The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Slavery: lessons from history > Comments

Slavery: lessons from history : Comments

By MA Khan, published 30/7/2009

Europeans weren't alone with their slave trade. In some countries it continues to this day.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All
.

A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME

.

I am sorry to have to repeat myself but I have already posted the following comment on this subject elsewhere on this forum:

Despite the fact that slavery was abolished officially some 150 years ago, according to the United Nations estimates, there are about 27 million slaves in the world today.

The two main forms of human trafficking noted by a recent United Nations study are sexual exploitation and forced labour. The numbers have increased exponentially since abolition.

Happily though, Australia has managed to avoid the phenomenon. The numbers here are quite modest. Nothing like those 165 000 white slaves deported by the British Government as forced labour to colonise the country - those so-called "first settlers" whose landing at Sydney Cove we joyfully celebrate on Australia Day.

On 12 February 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)published the results of a study of human trafficking in 155 countries. As it so happens, the report was published on Darwin's 200th birthday. Apart from that, there does not appear to be much to celebrate.

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Thursday, 30 July 2009 8:16:33 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Great article with a lot of unknown facts and facts that most Western liberties hating 'useful idiots' prefer not to know. Thanks very much to MA Khan for this article.

Twelve years ago I visited Ghana and as part of my trip I paid a visit to one of the coastal forts from where slaves were being transported to the Americas. Being Dutch and hearing about the horrible and inhumane treatment of slaves by the Dutch a few centuries ago was a very humbling experience. But the Ghanese guide was very honest when he said that the slave trade wouldn't have been possible without the help of the local tribes, who were happy to sell members of the tribes they fought in battle to the white slave traders.

Later I started to learn more and more about the role of Arab countries in slave trading, and the mention of still existing slaves in Mauritania reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me after he'd visited the country and which basically came down to the horrible way the Arabs treat the black population in that country. Just look at the Sudan to find another example
Posted by KeesB, Thursday, 30 July 2009 9:59:48 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
For an insight into Islamic Slavery in East Africa read Wilbur Smith's book, Monsoon.

It details it pretty well.
Posted by Peter the Believer, Sunday, 2 August 2009 2:41:37 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The Arab world began slave trading long before the Europeans, and continue it to this day. In fact at this moment there are more slaves in the world than were ever transported to the Americas in 300-odd years. Most of these are in Arab nations. In the time period generally acknowledged to encompass European slave trading, 11 million Africans were transported to the Americas and Europe. In the same period, 14 million Africans were transported to the Middle East. Whites are an easy target because they feel guilty and want to make amends. Arabs, on the other hand, laugh at any notion of an apology or reparations. The Western world shouldn't beat up exclusively on itself for a crime that nearly every culture engaged in.
Posted by benny tea, Sunday, 2 August 2009 9:54:15 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The western world is not unique in the practice of slavery, but I think they are unique in hypocrisy. The American and French Revolutions were both accompanied by talk of freedom and equality ('all men are created equal' - US Declaration of Independence) and potential for every man (women excluded) to advance as far as their abilities allowed ('Every man carries a marshal's baton in his knapsack' - Napoleon). The US Constitution preserved slavery, and it took a great war to end the practice. Napoleon tried to restore slavery in Haiti where slaves had been freed.
Posted by david f, Sunday, 2 August 2009 7:25:31 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I don't agree with that. The Koran speaks of equality for all, and yet Muslim Arabs enslaved millions - including fellow (black) Muslims. The Japanese spoke of the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and they too enslaved millions of their fellow Asians. I think the hypocrisy you speak of in no way lessens the magnitude of the crimes committed by those who didn't espouse equality. No, as far as I'm concerned, the Western history of slavery is something we should remember and never allow to happen again, but that's it. No more apologies and no reparations (which are nothing more than a cash grab). We should, however, be focused on ending modern slavery where it exists - and that's not in the Western world.
Posted by benny tea, Monday, 3 August 2009 3:40:37 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy