From The New Yorker: "My Great-Grandfather, the Nigerian Slave-Trader"

[ignorethis]

The author is to blame she didn't distinguish it very well. She said igbo and didn't really specify well, which sub group or places or types of igbo people still believe in the customs.

She wanted brownie points. Or fame or w.e she got what she wanted.

But Africans nikkas still bugging with the

"I like to sleep my our house girls in Africa"

The poster that said that is a Spanish-speaker you can check his post history.
And he is a troll poster.
Ya'll just assumed he was African because it was ammunition.

 

[#1 pick]

The poster that said that is a Spanish-speaker you can check his post history.
And he is a troll poster.
Ya'll just assumed he was African because it was ammunition.

Thanks! That sounded too crazy.

 

[Anwulika]

The author is to blame she didn't distinguish it very well. She said igbo and didn't really specify well, which sub group or places or types of igbo people still believe in the customs.

She wanted brownie points. Or fame or w.e she got what she wanted.

True. She also fails to mention that this practice has largely been abolished and is becoming less significant with each passing generation, which is something that a lot of people are choosing to gloss over here for some reason.

But Africans nikkas still bugging with the

"I like to sleep my our house girls in Africa"

That was a crazy comment but that has nothing to do with the osu caste system. Not all osu are servants and not all servants are osu. They are indistinguishable to most Igbos.

 

[Anwulika]

The poster that said that is a Spanish-speaker you can check his post history.
And he is a troll poster.
Ya'll just assumed he was African because it was ammunition.

What I don't understand is why they keep grouping osu, oru/ohu and houseboys/housegirls together. It's been explained many times here by various posters.

 

[GodinDaFlesh]

What I don't understand is why they keep grouping osu, oru/ohu and houseboys/housegirls together. It's been explained many times here by various posters.

Exactly, a lot of people here are fuming because of the assumption that because someone is a house servant, they're an outcast slave when that's simply not the case. It's no different than well-to-do people in the West who hire maids and butlers. That ain't slavery, that's people with little means voluntarily working inside a family's house. Is Alfred from Batman a slave? That goes all the way back to biblical times.

 

[theworldismine13]

What I don't understand is why they keep grouping osu, oru/ohu and houseboys/housegirls together. It's been explained many times here by various posters.

and its been explained many times too you why all those things are similar

 

[JMurder]

Subbing

 

[Lootha VanDraws]

Lawrence Otis Graham says Hi & Bye

What's Mos Def got to do with this ?

 

[theworldismine13]

Exactly, a lot of people here are fuming because of the assumption that because someone is a house servant, they're an outcast slave when that's simply not the case. It's no different than well-to-do people in the West who hire maids and butlers. That ain't slavery, that's people with little means voluntarily working inside a family's house. Is Alfred from Batman a slave? That goes all the way back to biblical times.

to give a proper perspective, you have to look at this post

From The New Yorker: "My Great-Grandfather, the Nigerian Slave-Trader"

booker wright was a man with a job and his own business, but from the AA/caribbean POV, booker wright was a slave, jim crow is slavery, lynching is slavery, cops killing unamrmed black people is slavery, people harassing you for living your life is slavery, capish?

so yeah the osu oso shyt, child servant shyt is slavery, to the diaspora what you are describing is slavery plain as day, i am disturbed that you guys grew up here and dont understand that

 

[the bossman]

yeah it is from my eyes, and its a legit POV.

I think what people want to know is how exactly did slavery come about and why did it go on for so long aside from the white supremacy part of it, you have given the answer, its that african themselves had systems which violated the individual freedom of africans

whats nutty is that you refuse to see it as such

What's nutty is painting everything with one broad brush like you're doing. It's like you don't even care to try to understand a culture past à surface level.

Some Africans sold other Africans during the Transatlantic slave trade. There is verifiable proof, so we do know that. It's an ugly part of history but one that has to be acknowledged.

But taking that, running with it, and then saying any other type of African custom (like poor families sending their kids to be house help in order to help the family) attributed to that is wrong, reckless, and lazy as hell.

 

[Anwulika]

and its been explained many times too you why all those things are similar

By people who don't understand these concepts, it seems.

Osu: Descendents of people who became slaves to the gods as a result of seeking refuge at the Oracle to escape lawful punishment.

Oru/Ohu: People who were the slaves of men. They would work for a family for 7 years and then leave or choose to work another 7 years. It was more like indentured servitude than slavery. This practice has been abolished, we don't have these anymore but in some rare cases, you may find some discrimination against their descendants, though I've never seen this personally.

Houseboy/Housegirl: A servant who either willingly chose to work for a family or was placed there by an older relative. The latter usually come from poor families that can't afford to take care of them.

 

[xoxodede]

to give a proper perspective, you have to look at this post

From The New Yorker: "My Great-Grandfather, the Nigerian Slave-Trader"

booker wright was a man with a job and his own business, but from the AA/caribbean POV, booker wright was a slave, jim crow is slavery, lynching is slavery, cops killing unamrmed black people is slavery, people harassing you for living your life is slavery, capish?

so yeah the osu oso shyt, child servant shyt is slavery, to the diaspora what you are describing is slavery plain as day, i am disturbed that you guys grew up here and dont understand that

I have to disagree. Jim Crow, Cops Killing and harassing is NOT enslavement.

Slavery was one of a kind. All of the things you mentioned. Jim Crow, Black Codes, Cops killing is a product of the system of White Supremacy and history/legacy of American chattel slavery. But, NOT slavery.

The closest thing to slavery to me was Sharecropping during Reconstruction and Jim Crow.

For example, many of the agreements, approved by the Freedmen's bureau, specify that the employer will provide "substantial and healthy rations" ---which turns out to mean 3.5 pounds of bacon and a "peck" of corn meal per worker per week. Clothing is sometimes specified - 2 pair of pants, a shirt, a pair of socks, and, sometimes, a coat. One contract was approved by the Freedmen's bureau which required a freedwoman to work as a house servant for a year in exchange for room, board, and a calico dress, to be received in the Fall. And almost all of the contracts noted that the freedmen and women were "colored."

In some of the contracts, approved by the Freedmen's bureau, was a clause specifying that the freedmen and freedwomen had to "obey the orders of the employer and his family" and were not allowed to leave the employers premises without permission. (!) Many of the contracts specified that freedmen and women were to labor from sunup to sunset every day, Sundays usually excepted, with an hour for dinner. Most of them required the freedmen and women to reimburse the employer for clothing, but some required them to reimburse for rations, medical bills, and clothing. And still more required the freedmen to reimburse the employer for any damage or loss of farm implements. Some specified that the mules and horses provided could not be used for anything other than the crops.

​

 

[GodinDaFlesh]

to give a proper perspective, you have to look at this post

From The New Yorker: "My Great-Grandfather, the Nigerian Slave-Trader"

booker wright was a man with a job and his own business, but from the AA/caribbean POV, booker wright was a slave, jim crow is slavery, lynching is slavery, cops killing unamrmed black people is slavery, people harassing you for living your life is slavery, capish?

so yeah the osu oso shyt, child servant shyt is slavery, to the diaspora what you are describing is slavery plain as day, i am disturbed that you guys grew up here and dont understand that

The context of racist post-Reconstruction South is vastly different from people within a culture voluntarily serving another family.

 

[theworldismine13]

What's nutty is painting everything with one broad brush like you're doing. It's like you don't even care to try to understand a culture past à surface level.

Some Africans sold other Africans during the Transatlantic slave trade. There is verifiable proof, so we do know that. It's an ugly part of history but one that has to be acknowledged.

But taking that, running with it, and then saying any other type of African custom (like poor families sending their kids to be house help in order to help the family) attributed to that is wrong, reckless, and lazy as hell.

i dont know what to tell you without repeating myself, but yeah, african customs that violate individual freedom and facilitated slavery need to end

 

[theworldismine13]

I have to disagree. Jim Crow, Cops Killing and harassing is NOT enslavement.

Slavery was one of a kind. All of the things you mentioned. Jim Crow, Black Codes, Cops killing is a product of the system of White Supremacy and history/legacy of American chattel slavery. But, NOT slavery.

The closest thing to slavery to me was Sharecropping during Reconstruction and Jim Crow.

For example, many of the agreements, approved by the Freedmen's bureau, specify that the employer will provide "substantial and healthy rations" ---which turns out to mean 3.5 pounds of bacon and a "peck" of corn meal per worker per week. Clothing is sometimes specified - 2 pair of pants, a shirt, a pair of socks, and, sometimes, a coat. One contract was approved by the Freedmen's bureau which required a freedwoman to work as a house servant for a year in exchange for room, board, and a calico dress, to be received in the Fall. And almost all of the contracts noted that the freedmen and women were "colored."

In some of the contracts, approved by the Freedmen's bureau, was a clause specifying that the freedmen and freedwomen had to "obey the orders of the employer and his family" and were not allowed to leave the employers premises without permission. (!) Many of the contracts specified that freedmen and women were to labor from sunup to sunset every day, Sundays usually excepted, with an hour for dinner. Most of them required the freedmen and women to reimburse the employer for clothing, but some required them to reimburse for rations, medical bills, and clothing. And still more required the freedmen to reimburse the employer for any damage or loss of farm implements. Some specified that the mules and horses provided could not be used for anything other than the crops.​

its not slavery legally but its slavery in effect