African apologies for the Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade was when millions of Africans were taken by the Americas with force. Some African leaders and groups helped the Europeans to sell people. Europeans worked with some African rulers and traders to send most Africans to work as slaves on farms in the New World. In return, African groups and leaders got goods like guns, clothes, and alcohol from the Europeans. Some African communities also made money and gained power from this kind of trade. Recently, some African countries and people have said sorry and shown regret for what their ancestors did during the slave trade.[1]
Expressions of apology
Benin
In the year 2000, the president of Benin, Mathieu Kérékou, said sorry for Benin’s part in the Atlantic slave trade. In those days, Benin was called the Kingdom of Dahomey.[2] Some leaders from Benin went to Virginia and Washington, D.C. in the United States to share the president’s apology. A Beninese politician, Luc Gnacadja, said, “We cry for forgiveness and reconciliation.” He also said, “The slave trade is a shame, and we do repent for it.”[3]
Cameroon
In 2013, William Holland, an African-American businessman, found out through family history research that his ancestors came from the Oku clan in Cameroon. He then went to the town of Bakou in Cameroon. There, the local chief, Ngako Ngalatchui, said sorry for the Oku clan’s part in selling people into the slave trade.[4]
Ghana
In 2006, Ghana started Project Joseph. This was to invite people whose ancestors were taken as slaves to visit and invest in Ghana. It was also a way to say sorry for Ghana’s role in the slave trade. This project was named after Joseph in the Bible, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers
In 2007, the president of Ghana, John Kufuor, visited London, England. In his speech, he said that European countries were not the only ones to blame for the slave trade. He said that some local African groups were also part of it. He also said, “No matter how you see it, slavery and the slave trade were very wrong and shameful, even if there were other cruel things happening at that time.”[5]
In 2022, Nana Obokese Ampah I who was the traditional king of Asebu, gave a public apology. He said, “It is time to speak to Africans living outside the continent. We need to have a real talk to admit and make peace with what we did and did not do as leaders during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. We are very sorry for it.”[6]
Nigeria
In 2009, the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, led by politician Shehu Sani, told Nigerian chiefs to apologize for their ancestors’ part in the slave trade.[7] A group of people Council of Elders refused. They are called the Aro Council of Elders. They said they were “not sorry about what happened in the past.”
In 2018, Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi who was a traditional king called Oluwo of Iwo, apologized for the part that royal families in Nigeria played in the Atlantic slave trade.
The family of Seriki Abass, a well-known slave trader from Badagry in Nigeria, said sorry for him selling slaves in the past.
Uganda
In 1998, Yoweri Museveni, Ugandan's President said he would not ask U.S. president Bill Clinton to say apologize during his visit to Africa. Museveni said in his speech, “African chiefs were fighting each other, catching their own people, and selling them. If anyone should say sorry, it should be the African chiefs. We still have those traitors here even today.”
In the year 2023, President Museveni gave a formal apology for the Atlantic slave trade.
References
- ↑ Holsey, Bayo (2011). "Owning Up to the Past?". Transition.
- ↑ Holsey, Bayo (2011). "Owning Up to the Past?". Transition (105): 74–87. doi:10.2979/transition.105.74. JSTOR 10.2979/transition.105.74.
- ↑ "BENIN OFFICIALS APOLOGIZE FOR ROLE IN U.S. SLAVE TRADE". Chicago Tribune. 1 May 2000. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/05/01/benin-officials-apologize-for-role-in-us-slave-trade/.
- ↑ Boyle, Alan (27 October 2013). "Genetic quest leads to African apology for role in slave trade". NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/genetic-quest-leads-african-apology-role-slave-trade-8c11467842.
- ↑ Holsey, Bayo (2011). "Owning Up to the Past?". Transition.
- ↑ "Ghana and Other African Nations Who Enslaved and Sold Blacks to Europeans to Formally Apologize". Black Enterprise. 25 September 2022. https://www.blackenterprise.com/ghana-and-other-african-nations-who-enslaved-and-sold-blacks-to-europeans-to-formally-apologize/.
- ↑ Smith, David (18 November 2009). "African chiefs urged to apologise for slave trade". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/18/africans-apologise-slave-trade.