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Matilda, the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade
- InDubioProRubio 2y agoGood thing we work on the evil of 3 generations ago instead of handling the evil of the now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Libya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Libya
- wat10000 2y agoIt’s important to remember history so we might have a chance of not repeating it.
- HKH2 2y agoThe OP's point is that it is still being repeated right now.
- eckesicle 2y agoFor context, there are around 40 million people living in some form of slavery today, around four times the number of people who were sold in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, so it is by no means a solved problem. Most people in slavery today live in Asia and the Middle East, but there are pockets in Africa where it is common too. Modern slaves are sold for as little as $10-$100 and are therefore often considered disposable by their perpetrators. Approx 70% are women and 25% children. Slavery is illegal everywhere in the world but enforcement is lax or non-existent in some countries, notably Libya and Yemen.
- wat10000 2y agoRelative to population, that’s probably the lowest it’s ever been. Obviously the correct number is zero, but it’s an unfortunate fact of life that bad stuff tends to scale with population just like good stuff.
- eckesicle 2y agoYes, but unlike other bad stuff, like homicides, this issue isn’t homogeneously distributed over the world. It’s disproportionately concentrated to a small number of countries and regions, that for various reasons and to various degrees tacitly condone it.
- wat10000 2y agoHomicide is pretty concentrated too. The rate varies 100x or more between the best and the worst countries, and there’s enormous variation within countries too. I’m not sure it’s as extreme as you suggest. Looking up stats on slavery in different countries, there are definitely some extreme outliers, but they don’t account for that much of the global total. And by far the worst offender is North Korea, which is never mentioned in these discussion. I also have no idea how accurate these figures are, but the focus on places like Libya doesn’t seem like an honest assessment of the situation. In any case, I’m not sure how this matters. I guess it would influence how you fight it. If it’s concentrated in a few countries then you’d want pressure on those governments specifically. But in terms of how bad the problem is, I don’t see that it really matters how geographically spread out it is.
- wat10000 2y agoYes, thank you, that was quite obvious. My point, in case it somehow wasn’t obvious, is that we shouldn’t ignore the past just because problems continue.
- HKH2 2y agoThe people that are given the most negative attention are those that have admitted guilt. The key to success in the liberal order is to shrug it off and chalk it up to cultural differences.
- wat10000 2y agoCase in point: slavery in the US prior to the Civil War is widely acknowledged to be wrong and gets lots of negative attention. Slavery in the US today is barely acknowledged to even exist and gets little negative attention. It’s funny how people who want to deflect away from discussing the Atlantic slave trade by bringing up modern slavery always mention countries like Libya, and not the US. I imagine it’s worse in Libya, but “why focus on the US’s past when slavery is alive and well here in the present” would hit a lot closer to home and would probably be a lot easier to fix.
- mrguyorama 2y agoUnfortunately a significant fraction of the US is entirely okay with people (mostly black people) being turned into indentured servants for our prison system. They have zero appetite for prison reform, justice reform, police reform, etc, and would much rather we all sit down and shut up.
- HKH2 2y agoI am completely against private prisons. Providing there are legitimate reasons for someone to be in prison, how is it wrong to make them at least cover their own costs?
- 2y ago
- strken 2y agoWhat actions have you taken recently to handle the evil that is slavery in Libya?
- InDubioProRubio 2y ago[dead]
- gilleain 2y agoI don't understand the point of a comment like this - the article is about a historical figure who is relevant to a large-scale event. Why is that a bad thing, and why do we need to solve all other issues in the world first?
- eckesicle 2y agoYes, exactly. We can do both. Recognise a historical figure and raise awareness of current issues.
- AnimalMuppet 2y agoYour point is valid. But the top-level point is also valid, because the article is from Al Jazeera. It's valid to point out that there's slavery in their (Arab) world much more recently than in the US.
- rendall 2y agoQatar publishes articles like this in order to distract and divert from its own slavery problem. https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/findings/spotlights/life-under-the-kafala-system/#footnote:7 https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/findings/spotl...
- nijuashi 2y ago
- jmyeet 2y agoI was aware that the transatlantic slave trade was banned in 1808. I had no idea there were illegal shipments as late as 1859. I'm glad this article specifically mentions the "convict leasing" exception to the 13th Amendment. As noted, it's still an issue to this day. For obvious reasons, first hand accounts of the transatlantic slave trade are incredibly rare. A notable exception is Omar Ibn Said [1] who was fluent in spoken and written Arabic. The vast majority of slaves were illiterate. [1]: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/only-surviving-arabic-slave-narrative-united-statesdigitized-library-congress-180971298/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/only-surviving-ara...
- poulpy123 2y agoI wonder if we will get articles about the last survivor of the slavery in Qatar (abolished in 1952)
- rendall 2y agoThere is no last survivor of slavery in Qatar. Despite its officially being abolished, Qatari slavery endures to this day. https://dohanews.co/report-qatar-fifth-highest-proportion-slavery-world/ https://dohanews.co/report-qatar-fifth-highest-proportion-sl...
- kamikazeturtles 2y agoIt's really hard to define slavery. I don't see any difference between indentured servitude and modern student loans. If a bank is projecting your future earning potential and how risky you are when deciding whether to give you a loan in student loans, mortgages, credit card ... How is that any different from slavery? They're literally projecting if you can pay off a loan amortized over ~30 years. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was a very brutal form of slavery. Slavery existed in many forms throughout history and I don't think our current iteration of "employment" and lending is very different from many of slavery's historical forms
- quesera 2y agoBy your stated logic, all laws and enforceable contracts are slavery. I'm sure you've heard this before, but that reduces "slavery" to "obligation" or "commitment", and dilutes atrocity to banal.
- openasocket 2y agoWhen you get credit card debt, does the credit card company choose what job you have to work at to pay it off? Do they choose where you have to live until you pay it off? Do they get to choose who, if anyone, you are allowed to marry? If you try to leave that place, does the credit card company chase you down, capture you, and beat you? Is the credit card company legally allowed to physically or sexually abuse you?
- helboi4 2y ago[flagged]
- internet_points 2y agoGood thing these days slavery is illegal in the US – unless your company owns a prison
- tiahura 2y agoEnslaved by Africans and sold by a Canadian, and I’m supposed to pay reparations?
- sitkack 2y agoVery good writing and thorough coverage. > A central element of the Black Codes was “vagrancy” laws. Through a system known as “convict leasing”, many African-American boys and men were arrested for minor offences such as vagrancy, imprisoned, and then leased out to work for private businesses. This created a new system of forced labour which again was little more than slavery. Convict leasing was legally rooted in the so-called “exception clause” of the 13th Amendment which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” This is I think the primary reason our justice system is so messed up. Convict Leasing was and is a barbaric practice. I highly recommend this book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_by_Another_Name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_by_Another_Name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convict_leasing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convict_leasing > For example, in 1898, 73% of Alabama's annual state revenue came from convict leasing. To think we are turning a blind eye to this in the world. It makes the US even more of a hypocrite.
- chronial 2y agoI really like this video essay that also covers convict leasing: https://youtu.be/j4kI2h3iotA?si=9-VanyLpw1rJLLUI https://youtu.be/j4kI2h3iotA?si=9-VanyLpw1rJLLUI
- BrandoElFollito 2y agoI wonder which were the largest "institunalized" slavery cases over the ages (if one vaguely define slavery as being forced or fooled to do work in harsh conditions supported by the local rulers/govs, without the ability to stop - something like that, common sense). I think African slavery was large, but there were Romans and Greeks before, or Asian countries. Pretty much everyone I guess. I am asking this question because when I recently discussed massive homicides, I has the Nazi camps in mind and a friend mentioned Pol Pot's as being much bigger. The place you are in (France in my case) biaises this a lot.
- aaron695 2y ago[dead]