in the book of Acts 8:27-39 about the Ethiopian eunuch). Also, quite a number of the stolen and enslaved Africans came from lands where Islam was widely practiced. Since Islam is the third and final major world religion finding its origins in the Middle East, it is safe to say that some of the same lands where Islam was practiced could have also been exposed to Christianity and Judaism. Plus, there are elements of the aforementioned faiths within Islam. So, the White mans' belief that the Black African was devoid of any contact with monotheistic religion, literacy, or civilization is rather erroneous to say the least. The other argument that White people used to justify the subjugation and enslavement of Black Africans found its root in what was looked as at "race science" in those times. White "scientists" and other "social scholars" believed that Blacks were in essence a subhuman species (a belief even held by such statesmen as Thomas Jefferson) that by the mere order in the world of nature, naturally placed them in a socially subservient position to Whites. They were looked at as beings that needed to be controlled and trained in order to bring them into some type of civilized social order. They were seen as lazier, less intelligent, more given to sexual urges, more emotional, less rational, and physically tougher and athletic than Whites. Thus, this combination of little intellectual capacity, physical prowess, and impulsive behavior justified treating them as animals in the sense of treating them as livestock to control, buy and sell, and use for labor purposes. It is interesting to note that this view of Black Africans and their descendants prevented them from lawfully becoming citizens, exercising certain rights extended to non-Blacks, lawfully learning how to read or assemble, having their families and marriages respected to prevent the selling off and breaking up of families, owning fire-arms, or travelling freely. Yet, these same White men that did all they could to keep these Blacks in a social state that was equivalent to that of livestock had no problem raping them or using them for other forms of sexual pleasure and even proudly siring offspring from them. Of course the children of such efforts were still considered socially and biologically inferior and were also kept as slaves for the most part. This is the essence of slave trade in the Western Hemisphere. It was purely racial. Yes, it was instituted and kept alive for so long because of its economic impact. But the nature of it was born and bred out of a doctrine of extreme racism. It differed from other forms of slavery found in various parts of the world in that these slaves were birthed into a social condition that they would die in. There were no avenues to get freedom other than their masters freeing them. But even if they were to gain freedom, their Black skin guaranteed that they would never gain full citizenship in a White controlled society. This was even the case for those who were of mixed race. They were slaves because they were Black--period. In other societies, slavery was sometimes temporal. This type of slavery was called "indentured servitude." It was slavery with an option for the slave to buy their own freedom. The only slaves in this category in the Western hemisphere were White ones who paid for their passage to the "New World" by becoming one. Also, in other places, slaves could eventually become citizens and/or marry freemen. Interracial marriage was pretty much prohibited in most parts of America. Consequently, non-British colonies such as those in Central and South America did practice more intermixing and intermarriage. It seems that of all European racists, the British were the most intolerant and hateful. As stated earlier, other forms of systematic slavery afforded the slaves options for citizenship such as purchasing it or fighting in the military. Once citizens, these former slaves enjoyed the same rights and privileges as other citizens. Nonetheless, even if Black slaves were freed, they would never have been allowed to enjoy the fruits of citizenship. In other societies there was not such a sharp contrast of skin color to identify one as a member of the lower social class. And even in situations where this was the case, the presence of Blacks in other societies was not always the result of slavery, therefore Blacks could intermingle with the rest of the citizens without this cultural stigma being attached to them. Therefore, slavery in the Americas was the most brutal and inhumane type of slavery. When humans are captured, bred, bought and sold, killed, fed, and disciplined no better than animals would be and at the same time raped, humiliated, dismembered for attempts at escape, branded and otherwise mutilated, and even suffering the division of their families, one cannot really put this type of slavery on the same level as slavery practiced elsewhere. In other societies, there were plenty of instances where even slaves were allowed to operate with a limited number of rights. The only rights that Black slaves had in the Western hemisphere was to obey or suffer the consequences. The racialist component of slavery in the Western hemisphere was so entrenched in society, that even many years after the so called freeing of the slaves took place, Black people have suffered enormous amounts prejudice, discrimination, injustice, disenfranchisement, violence, and political, cultural, and social exclusion. The same can't be said for other societies that practiced a form of slavery that did not have this element within its fabric.

Nonetheless, on the other side of Africa, a form of brutal slavery was also practiced. This institution of slavery was established long before the Atlantic slave trade even began and small trickles of it still operate clandestinely today. In fact, there are records still in existence of Black Africans being sold in the port of Djibouti with French and Arab involvement as late as the mid-1950's. The Arab-Islamic slave trade took place on the East Coast and Northern, Central, and Southern interior of Africa. Again, this was based on race. These Muslim Arabs felt that they were racially and at times religiously superior to the Black Africans. When the said Africans were not Muslims, their enslavement was justified on religious grounds. Slavery has been and is still permitted in the religion of Islam. Its founder, Muhammed as well as his initial followers had slaves. Even today in countries like Mauritania and Sudan, religious and racial slavery is openly practiced. Anyway, when these Arab Muslims could not rely on the religious crutch to support their practice, they took the slaves on account of them being Black. Thus they operated within this inhumane practice out of a sense of racial/cultural superiority. Ironically, the Black Americans who are part of the politico-religious group The Nation of Islam, are quite incorrect when they claim that Islam is the Black man's true religion and that Christianity was a tool used to enslave Blacks. In the hands of corrupt and evil men, religion (of all types) has always been used to subjugate and control the masses. For centuries before the Europeans colonizers set foot in Africa with the intention of enslaving them, Arab Muslims were traversing places such as Tanzania (Zanzibar), Kenya, and Somalia for purposes of trade to include that of humans. This is one of the reasons why the African languages of Swahili, Somali, and even the main language of Ethiopia, Amharic, all have a significant amount of Arabic words/phrases in them. Black slaves were taken from a number of nations from Northern to Southern Africa on the Eastern side. The main reason for this particular slave trade was not the same as the one taking place on the West coast. These slaves were not taken primarily for large scale labor projects on plantations. The men were taken and emasculated to be used as administrators and soldiers. The women were taken primarily for domestic purposes--sex slaves. Since these Arab men did not want anyone to be able to spoil their sexy, Black objects of pleasure, they systematically had most if not all the male captives castrated. Some were actually left untouched to also be used for sexual purposes by some of these slave owners. Like the Black Africans enslaved in the Western Hemisphere, these slaves were often stripped naked and mercilessly examined by interested buyers and selling owners. This, like the aforementioned slavery system was based on race. However, the slavery practiced in this era and part of the world did allow the masters to marry their female sex slaves (albeit within a polygamous household) and some of the men did actually gain citizenship and even at times achieved great social status. All of this information and more can be found in a book entitled, Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora by Ronald Segal.