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

[panopticon]

For those who have read a lot of African history, this is a known sad part of our history and it should be told. I think we should all know it, and not rationalize it away, because it is a dark and painful lesson about how short minded profit schemes and lack of unity ultimately did us all in. Whatever wealth the African slave traders gained is dwarfed by the billions the descendants of slave masters in the West have.

On the other hand, there are ways this should be understood.

1. I don't get the AA resentment in this forum against Africans. Whatever they did ended at the Middle Passage and 90% of the ill shyt in our history didn't come from Igbos, Dahomey, or anyone else. We talk about living with, loving, and forgiving the descendants of White slave owners, why hold a double standard on the Africans? Also, Ghana and some other countries apologized for the slave trade. Not likely to see that here. If there are African c00ns still celebrating slave traders as heroes, whatever. The real ones want to work with us to get shyt done.

2. Africans, like Whites, were not all one sided on the slavery issue and there was resistance from individuals all they way up to state action by bold leaders. You should read the book the Kingdom of Kongo which talks about Affonso I and his fight against slavery and the story of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba as described by Chancellor Williams in the Destruction of Black Civilization.

Also, surprised no one mentioned this book:
Fighting the Slave Trade: West African Strategies
By Sylviane A. Diouf

3. As I said before, we should not shirk from teaching this stuff but the agendas of others want to make the slave trade a wholly African or Black thing. Dinesh D'Souza got his big fame in the mid 1990s writing The End of Racism where he describes the African slave trade and uses it in part of his argument that "slavery wasn't racist" because of African slave merchants and the relatively small amount of US Blacks that owned slaves. Then they try to talk about how much more "humane" White slave owners were, etc. They even claim the Congress of Berlin that divided up Africa for colonization was some noble meeting since the delegates of Europe decided to ban slavery once they took over Africa (now killing/genocide and robbing the natives blind was not a big deal and the Belgian Congo ended up with pseudo-slavery anyway).

Not saying we shouldn't discuss this history, but knowing how others contort it is useful too

4. My Igbo brothers and sisters need to stop defending Osu. It's like Indians defending caste. Yeah, Black people aren't inherently worse than anyone else but we don't have to defend bullshyt to prove that

Professor Banneker coming through with the high quality posting as usual

This damn thread costin me real money on Amazon

Dap+Rep for the knowledge & book recommendations

 

[Biscayne]

Again, thanks for clarifying and educating us.

I don't think any rational adult would read the article and come away thinking that she is speaking for Igbos.
The comments here reflect the level of maturity and education that people have; education in general and about the slave trade specifically. People repeating that "they sold us" rhetoric...blaming entire regions of people for the actions of specific merchants and chiefs....don't get it ,and never will.

Again, thanks for weighing in......over the internet in 95% of cases, people are reluctant to discuss negative aspects or periods of their people's histories. True for people across all races and ethnicities For example do a search about "restavek" in Haiti....here or across any forum and how few Haitians will discuss it. It is what it is.

I was about to make the comparisons between the Osu in Igbo culture, and the restavek in Haitian culture. Truth.

 

[TallMan_J]

If you're AA or West Indian, there's a good chance you have Igbo blood, so at the very least these are your people breh.

You got a point, but fukk the rest of them and fukk the ones who look down on us Black Americans.

 

[Karb]

While simultaneously being told we don't have one

Who says this? I've literally never seen or heard anybody say this in my life. Has anybody told you that you have no culture?

 

[Karb]

Stop caping for them, they explicitly said they will not denounce it

They came in here to attack the author over some technicalities, the author was the one that mentioned the human sacrifices and burying slaves

Here is what really happened breh

in order to defend Africans they wanted to attack the author over some technicalities, in order to attack the author they had go into details about the Igbo caste system, they thought that by detailing the existence of a caste system they were going to expose the ignorance of the author which was silly

They were so culturally tone def, they didn’t realize that AA would be on some at the widespread existence of a caste system, slave system and child servitude in africa, and that they have names for these systems

There is some cultural mind block or just plain arrogance that is stopping them from denouncing these systems, you don’t have to defend them, they will come around eventually...maybe

You're in your feelings breh, you're not thinking clearly. Either that or you're just trying to argue for the sake of arguing

Trying to contextualize certain events and cultural practices is not the same as defending them.

And why are you surprised that indentured servitude and class systems existed in Africa?

How is this shocking?

If anything it should be familiar given the history of America and Europe. These structures have existed all throughout human history.

 

[T'krm]

Not one AADoS own this site. Cook European and Brooklyn from the Islands.

Go to allhiphop, Chuck got African heritage

Go to other Black sites, you likely to see an African or Islander runnin it. You go to Harlem in 1920s, Islanders was running most businesses during the renaissance. Too many brehs talk out of their ass without doing the research.

You could go to one poster in here site by I don't think the context is what yall nikkas on average fukk with.

Go to Mediafakeout, African
Wshh, Haitian
Most IG blogs, African

You better get up on game G

Most nikkas can't even run a barbershop properly, you want to run major websites. How Sway? nikkas running businesses like Bibby and shyt. fukk outta here nikka. Brehs talented af but don't start with the pompous shyt. If you out here breaking your back to make a dollar, I fukk with you but this, why you here, I smack the taste out cha mouth you chapped miscreant

1920's?? History missed you
The rest...clearly don't see any irony, there!

 

[theworldismine13]

You're in your feelings breh, you're not thinking clearly. Either that or you're just trying to argue for the sake of arguing

Trying to contextualize certain events and cultural practices is not the same as defending them.

And why are you surprised that indentured servitude and class systems existed in Africa?

How is this shocking?

If anything it should be familiar given the history of America and Europe. These structures have existed all throughout human history.

if you are going to "contextualize certain events and cultural practices" and you dont concurrently condemn said practices then you are implicitly defending them, unless you are describing something that has nothing to do with you

i wasnt shocked at there being slavery in africa, i was shocked that its still a significant part of african culture today and that there is a caste system and child servitude component that is still active in 2018 and i was shocked that people refuse to describe these things as demonic, and that these people grew up in the states and post in the coli

of course there is an emotional factor to this issue, because if you are AA or west indian the story of slavery in africa is seen through the lense of your ancestors going through a holocaust, how can you be so tone deaf to think black people would NOT be in their feelings about this?

like i posted before, this isnt new, this whole thread is a repeat of of what happened in 15:00 in the video 40 years ago, the girl is saying she saw some demonic shyt going on and africans refuse to admit that its demonic

so black americans are always going to have the reaction when they learn about this and apparently africans are gonna have the reaction, thats the lesson for today

 

[T'krm]

The ones who were enslaved and sold to Euros were not cast offs, weak, or "excess". On the contrary, they were physically strong and mentally stronger to have even endured the middle passage. Or to even have survived the capture and march to the shores where the slave dungeons were.

In fact, I've read often that the loss of so many able bodied and strong bodies (and minds) within that time frame hindered the development of Western Africa. Some say that there could/would have been better resistance to the colonists with that manpower and brainpower.

Bro its time we stop arguing with people not from the culture. nikka deadass just wants to argue

ka anyị asụ igbo

Keeping track of some fonts, just to ensure they keep the same energy.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

The "get rid of yall protective social systems and invest in schools" sounds awfully similar to the "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" rhetoric AA get served in America all the time

 

[GrindtooFilthy]

Keeping track of some fonts, just to ensure they keep the same energy.

Fonts?! mfers are you an LSA agent

 

[T'krm]

This is the Coli. Outside of this website, Nigerians and Af-Ams get along fine.

Uh....This is certainly not the case--at least is an overstatement.

 

[theworldismine13]

The "get rid of yall protective social systems and invest in schools" sounds awfully similar to the "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" rhetoric AA get served in America all the time

"contextualize certain events and cultural practices" is something that confederate flag supporters like to do

 

[Karb]

Fonts?! mfers are you an LSA agent

It's a chick from LSA.. 100%

It all makes sense now

 

[MischievousMonkey]

"contextualize certain events and cultural practices" is something that confederate flag supporters like to do

I still don't get what you want from Igbos/Africans in this thread. What can they do except contextualize and give knowledge about what happened or is happening?

Confederate flags were traitors so I don't see how it is the same.

 

[theworldismine13]

I still don't get what you want from Igbos/Africans in this thread. What can they do except contextualize and give knowledge about what happened or is happening?

Confederate flags were traitors so I don't see how it is the same.

I’ve said it multiple times that people should IMO, explicitly condemn the practices (the slavery, the caste system and child servitude)

I’m befuddled as to why it’s so hard to condemn customs that are obviously and blatantly demonic

It’s very much like the confederates supporters because they refuse to explicitly condemn blatant demonic behavior, they love “contextualizing” slavery and the civil war