|
|
|
 > |
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
Posted on 07/08/2003 8:59:21 AM PDT by Brian_Baldwin
GOREE ISLAND, Senegal July 8 —
President Bush paid homage Tuesday to African slaves who passed through the port here, calling slavery "one of the greatest crimes of history" that nonetheless stirred America's commitment to freedom.
"Liberty and life were stolen and sold," Bush said after touring a centuries-old house that was used as a processing center for countless thousands of Africans who were herded aboard ships that took them into slavery in America.
"Human beings delivered, sorted, weighed, branded with marks of commercial enterprises and loaded as cargo on a voyage without return," Bush said. "One of the largest migrations in history was also one of the greatest crimes of history."
Bush did not apologize for slavery but noted Americans throughout history "clearly saw this sin and called it by name."
"For 250 years, the captives endured an assault on their culture and their dignity. The spirit of Africans in America did not break," Bush said.
"Yet the spirit of their captors was corrupted. Small men took on the powers and airs of tyrants and masters. Years of unpunished brutality and bullying and rape produced a dullness and hardness of conscience."
Bush said some have argued that "we should not judge their failures by the standards of a later time. Yet in every time there were men and women who clearly saw this sin and called it by name."
The president recited a litany of Africans and African Americans who made contributions to American society, from the arts to politics: abolitionist Frederick Douglass, slave-poet Phillis Wheatley and Martin Luther King Jr.
"The stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America," he said.
"America learned that freedom is not the possession of one race," Bush said.
Photo credit and caption: U.S. President George W. Bush takes a look out to sea from the departure portal of The Slave House, on Goree Island in Senegal, July 8, 2003. Goree Island was a slave trade depot for millions of Africans between the 16th and 18th centuries. Bush flew to Africa Tuesday with promises of aid and a message of hope, but his five-nation trip was likely to be overshadowed by the conflicts besetting the continent. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
This whole war in Liberia, Bush probably getting us involved and all, the slavery days stuff from Bush, and money for AIDS in Africa, I guess the idea of Bush is to get the African-American vote. Boy, this is a real good strategery.
Hey! Should Bush visit a slave caravan while he’s in Senegal? The Mauritanian Government has been accused of doing nothing to stop slavery, even though the practice was outlawed there 20 years ago. There are really on the up and up with the whole slavery days thing in Africa, Mauritania outlawed slavery in the 1980’s. However, the “human rights group”, Amnesty International, said: "No concrete steps appear to have been taken to make the abolition a reality." The Moors (Africans who follow Islam) trade in slaves, current market price is very cheap. Hey! Islam looks like it’s the only major religion that still openly practices slavery! That would be pertinent information in context of the subject of the whole slavery days thing, and kind of ties into our war on terrorism. Bush didn’t mention any of that, so I thought I would. Boubacar Messaoud of Senegal has been trying to campaign against African slavery in modern Africa by Africans – perhaps Bush should have payed a visit to Mr. Boubacar while in Senegal.
You know what? There’s open, practicing, slavery ALL OVER AFRICA, not just around the parts Bush is visiting of late. Slavery was wide open, normal, in Rwanda until 1965, and anyway, they made it illegal, but it’s still there and all over the place.
Anybody doing anything about it?
I think the real answer to the problem, is to talk about the old slavery days. And America should apologize for what the Arab slave traders and local black African cheifdoms did to the Africans. I think that would solve the problem of modern slavery in Africa. The answer to the slavery question in Africa isn’t to talk about slavery in Africa, it’s like what Bush does, to talk about slavery days of hundreds of years ago, not today. This is the answer to the slavery issue in Africa.
And, it’s a good way for Bush to get the black vote.
Victory is ours. Just so long as slavery is a great crime if it was practiced hundreds of years ago. If it is practiced today, than it is not only a great crime, it’s not worth even mentioning.
|
|
|
|
> |
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
I'm more than a little suspicious of the timing of this "new discovery." The involvement of many members of the Northern merchant class in the slave trade has been well known for many years.
You can BET that Jesse Jackson, Sharpton and the rest of the race pimps will now use this "new discovery" to say "See, slavery was even MORE widespread here than we thought. White America needs to pay us MORE REPARATIONS!"
Trust me on this.
**********
I consider Alan Keyes, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams possessed of three of the finest minds extant today. In case you don’t know them, all are black.
So far as I can tell, Keyes, Sowell and Williams oppose this idiotic call for reparations.
Those who are NOT descended from AMERICAN slaves need to sit down and shut up. Under even the most tortured, leftist, idiotic (redundant!) logic (oxymoron!), these people have no standing. And those who ARE descendants of slaves now calling for reparations need to remember a few things:
They should not only be glad to be in America, they should be glad to be ON THE PLANET! Had their forebears NOT been sold to the slave traders, the blood of their ancestors would have run into the earth over there several centuries ago. Their ancestors would have been killed outright or worked to death by the OTHER black tribes who captured them in one of the interminable tribal wars still raging on that sad continent. These modern day would-be "plaintiffs" would not even exist.
And should the great-great-great grandchildren of the approximately 3,000 SLAVE OWNING BLACK plantation owners in this country also be subject to PAYING reparations?
If so, how do we find THEM?
Robert Hitt Neill tells of attending a Tennessee Mountain Writer’s Conference years ago with several other authors. Among them was Alex Hailey, celebrated author of “Roots.” Watching a TV news show, a group of them watched a demonstration in a Southern state against the “Rebel” flag incorporated into that state’s flag. The very next report covered a famine in Africa. Graphic images showed dead bodies, starving children with distended tummies and runny noses and dying people covered with flies, too weak to brush them away.
Mr. Hailey intoned in a low, serious voice:
“Every time an American black sees a story like that, they should find a Confederate flag and kiss it.” He then pointed to the TV screen and continued, “Because these would be me and my descendants, except for American slavery. I thank God that my family and I are here instead of there.”
What about the millions STILL living in slavery, held there by members of THEIR OWN RACE in Africa and elsewhere today?
Do you suppose THEY are NOT targets of these reparations whores because they have little or nothing of value for which they can be EXTORTED?
And how about the MILLIONS of WHITES and ASIANS who have slavery in their backgrounds?
And I have SLAVIC roots on my dad’s side. Does anyone have Johnnie Cochran’s number – PHONE number, that is. Past time for ME to sue someone for MY reparations.
Next problem!
That being said, the Atlantic slave trade of about 10 million versus that Muslim slave trade of 15 million consisted more of purchase and trade in lives rather than direct capture and enslavement which the Muslims did as readily as the africans.
You can't visit Hiroshima and not mention the bomb. You can't go to africa and not mention slavery.
My source for the above figures and accessments is from my memeory of a section of Thomas Sowell's book Conquests and Cultures.
Yes, and every single one of these slaves shipped to the United States- when it truth less than 5% were imported into the US, the rest (95.3%)went to South American, Cen. American, Cuba and the west indies.
Brazil alone swallowed something like 40% of all African slaves over the centuries, yet there is never any outcry about that b/c Brazil is a poor country. Which proves once again, "Follow the money".
And if it ain't about votes - and if we live in a nation that measures all committments against "the national interest" - is this about oil?
Benin:
Till 17th century: ??
17th - late 19th century: Kingdom of Aborney
1904-1960: French West Africa
1960-1974: Democratic Republic of Dahomey
1975 - present: The Republic of Benin
Whew! Now I can be relieved of guilt over the trace of Dutch in my ancestry. :-)
That's easy. Nearly ALL of the threads on this forum are turning into anti-Bush attack platforms. (IMO)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.