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| Who Should Apologize? [boodskap #58066] |
Sa, 02 Maart 2002 18:04  |
Davie Davis
Boodskappe: 1013
Geregistreer: November 2001
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Senior Lid |
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Lees in die lang brief net wat jy wil maar
moet verà l nie die afsluitingsparagraaf
miskyk nie.
Who Should Apologize?
By Sam Novicinth who is originally from Congo-Brazzaville and now
lives in the United States.
To my brothers and sisters in the Americas: I am writing in response
to an article "The Future of Slavery's Past" written by Professor
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in a journal in America. I am a young African
man from Congo-Brazzaville, a small Bantu-speaking country on the West
coast of Central Africa, where French is the official language (7 am
still learning the English language so I hope you will over look my
mistakes). I belong to the Kongo ethnic group, and therefore I am a
descendant of the people of the ancient Kongo kingdom, which
disappeared under Portuguese rule during the 17th century. Like many
of the kingdoms of the West Coast of Africa, the kingdom of Kongo took
part in the slave trade by selling millions of Africans to the
Portuguese.
I have to say I have great respect and admiration for Professor Gates,
who has already won his place as one of the great men of African
History by revealing to people of African descent and others the past
glories of our people. He has contributed as much to raising our
self-esteem as many civil rights leaders and modem African heroes. But
I am very saddened that such a knowledgeable man holds such a
simplistic view of the responsibility of the African people in the
development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
Most of the people who were taken from Africa as slaves left behind
them parents, brothers, sisters and children; and it was certainly not
by their relatives that those people were sold. Most of the slaves
were obtained as the result of warfare between slave-trading states
and rival or weaker kingdoms and communities. In what is now
Nigeria, for instance, the Igbo people suffered from raids by slave
traders because they didn't have a political unit to protect them. The
slave trade meant prosperity for some African kingdoms on the coastal
parts of the continent, but certainly not of the whole of Africa; as
one kingdom was getting wealthier, in the inner parts of the
impoverished and depopulated. Imagine what it would have meant for a
village to lose all its healthy men and women after a raid by slave
traders and be left with only old people and very young children to
protect and feed themselves.
In Congo-Brazzaville, where I come from, it is said that the north of
the country, which is far inland, was depopulated due to the fact that
the slave-trading kingdoms like Kongo and Loango got most of the
people they sold from there; and that is why the ethnic group Kongo
today accounts for more than half of the population of the Republic of
(Congo). But there were also millions of Kongo people who were sold in
the same way.
You see, the concept of African Unity and Brotherhood is very recent
indeed, and the ethnic wars in modem Africa prove that it is an idea
that many Africans have not comprehended yet. In the old times, for
most Africans, the world didn't go far beyond the shores of our
motherland, and they would not feel any sort of affinity with someone
from another kingdom, community or caste. The concept of Africa itself
was born with European colonization.
So let me come to the point. The assumption that all Africans today
are descendants of slave traders is untrue and unfair.
Most of today's Africans are the descendants of both slave traders and
slaves, or of neither of them. The African population is now about ten
times what it was in the times of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and
countless migrations of people have occurred all over the continent in
the last four centuries. It is very unlikely that the descendants of
those who were sold into slavery didn't breed with those of their
sellers. Therefore it doesn't make sense for the African continent to
apologize for its role in the slave trade, as most of us are the
descendants of its victims. You cannot apologize to yourself, can you?
Most of Africa, which is the inland part of the continent, never
benefited at any time in history from the slave trade. It was rather
to the contrary.
Even though I come from a kingdom that took part in the slave trade,
the only reason I would feel compelled to apologize to African
Americans for the African involvement into the slave trade would be if
I was 100% sure that 1 was the descendant only of slave traders and
not of a single person taken as a slave to the Americas. And should I
remind you that millions of slaves were taken to other parts of
Africa, like North Africa, Sao Tome Principe, East Africa.
Do you think their descendants should apologize too?
Given the fact that there are only about 40 million Africans in the
United States, against about 700 million in Africa, it is likely that
you will find more descendants of slaves in Africa than in the United
States.
What President Kerekou did, apologizing to African Americans for
slavery, was totally inappropriate and ridiculous. If he is convinced
of being a descendant of slave traders fine, but he had certainly no
right to apologize in the name of all the African people. The African
leaders who should apologize, I believe, are the kings of Dahomey (now
Benin) and Ghana, as we all know who their ancestors were and what
they did; despite the fact that their kingdoms do not officially exist
anymore. I read some time ago that about 30% of African Americans are
originated from Europe on the paternal side. Do you think those 30%
should apologize to the rest of the African community worldwide for
the countless rapes and humiliations their white ancestors inflicted
upon African women and men?
As for the question of reparations, I believe it is right for Africans
to be paid compensation for the impoverishment and depopulation of
their homelands. The slave trade took our fathers, our mothers, our
families and we are only asking for money in return. But, I also
believe that all the people who took part in this crime against
humanity should contribute to the payment of damages, regardless of
their color or ethnicity.
Unfortunately the African kingdoms that took part in this trade were
destroyed by colonization and have now officially disappeared. But the
European and American powers that benefited from the slave trade still
exist, and are still benefiting from it, that is why they should pay
first.
This "Africans sold us" thing has been going on in the Americas for
generations among people of African descent and has to end now,
because it is simply inaccurate.
Those Africans didn't sell African Americans, but other Africans. They
sold themselves. That is it. You do not apologize to yourself, you
simply leam from your mistakes.
What unite us Africans and you African Americans is not the fact that
our ancestors sold your ancestors, but the fact that we have the same
ancestors.
Every time African Americans come to Africa they bring with them the
spirits of those Africans who lived and died with the hope that one
day they would see once again the brothers, sisters, children they
lost when they were taken from the shores of our Motherland.
If they came back to life those African ancestors would certainly run
to their villages, run to their children, brothers and sisters, and
certainly not to ask them to apologize for something most of them had
nothing to do with and brought on suffering into their lives. And
anyway, because they were Africa! they would certainly follow this
typical African proverb: "If you cut yourself with your own knife, you
don't throw it away; you wipe it and put it back into its sheath."
Courtesy:
www.thevoice.nl
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| Re: Who Should Apologize? [boodskap #58072 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #58066] |
Sa, 02 Maart 2002 20:55  |
Dingus
Boodskappe: 187
Geregistreer: Oktober 2000
Karma: 0
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Senior Lid |
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"If you cut yourself with your own knife, you
don't throw it away; you wipe it and put it back into its sheath."
naturally, ....it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out!
Davie Davis skryf in boodskap news:jm428ug38kl09cm5nr6cej500spjfvhis9@4ax.com...
>
>
>
> Lees in die lang brief net wat jy wil maar
> moet verál nie die afsluitingsparagraaf
> miskyk nie.
>
>
>
> Who Should Apologize?
>
> By Sam Novicinth who is originally from Congo-Brazzaville and now
> lives in the United States.
>
> To my brothers and sisters in the Americas: I am writing in response
> to an article "The Future of Slavery's Past" written by Professor
> Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in a journal in America. I am a young African
> man from Congo-Brazzaville, a small Bantu-speaking country on the West
> coast of Central Africa, where French is the official language (7 am
> still learning the English language so I hope you will over look my
> mistakes). I belong to the Kongo ethnic group, and therefore I am a
> descendant of the people of the ancient Kongo kingdom, which
> disappeared under Portuguese rule during the 17th century. Like many
> of the kingdoms of the West Coast of Africa, the kingdom of Kongo took
> part in the slave trade by selling millions of Africans to the
> Portuguese.
>
> I have to say I have great respect and admiration for Professor Gates,
> who has already won his place as one of the great men of African
> History by revealing to people of African descent and others the past
> glories of our people. He has contributed as much to raising our
> self-esteem as many civil rights leaders and modem African heroes. But
> I am very saddened that such a knowledgeable man holds such a
> simplistic view of the responsibility of the African people in the
> development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
>
> Most of the people who were taken from Africa as slaves left behind
> them parents, brothers, sisters and children; and it was certainly not
> by their relatives that those people were sold. Most of the slaves
> were obtained as the result of warfare between slave-trading states
> and rival or weaker kingdoms and communities. In what is now
> Nigeria, for instance, the Igbo people suffered from raids by slave
> traders because they didn't have a political unit to protect them. The
> slave trade meant prosperity for some African kingdoms on the coastal
> parts of the continent, but certainly not of the whole of Africa; as
> one kingdom was getting wealthier, in the inner parts of the
> impoverished and depopulated. Imagine what it would have meant for a
> village to lose all its healthy men and women after a raid by slave
> traders and be left with only old people and very young children to
> protect and feed themselves.
>
> In Congo-Brazzaville, where I come from, it is said that the north of
> the country, which is far inland, was depopulated due to the fact that
> the slave-trading kingdoms like Kongo and Loango got most of the
> people they sold from there; and that is why the ethnic group Kongo
> today accounts for more than half of the population of the Republic of
> (Congo). But there were also millions of Kongo people who were sold in
> the same way.
> You see, the concept of African Unity and Brotherhood is very recent
> indeed, and the ethnic wars in modem Africa prove that it is an idea
> that many Africans have not comprehended yet. In the old times, for
> most Africans, the world didn't go far beyond the shores of our
> motherland, and they would not feel any sort of affinity with someone
> from another kingdom, community or caste. The concept of Africa itself
> was born with European colonization.
>
> So let me come to the point. The assumption that all Africans today
> are descendants of slave traders is untrue and unfair.
>
> Most of today's Africans are the descendants of both slave traders and
> slaves, or of neither of them. The African population is now about ten
> times what it was in the times of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and
> countless migrations of people have occurred all over the continent in
> the last four centuries. It is very unlikely that the descendants of
> those who were sold into slavery didn't breed with those of their
> sellers. Therefore it doesn't make sense for the African continent to
> apologize for its role in the slave trade, as most of us are the
> descendants of its victims. You cannot apologize to yourself, can you?
>
> Most of Africa, which is the inland part of the continent, never
> benefited at any time in history from the slave trade. It was rather
> to the contrary.
>
> Even though I come from a kingdom that took part in the slave trade,
> the only reason I would feel compelled to apologize to African
> Americans for the African involvement into the slave trade would be if
> I was 100% sure that 1 was the descendant only of slave traders and
> not of a single person taken as a slave to the Americas. And should I
> remind you that millions of slaves were taken to other parts of
> Africa, like North Africa, Sao Tome Principe, East Africa.
>
> Do you think their descendants should apologize too?
>
> Given the fact that there are only about 40 million Africans in the
> United States, against about 700 million in Africa, it is likely that
> you will find more descendants of slaves in Africa than in the United
> States.
>
> What President Kerekou did, apologizing to African Americans for
> slavery, was totally inappropriate and ridiculous. If he is convinced
> of being a descendant of slave traders fine, but he had certainly no
> right to apologize in the name of all the African people. The African
> leaders who should apologize, I believe, are the kings of Dahomey (now
> Benin) and Ghana, as we all know who their ancestors were and what
> they did; despite the fact that their kingdoms do not officially exist
> anymore. I read some time ago that about 30% of African Americans are
> originated from Europe on the paternal side. Do you think those 30%
> should apologize to the rest of the African community worldwide for
> the countless rapes and humiliations their white ancestors inflicted
> upon African women and men?
>
> As for the question of reparations, I believe it is right for Africans
> to be paid compensation for the impoverishment and depopulation of
> their homelands. The slave trade took our fathers, our mothers, our
> families and we are only asking for money in return. But, I also
> believe that all the people who took part in this crime against
> humanity should contribute to the payment of damages, regardless of
> their color or ethnicity.
>
> Unfortunately the African kingdoms that took part in this trade were
> destroyed by colonization and have now officially disappeared. But the
> European and American powers that benefited from the slave trade still
> exist, and are still benefiting from it, that is why they should pay
> first.
>
> This "Africans sold us" thing has been going on in the Americas for
> generations among people of African descent and has to end now,
> because it is simply inaccurate.
>
> Those Africans didn't sell African Americans, but other Africans. They
> sold themselves. That is it. You do not apologize to yourself, you
> simply leam from your mistakes.
>
> What unite us Africans and you African Americans is not the fact that
> our ancestors sold your ancestors, but the fact that we have the same
> ancestors.
>
> Every time African Americans come to Africa they bring with them the
> spirits of those Africans who lived and died with the hope that one
> day they would see once again the brothers, sisters, children they
> lost when they were taken from the shores of our Motherland.
>
> If they came back to life those African ancestors would certainly run
> to their villages, run to their children, brothers and sisters, and
> certainly not to ask them to apologize for something most of them had
> nothing to do with and brought on suffering into their lives. And
> anyway, because they were Africa! they would certainly follow this
> typical African proverb: "If you cut yourself with your own knife, you
> don't throw it away; you wipe it and put it back into its sheath."
> Courtesy:
> www.thevoice.nl
>
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| Re: Who Should Apologize? [boodskap #58081 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #58066] |
So, 03 Maart 2002 02:15 |
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Oorspronklik gepos deur: @rogers.com
Davie Davis wrote:
> Who Should Apologize?
>
> By Sam Novicinth
En nou vra ek jou, Davie Davis, as swart
slawehandelaars se nakomelinge apologie
aanteken vir wat hulle gedoen het, hoekom
is jy so seker dat jy en die mense van
Nederlandse en ander Europese afkoms wat
die swartes en die geles in suidelike Afrika
verkneg het, niks het om voor verskoning te
vra nie?
Gloudina
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| Re: Who Should Apologize? [boodskap #58084 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #58081] |
So, 03 Maart 2002 04:13 |
Jonas
Boodskappe: 1070
Geregistreer: September 2001
Karma: 0
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Senior Lid |
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"A slave is a man with a slave's mentality ...."
skryf in boodskap news:3C818783.7020406@rogers.com...
>
> Davie Davis wrote:
>
>
>> Who Should Apologize?
>>
>> By Sam Novicinth
>
>
> En nou vra ek jou, Davie Davis, as swart
> slawehandelaars se nakomelinge apologie
> aanteken vir wat hulle gedoen het, hoekom
> is jy so seker dat jy en die mense van
> Nederlandse en ander Europese afkoms wat
> die swartes en die geles in suidelike Afrika
> verkneg het, niks het om voor verskoning te
> vra nie?
>
> Gloudina
>
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| Re: Who Should Apologize? [boodskap #58091 is 'n antwoord op boodskap #58081] |
So, 03 Maart 2002 10:40 |
Arthur
Boodskappe: 609
Geregistreer: September 2001
Karma: 0
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Senior Lid |
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Gloudina schreef...
> En nou vra ek jou, Davie Davis, as swart
> slawehandelaars se nakomelinge apologie
> aanteken vir wat hulle gedoen het, hoekom
> is jy so seker dat jy en die mense van
> Nederlandse en ander Europese afkoms wat
> die swartes en die geles in suidelike Afrika
> verkneg het, niks het om voor verskoning te
> vra nie?
Zeker vergeten die conferentie in Durban te volgen?
Arthur
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