USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Henry Louis Gates is Wrong about African Involvement in the Slave Trade

I just read the great biography by Steve Kemper (A Labyrinth of Kingdoms) of 'Heinrich Barth' - ,a German 'explorer' of the central African kingdoms like Bornu etc, and the only one of the bunch of explorers who was not a racist, but a great humanist  and revered still in Africa but hated in the West., His 4 big volumes are online to read at google books. Read it: African kings, had thoausands of slaves to work their fields and made big money by selling slaves to Arabs, Whities etc. Neverthelsse there were differences. It was mostly not a question of racism but of money. Slaves were often adopted ,and could inherit the slave owner etc  So they were 'just the same' as the Whities.
Einar Schlereth

http;//einarschlereth.blogspot.se


On Tuesday, March 19, 2013 12:53:02 AM UTC+1, Ikhide wrote:

"There are some fundamental facts. First, no African kingdom used slavery as its principal mode of production. Africa has produced no economies based on slavery. It was left to Europe to create a system of slavery where humans were chattel to be used as tools in the development of wealth. Secondly, in all massive enterprises where there are oppressors and the oppressed there will be collaborators. It is no secret that some of Afriica's best minds, Fanon, Memni, Karenga, have isolated incidents of collaboration among victims of oppression. Blacks were police officers in the white minority regime of South Africa but one cannot blame apartheid on black people. So when Gates claims that Africans were involved in the slave trade one can accept this, but what one cannot accept is that Africans were equally culpable for the slave trade. Nor should one blame the Judenrats (Jewish Councils) of Germany for Nazi atrocities although they often collaborated with the Germans. Indians collaborated with the British colonialists in India and some Chinese collaborated with the Japanese in occupied China, and while there is no excuse there is certainly explanation for collaboration."

- Molefi Kete Asante

http://www.asante.net/articles/44/where-is-the-white-professor-located/

Hmmm/ It is incorrect that "no African kingdom used slavery as its principal mode of production." That is silly hagiography. There are many ways to counter Bill Gates without minimizing the role of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade. Africans are just as culpable as those that came to take away our siblings. *cycles away slowly*

 

- Ikhide

 

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