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African American History - How Well Do We Know It?

Its a pity young African Americans are not aware of the struggles their ancestors faced in shaping the destiny of the present generation. African American History is a story of hope and desires which started with the abominable slave trade and culminated in a long sought freedom. A people can only know and understand themselves if they appreciate their past and this is necessary for the young African Americans today.

A story can take many shapes depending on who is telling it. The historians of that era when slavery was in its prime were mostly of European stock so naturally this horrible event in history was very much sanitized for public consumption. The brutalities of the slave trade and the total suppression of African culture, African art and African music are hardly recorded anywhere. It was left to the elders to pass on the stories of the many heroes of the slave trade; those great rebels who helped pave the way for its eventual abolition.

The slave trade traversed an unholy triangle from Africa to the Caribbean and then to America. The treatment was the same in both locations, inhumane and barbaric but it started from the moment they were captured in their homeland and sold to the captains of the slave ships. African poverty was so pervasive in those times, it was easy to convince the locals to trade their brothers and sisters for pieces of gold and silver. In fact like a piece of meat they were actually sold twice, first by their own countrymen and then by the Captains to the plantation owners for the highest price. After spending months at sea cooped up like chickens in a pen amidst disease and filth those who survived were made shiny with oils and paraded like refurbished cars to be sold to the highest bidder.

By the far the greatest abuse perpetrated upon the peoples of African descent via the slave trade was not physical but mental and hence the reason why the present generation of African Americans needs to understand their history. Their ancestors were forced to give up their religious beliefs and pray to the western gods. Their culture ranging from African musical instruments and African food was utterly suppressed beyond recognition. They were forced to adopt western names and modes of dress, it was a complete and utter transformation of a people that should never have occurred.

So, go ahead and read the publications in school and college libraries but when you are ready for the real truth, go down south and talk to the elders, visit the churches and listen to the stories as they were handed down. But know this, what you are hearing would be no exaggeration as normally occurs when a story is retold countless times. In this case the stories might have become milder, the atrocities and abuse were ten times worse than we could begin to even imagine.