EMANCIPATION DAY - BUT, ARE WE FREE? OR NOT SO FREE?

  1 August 2006 

EMANCIPATION DAY - BUT, ARE WE FREE? OR    

                                NOT SO FREE?

In many former British colonial territories Emancipation Day - the 1st day of August each year is celebrated as a public holiday.

The Transatlantic Slave Trade was one of the most lucrative industries of its time. And this European trade began right at the start of European relations with Africa.

 It constituted one of the largest exodus’ of human cargo from the continent of Africa to the American continent, especially between 1650 and 1900 when it peaked. It is estimated that approximately 10,340,200 (over 10 million) souls actually survived the journey and were deposited on the new soil, within the period specified. 

Emancipation is the legal process of freeing the human cargo and elevating it to the status of a second or more accurately third class person in the society. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1933 was passed by the British Parliament to free the slaves in the British West Indies. By virtue of this emancipation Act, on the 1st day of August, 1834, slavery was abolished, and our forefathers freed. A process was setup to gradually relinquish the slaves from their bonds and obligations - obligations which carried sanctions of pain, punishment and/or death, to deliver free labor to their colonial master; just to develop and build the British Empire. But in essence, these Africans were never allowed to enjoy significant independence or psychological, cultural or economic liberation in the post emancipation era; even though it is true that they were not literally in shackles of iron. The Act provided also for the slaves to relinquish their assignment over a specified period of time, with the intention that they would evolve into the status of agricultural employees within a prescribed period, to work for a mere pittance.

Legally, The Africans were to be under the protection of the law, as they were elevated from the status of a chattel (goods/property) to an under class of humans. As a matter of fact they were told so, and some actually believed that they were legally equal to others, as there was not, available to them, as existed afterwards or subsequently, any in-depth study or analysis of the social, economical, legal and psychological system, as has evolved today, to determine or help assess the true status of their affairs, and the condition in which they were left.

Is there a reason to celebrate as is done, e.g., in the West Indies? If there is, then what are we actually celebrating?  Before answering the question I would like to allude to a celebration that is alive for thousands of years, i.e., the Passover of the Jews.

In ancient times, Moses the Law Giver is alleged to have guided or led the Israelites from Egyptian slavery at the hand of the Pharaoh Dynasty, to the Land of Milk and Honey. I was appalled to learn that this event including the crossing of the Red Sea is being doubted by some archaeologists and historians, as there were no records traced or other regular evidence to confirm or verify this story, as was done   with other legends. But still, the descendants of those folk regard that event – the Passover as an occasion to have strict observance to commemorate freedom gained by their ancestors from 400 years of oppression under Pharaoh in ancient Egypt.

Our slavery of 400 yrs of oppression and mistreatment was just around the corner, not even 200 yrs. Old; and so many of us who have relocated in the Diaspora from our more recent Caribbean homelands are prone to forget the observance, and worse, not even to keep our children and the latter generations cognizant of these significant, remarkable and impacting events which will always have an effect on our being, until we are truly liberated from the bonds and deep seated wounds of  the 400 + years of physical and mental conditioning.

The transatlantic trade constituted the largest forced migration in the world and is regarded by some scholars as history’s darkest human tragedy. This forced exodus of entire generations of Africans, would build and reshape the world forever, leaving a legacy that would haunt our world today. Some rightfully refer to the Triangular Slave Trade as The African Holocaust.

To quote one author, “If slavery was the African people’s holocaust, we should not be ashamed of saying so. We should have no hesitation in using the word ‘holocaust’ because no one people  has a monopoly on the word and I know of no law that gives a people the right to copyright a word as though it is their exclusive ownership.”

Whether you celebrate, recognize, observe or remember is always a matter of choice. The answer you give will confirm my belief in a theory I have for years struggled with, to confute it - that ‘Blacks have short memories.’ But, in the eyes of our neighbours, when a people who have had deliverance from a culture of violence where for 400 years they were branded like cattle, confined, de-robed, whipped and reduced, make trifle of their new found freedom, and are even telling their brethren, “let us try to for-get it and pretend that it never happened”, such individuals deserve much prayer and to be pitied. I and those closely associated with me, have returned to basics, and will henceforth treat the 1st day of August of each year as a special and a sacred day, and will seek to do things consistent with observance, irrespective of our earthly location.  

Ever wondered why the lucrative slave trade was quashed at the peak of its operations? Of course it was the most profitable industry the world has ever seen. History shows that it was due to the constant rebellion and agitation in the slave camps, by those of our more aggressive, free spirited forefathers. It had become more and more difficult to employ physical force to contain such a large and growing population, to police and monitor them, and to rely on proper intelligence from snitches, to determine their next move. The slaves has had enough. Rebellions had proved costly indeed to the expatriate barons and to both local and foreign governments. The good life was now intercepted by fear and tension.  But, scholars did not miss the ‘Great Awakening’, a surgence of evangelistic Christianity which swept the colonies. As one scholar put it, “…It is ironic, for white slaveholders originally used Christianity as a tool to perpetuate obedience and docility in slaves; yet, Africans recognized the hypocrisy in the white version of Christianity, realizing they were equal in God’s eyes….”

It is also interesting to note the provision in The Abolition Act of 1833 for the British government to pay compensation to the slave owners. The amount paid depended on the number of slaves you owned.  The Bishop of Exeter’s 665 slaves, e.g., resulted in him receiving 12,700 pounds sterling. 

Right here in Canada the Chinese are raising a continuous hue and cry for compensation for injustices in pay and conditions they suffered when they came here as indentured servants, and were discriminated against. They also seek redress for the deplorable head tax of 1885 imposed by racist legislating, upon Chinese ‘coolies’ (from kuli) as they were called, seeking to enter Canada, after the completion of the CPR track, which most of them voluntarily came to build. And, this is so interesting, because the Chinese in this society have regained their social status and have visibly stood erect in the booming economy of Canada, displaying affluence.

But the children of the exploited slaves are behaving as true Sunday school kids, just as they were conditioned to behave. They seek neither redress not apologies, neither in Canada nor in any of the more developed countries that have amassed the great fortunes they hold from their innumerable exploitative schemes, in Africa, in the Caribbean, elsewhere, and most important from the millions of human cargo in the exodus. More interesting is the fact that many African the world over have great admiration for the colonial masters and worship those dark angels for passing down to us their gods and pagan pleasures, customs and conversion.

But, having said all that was said, we have still two questions outstanding:

    (1) Are we the slave descendants free? If so, how free? And

    (2) Should we abandon Emancipation day? Or should we find ways to observe celebrate and rejuvenate?

The answer to question 2 is not so difficult, and must come from the reader, and not from the writer. Answer it!

.

Shalom Raab – Peace be unto you! 

I am an Israelite.

Raam

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

For more specific regional information on the diaspora, refer to: 

William D. Pierson. Black Yankees(Boston, 1988) 

Charles Joyner. Down by the Riverside(Chiacgo, 1984) 

Ira Berlin, "Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society on the British Mainland North America"American Historical Review 85, 1(1980) 

Joseph E. Holloway, ed. Africanisms in American Culture(Indiana, 1990) 

For further information on the diaspora in the Carribean, Brazil, and Latin America refer to:

Michael L. Conniff and Thomas J. Davis, Africans in the Americas(New York, 1994) 

For further information on religion refer to:

Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion(New York, 1978) 

For further information on cultural aspects refer to:

Black People and their Culture, Selected Writings from the African Diaspora,(Washington D.C., 1976) 

To learn more about the African Diaspora, here are some cool links:

The roots of Afro-American music can be explored in Native African Music. 

Look at Documents of the History of African Descents throughout the World or the Library of Congress 

links to brush up on African history.