Elliott Reid's video: Conditions of Slavery and Why did they do it Black History Project Video 37

The Conditions of Slavery - Why did they do it? (img) The conditions of slavery can be thought of as what happens when one set of humans believe than another set of humans are “sub-human”. This should serve as a lesson to us all. Here are some examples we encounter today: Katie Hopkins describing migrants or refugees as “cockroaches” (ref) Hitler used pesticide to kill the Jews and described them as “rats” (ref) Nazis described Jews as Untermenschen, or subhumans Sailer Winston Mano described Africans as “beasts who have no houses” and also as “people without heads, having their mouth and eyes in their breasts.” David Livingstone Smith from the Institute for Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology at the University of New England explains (ref) "We all know, despite what we see in the movies... it's very difficult, psychologically, to kill another human being up close and in cold blood, or to inflict atrocities on them." So, when it does happen, it can be helpful to understand what it is that allows human beings "to overcome the very deep and natural inhibitions they have against treating other people like game animals or vermin or dangerous predators." As author and rapper Kingslee Daley aka Akala said, “as soon as you call a group of people cockroaches it is a mandate for murder…” How else would a christian, muslim or a jew enslave a fellow human? They have to make them subhuman in their own perspective and the perspective of others. (img) The conditions in which the Africans were transported and enslaved were horrendous. They would have their feet and hands shackled often in a forward flexed position (pic). Many slaves thought that the Europeans taking them were cannibals, mistaking the wine they drank for blood. Suicide was rife. Many jumped overboard to save themselves from a life of enslavement. Around one third of Africans died in the crossing to the Americas which often took as long as 3 months. The Africans were often disfigured when they arrived due to being chained in abnormal positions for such long periods of times. The smell on the ships was so awful that people claimed to be able to smell slave ships before they saw them. John Newton, The conditions of the slave ships inspired John Newton, a slave trader, to become an abolitionist. He later wrote the popular hymn, “Amazing Grace” (img) On arrival, the slavers beat the Africans into submission. They forced them to change their names to the names of their owners and abandon their religion. It is estimated that at least ⅓ of the Africans worshipped in accordance to Islam before their capture; the rest worshipped traditional African deitiies. They were forced to convert to Christianity and were provided a Bible with verses such as Exodus removed. This was to prevent them from drawing inspiration from other biblical people who had fought their oppressor. (img) Cyril Lionel Robert James in his book “The Black Jacobins” describes some of the punishments that the Africans endured Pregnant women had their babies cut out of their wombs Heels of runaway slaves were removed Slow cooked on an open fire Gunpowder inserted into the rectum and set alight Rape of female slaves by their masters The slavers’ initials were branded onto the Africans skin with a hot poker Whipping and beatings; until death. I have family members who have been recorded to have had 500 lashes to the back Slave collars prevented them from resting Lynchings i.e. hanging from trees by the neck The average age of the Africans taken to the Americas was 15. (img) However, did you know that despite being held in unimaginably horrific conditions, many of our modern innovations come from enslaved Africans? One is the vaccine. An African slave called Onesimus explained to his slaver how he had been protected from small pox by rubbing the puss of an infected person into an open wound (ref). This later gave rise to the concept of vaccination; giving a low dose of a pathogen to promote immunity. Task: name as many black celebrities that you know. What are their last names? Explain why their last names aren’t authentically African. What does this tell you of their ancestors past? What does this tell you about the size of the slave trade? Task: another example of great evil is the holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis. 6million Jews were killed by the Nazis in unimaginable conditions (ref). They lost 2 thirds of their population to genocide (ref). What do you think would have happened if they were forced to forget who they were as well as this? In what state would this leave a people?