FOOD FOR THOUGHT: WAS FREDERICK DOUGLASS RIGHT OR MISINFORMED?
Peace,
On Page 7, of The Frederick Douglass Encyclopedia, it states: "Douglass was unconvinced that living and working in Africa would appreciably be more effective in abolishing the slave trade, because the "savage chiefs" in West Africa were little different than slave traders in America in terms of morality and economic interests."
Of course Frederick Douglass was right, about the fact that there were African rulers that sold our ancestors to Europeans. However, I'm questioning whether Douglass was right or misinformed, when he stated that there was little difference between African slavery and European slavery, in terms of morality, considering the fact that European enslavers sought to strip us of our identities/humanity, made us breed like some of their livestock, prohibited us from becoming educated, kept us in unsanitary conditions, etc.
I welcome all feedback, thank you in advance.
On Page 7, of The Frederick Douglass Encyclopedia, it states: "Douglass was unconvinced that living and working in Africa would appreciably be more effective in abolishing the slave trade, because the "savage chiefs" in West Africa were little different than slave traders in America in terms of morality and economic interests."
Of course Frederick Douglass was right, about the fact that there were African rulers that sold our ancestors to Europeans. However, I'm questioning whether Douglass was right or misinformed, when he stated that there was little difference between African slavery and European slavery, in terms of morality, considering the fact that European enslavers sought to strip us of our identities/humanity, made us breed like some of their livestock, prohibited us from becoming educated, kept us in unsanitary conditions, etc.
I welcome all feedback, thank you in advance.
One of the things I note right away in the book, was that he did not mention Arab/Muslim enslavers, but sub-Saharan Africans.
Of course, we know that the "savage chiefs" term was a term that white people applied to black people in Africa, essentially dismissing any sense of civilization and culture amongst African people.
Then, one has to wonder what was Douglass' source of information, to come to this conclusion? During the late 1800s, who really had access to information about Africa? Hell, we can't even get it straight today, right in our own neighborhoods, and that's with all of the modern technology of today????