Dear Editor,
It was pleasing to see Tota C. Mangar’s ‘History this week’ article entitled ‘Reflections on Emancipation’ (SN, August 27). I would like to add a few points so that the impression left is one of deeper understanding and historical completeness.
My first addition is that this year is the 171st anniversary of Emancipation and not the 175th. Mr Mangar indeed captured why ACDA uses 1838 as the date of Emancipation and not 1834.
Mr Mangar stated that the act passed by the British parliament in 1834 “partially freed” approximately 85,000 slaves in Guyana. It was considered ‘partially freed’ because in reality it was not ‘full freedom’ in the initial stage. The Abolition Act catered for a period of transition called the apprenticeship system under which the ex-slaves were apprenticed to their former masters. This apprenticeship system lasted for four years, 1834-1838, before ‘full freedom’ was achieved. During this period the apprentices had to provide compulsory unpaid labour to the extent of three-quarters of the working week for their former masters, while the remaining quarter they were expected to earn wages.
Dickson Igwe recently wrote Emancipation in reality was, “partial and incomplete as the freed slaves remained in economic bondage, political subservience, and social limbo.” I hope there is some agreement on this issue as every year a segment of the Guyanese media uses 1834 as the year to count the anniversary of Emancipation Day, now celebrated as Freedom Day.
My second addition is centred around Mr Mangar’s statement : “Our history tells us that our Afro-Guyanese forefathers were first brought here during the early decades of the 17th century by the Dutch in their quest for settlement and colonization. This was part of a wider and forced movement of people from the continent of Africa to the West Indian islands and the Americas which started more than a century earlier.”
The phrase “forced movement” does not do justice to what really happened in Africa. It wasn’t forced movement due to weather or an act of God. It was murder, genocide and “the greatest crime against humanity” as attested to by the United Nations and all civilized countries. The world is still living a lie about what transpired in Africa for over 400 years.
Recently, I read an article written by European writers who continue to spread an incredible lie about Africans and slavery. This lie helps to make some Africans believe that “nothing good has come out of Africa.” This lie provided the key to the prison of low self-esteem for many who see Africans as lazy and uncivilized and who believe that Europeans saved Africans from themselves – from being brutal savages to noble savages. The lie is that only 10-15 million Africans were brought to the West Indies. If one were to read the 1990 World Almanac, on page 39 there are some fascinating numbers. Here is what is written:
This shows that between 1650 and 1850, key years during the Slave Trade, Africa’s population shrunk by 5 million whereas the European population grew by 165 million. This was because over 100 million Africans died or were made slaves during that period. It has been claimed that for every 100 Africans that were captured in a war, 200 were killed or badly injured. Of the 100 that left for the ships on the coast, only 35 made it through the Middle Passage. And within 4 years, only 6 of those original 100 were still alive. Imagine what this has done to Africa. In Guyana, we are struggling to move forward partly because over the last 50 years approximately 700,000 Guyanese have left our shores with their skills. Imagine what the destruction and removal of 100,000,000 people over 400 years did to Africa and Africa’s development.
I would like to highlight that African Guyanese have played a key role in re-educating the world about Africa’s greatness and extraordinary contributions to the world.
Finally, for those who believe nothing good has come out of Africa, I recommend three great books by Guyanese authors that have allowed the world to acknowledge, somewhat grudgingly, Africa’s contributions to the world, apart from being the place where all human beings originated: Dr George GM James (Stolen Legacy), Dr Ivan Van Sertima (They Came Before Columbus), and Dr Walter Rodney (How Europe Underdeveloped Africa) all have written about Africa’s great civilizations prior to slavery. Most Guyanese have not read these books and most of our young people may not have even heard of them much less read them.
I congratulate Totar C. Mangar on his efforts and do hope he can continue to do his good work in educating Guyanese by perhaps reading each of these books and summarizing them for the benefit of the general Guyanese public.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Phillips
