RACISM AND TRANSATLANTC SLAVERY

The negative impact of slavery on Black people

• slavery was not an event but a process
• the destabilising of African societies
• the compromises and complicity in the slave trade
• the psychological trauma involved
• Africans were seen as fair game for slavery because they were not Christians
• dehumanised: lives considered of less value than white people

Note: In the original, from Set All Free Website, the word ‘African’ is used rather than ‘blacks’.

Struggling against negative self-image

For the African slave there was a struggle not only for freedom but also against the continued onslaught of a negative self-image not countered by any positive normal human advances in life.  In the Caribbean colonies a caste system of sorts was being maintained by plantation owners and governments that was largely based on colour. Blacks were the slaves, free Blacks and 'Coloureds' were in the middle, Creole whites were above them and those born in Europe were at the top of society. Divisions of labour and of privilege were based on these lines.

Blackness and Beauty

This favouritism was more than just being able to receive a good education and a career, but also affected fundamental aesthetic values and self worth. For many, blackness became synonymous with ugliness, evil, inferiority and anything undesirable, while that which approached whiteness in values, manners, taste and aesthetics was considered superior. From this it can be seen that what is not articulated is a process of African deculturisation within Caribbean societies and the demonising of all things African, with the possible exception of musical forms, which were often the only means left to the African to retain something of his African culture.

Socio-economic and racial legacies of Transatlantic Slavery

“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed”.
Steve Biko, South African Freedom Fighter.

African lives became expendable, ranked as the lowest priority in the pecking order of humankind.  Few can doubt that modern day racism was borne out of these extreme inhuman practices that went on to produce long lasting unequal outcomes for Black-skinned people across the globe.  The evidence for such a claim is plentiful:

• In 1766 David Hume Colonial office remarked "I am apt to suspect the ‘Negroes’ to be naturally inferior to the whites” (Peter Fryer, 1986)

• In 1866 Commander Bedford Pim Royal Navy "Nothing but the controlling influence of a master will keep him (the ‘Negro’) from sinking to that barbarous condition which is his natural state. Idleness is the curse of the ‘Negro’ coupled with their apparently unalterable licentiousness, prove them incapable of becoming good citizens” (Paper presented to the London Anthropological Society titled "The Negro of Jamaica")

• In the 1900s Caribbean estate owners "a view of the coloured race on plantations by those that control their destinies is to prevent any coloured from being appointed to a management position. They may have every qualification under the sun: they may be able as Attila: but they may not aspire to such appointments" ("Those that be in bondage" A R F Webber, 1917)

• In 1946 school literature helped to disseminate crude messages that caricatured Black people.  One example from a religious publication: "An angel called Wopsy looked down into the soul of the black African baby called Shiny and saw nothing but blackness in the baby’s soul caused by original sin" ("Adventures of a Guardian Angel", 1946)

• In 1983 research by Milner exposed the damage that widespread racism was inflicting on Black communities in Britain. An experiment conducted with white and black dolls asked Caribbean and White children "which doll looked most like you?"  48% of Caribbean children said they looked more like the white doll rather than the doll representing their racial grouping.  82% of Caribbean children wanted to look like the white doll.  All White children identified with the white doll.  Both groups of children had negative images of Black people ("Celebrating Identity" Chambers et al., 1996)

This legacy in many respects is incalculable and shows itself in the continuing enslavement of the broken spirit, low self-esteem, negative self-image, a lack of value to Black life throughout the world, a failure to recognise Black contributions to world advancement and a continuing failure by many historians to acknowledge the Black British past.

(Linda Ali, October 2005)

“It is perfectly possible to end slavery throughout the world within a generation, but this will require political will, financial and human resources.”
Professor Kevin Bales, President of ‘Free the Slaves’.

Slavery exists in the modern world and not just in poor countries. In the UK it exists in various forms, particularly as a result of trafficking.  All forms share elements of the exploitative relationships which have historically constituted slavery: severe economic exploitation; the lack of a human rights framework and one person’s control over another through the prospect or the reality of violence.

Thousands of people are working as slaves in the UK at present: they are working in highly exploitative conditions, have no rights, and are threatened with the fear or the reality of violence.

People can be held in slavery in any country.  The vast majority of the world’s slaves are in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal).  These people are held in debt bondage/bonded labour; a system in which a person becomes bonded by accepting a loan from a moneylender, for which they must work to repay. Workers are then tricked or trapped into labouring for little or no pay, under conditions that violate their human rights from which they cannot escape.

The Legacy of Slavery in Africa

The abolition of slavery led to the ‘Scramble for Africa.’ The Berlin Conference in 1884 divided Africa into distinct countries for the first time. The European Nations; Great Britain; France; Belgium; Italy; Portugal; and Germany declared themselves sovereign leaders over almost all Africa. This led to the economic exploitation of these countries.  Large amounts of natural resources were exported by the colonial rulers, with little financial gain for the country of origin.

Institutionalised racism was rife in colonial Africa.  Africans were not seen as equals, although slavery had been abolished, many were people who were treated badly without cause. The strategy of ‘Divide and Conquer’ was widely used; this has since been responsible for many African civil wars.

It took until 1957 for the first colonised country to gain independence, Ghana, and be truly free to self-govern.  Since then all African countries have followed but the slave trade perpetuated the circumstances that allowed Africans to be considered as inferior.

“Although abolished and penalised in international instruments, [slavery] is still practised in new forms that today affect millions of men, women and children across the world.”
Koichiro Matsuura, Head of UNESCO

Slavery exists today although it is banned in most of the countries where it is practised. It is also prohibited by the:

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 4. “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms."     1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. OHCHR Link

For example, women from Eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates.  Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects men and women of all ages and ethnic groups.

Ref: Anti-Slavery International - www.antislavery.org

What is slavery?

Common characteristics distinguish slavery from other human rights violations.

A slave is:

• forced to work -- through mental or physical threat;
• owned or controlled by an 'employer', usually through mental or physical abuse or threatened abuse;
• dehumanised, treated as a commodity or bought and sold as 'property';
• physically constrained or has restrictions placed on his/her freedom of movement.

Ref: Anti-Slavery International - www.antislavery.org

“Northern Ireland is not only used as a transit country, it’s also a country of destination”

“Remember these women are living in total fear of their lives and often the lives of their families back home who are also being threatened.”

Monica Mc Williams, Head of Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2007

There are concerns that Northern Ireland is on the human trafficking world map.  Human Rights Organisations and Agencies fear that Northern Ireland is becoming a gateway for criminals who exploit cheap flights, charters and the land border between the two jurisdictions.  A conference held in Queens University Belfast heard how women who had been trafficked and who were helped by projects in Dublin (Ruhama), Glasgow and London had been forced into prostitution in Northern Ireland.

Many of the women are taken round cities across Ireland and are kept disorientated, isolated, locked behind closed doors and fear they will be killed if they try to escape.

From: BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6703471.stm
Published: 2007/05/30 10:36:06 GMT

Legacy:

Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland

Today, both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland receive immigrants from around the world. These immigrants are amongst those who have been exposed to racism.

But the legacy of the antislavery campaigners of the last two centuries provides a strong tradition. The principles pioneered by anti-slavery campaigners around the world have been passed on down the years to other movements and institutions, such as the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the World Council of Churches, the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and human rights legislation adopted by the European Union.

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, like many countries today, possess laws and institutions created to combat racist attitudes and behaviour. Moreover, anti-racist education work, the work of NGOs and citizens informing themselves, debating and engaging with the issues provides hope for our future.