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Obamas Tour Slavers’ Fort In ‘Painful’ Ghana Visit
London Times ^ | July 1ith 2009

Posted on 07/11/2009 8:40:25 PM PDT by Steelfish

July 12, 2009

Obamas tour slavers’ fort in ‘painful’ Ghana visit

Jonathan Clayton in Cape Coast, Ghana

AMERICA’S first lady, Michelle Obama, fought back tears yesterday as she toured a former Dutch slaving fort similar to the one in which it is believed her ancestors were held before being shipped to work on plantations in the deep south of the United States.

On the second day of President Barack Obama’s historic trip to sub-Saharan Africa, the first family flew from the capital, Accra, for a tour of the restored 17th-century Cape Castle, previously one of the biggest slave outposts on the West African coast.

“As painful as it is, I think that it helps to teach all of us that we have to do what we can to fight against the kinds of evils that sadly still exist in our world, not just on this continent but in every corner of the globe,” said the president.

Before the visit, Michelle Obama, whose great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, her oldest known relative, was born into slavery on a rice plantation in South Carolina, was made “Queen of the Cape Coast” by traditional chiefs of the region.

The couple and their children, Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11, then descended the narrow staircase into the dark dungeons of the ocean-side fort where thousands of slaves were kept for up to 12 weeks waiting for a ship to dock.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: africa; bhoafrica; bhovisit; dutchslavingfort; ghana
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1 posted on 07/11/2009 8:40:25 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: Steelfish
I wonder if Obama told his daughters that his Kenyan ancestors were the ones who captured rival tribesmen and brought them to what is now Ghana to be sold to the Europeans and Moslems.

Probably not.

2 posted on 07/11/2009 8:42:34 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: hinckley buzzard
I wonder if Obama told his daughters that his Kenyan ancestors were the ones who captured rival tribesmen and brought them to what is now Ghana to be sold to the Europeans and Moslems.

Most liberals re-write history, so you are probably correct.
3 posted on 07/11/2009 8:44:11 PM PDT by Cheerio (Barack Hussein 0bama=The Complete Destruction of American Capitalism)
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To: Steelfish

How about all the “whites” that have been slaves over time. There are few cultures that haven’t be slaves at some time or other. Gee, only blacks have been slaves, give me a break.


4 posted on 07/11/2009 8:46:03 PM PDT by doc1019 (YO! You are also half white Â… recognize it, deal with it.)
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To: Steelfish
This is Enough of this BS Boo Hoo Get over it and does not work any more Just pisses People off who are Damm tired of listening to this, The Africans were the ones who sold them..And I got news they would do it in a second again if no one was “looking.”
5 posted on 07/11/2009 8:48:08 PM PDT by Cheetahcat (Zero the Wright kind of Racist! We are in a state of War with Democrats)
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To: Steelfish

I am glad those poor people are remembered.

I do wish we would be more honest about the history of slavery, though. There were plenty of blacks culpable, still are in Africa.


6 posted on 07/11/2009 8:49:03 PM PDT by Marie2 (The second mouse gets the cheese.)
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To: Steelfish

“..Michelle Obama, fought back tears yesterday as she toured a former Dutch slaving fort similar to the one in which it is believed her ancestors were held before being shipped to work on plantations in the deep south of the United States.”

.
She should have fallen on her knees and thanked God. That was the only way for her to get on board of Air Force One.


7 posted on 07/11/2009 8:49:10 PM PDT by 353FMG (Death is Life without Freedom.)
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To: hinckley buzzard
I doubt the Luo took people all the way from East Africa to West Africa. Much easier to just sell them to the Arab slavers on the coast.

Still, Obama does have slave ancestry ~ on his mother's side, but not "black slaves". Whole bunch of those guys back there (in one of the most comprehensive genealogies anyone in America could ever build) lived in and among the Iriquois constituent nations ~ some as slaves, some as contractors, some as legitimate recognized settlers.

A good number of the Scots in that genealogy were NOT indentured servants; they were, instead, captured and convicted criminals and rebels serving out life terms at hard labor in America.

There was a time when America wasn't all Disneyland and McDonalds you know, and Obama's mother's family were here from the very foundations and they served in all the roles.

It is truly unfortunate he knows none of this.

8 posted on 07/11/2009 8:49:47 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Steelfish

Wonder if he’ll stop over and pay his brother a visit?


9 posted on 07/11/2009 8:53:19 PM PDT by bigbob
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To: doc1019
How about all the “whites” that have been slaves over time?

They are called "taxpayers".


A verbis ad verbera

10 posted on 07/11/2009 8:53:39 PM PDT by Costumed Vigilante (Congress: When a handful of evil morons just isn't enough)
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To: Costumed Vigilante

LOL!


11 posted on 07/11/2009 8:54:15 PM PDT by doc1019 (YO! You are also half white Â… recognize it, deal with it.)
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To: 353FMG

YES, however, Meechelle is a racist.....so....she wants to keep the story...er lie.... alive


12 posted on 07/11/2009 8:54:45 PM PDT by goodnesswins (For lease)
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To: Jim Robinson

Irony comes from many places and many forms...

From the article:

snip
Before the visit, Michelle Obama, whose great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, her oldest known relative, was born into slavery on a rice plantation in South Carolina, was made “Queen of the Cape Coast” by traditional chiefs of the region.

end snip


13 posted on 07/11/2009 8:54:58 PM PDT by deport
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: Steelfish

OMG, get over it. It didn’t happen to you, it didn’t happen to anyone close to you, so how is it painful for you?

Horrible things happened to my ancestors too, and to antecedents who were far closer to me than these slave antecedents were to Michelle Obama. I don’t get all teary-eyed when I contemplate the places where they suffered and died. They aren’t hurting anymore.

Adults who are not drama queens control themselves and do not agonize over events in the distant past.


15 posted on 07/11/2009 9:04:14 PM PDT by ottbmare (Ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Obama!)
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To: Steelfish
President Barack Obama is a history maker and world shaker! He generates excitement and induces hope in young and old, black and white, Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Buddists all over the world! It is truly incredible! No politician has had such an effect on so many people, except Mandela! Stephen Delsol , Greenville (SC), USA

Blech!
16 posted on 07/11/2009 9:08:00 PM PDT by Rodebrecht (What are you and who do you want?)
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To: hinckley buzzard
I don't care who did the enslaving, I would be fighting tears too if I visited Cape Castle--and losing the fight. I did when I visited Dachau.

If the truth were known--and not lost in the darkness of prehistory--we are all, no doubt, descendants of slaves and enslavers.

Slavery is one of the most hideous evils ever devised by man. In the early part of the 20th century, before World War I, anyone could buy a man, woman, or child in some parts of Europe and do with them whatever he pleased. This is too hideous to contemplate, but it is true.

What's even more hideous to contemplate and every bit as true is this: Slavey exists TODAY in some parts of the world!

Antislavery organizations are in existence. The American Antislavery Group is one. Anyone who is outraged and horrified by the continued existence of slavery in our world should contribute to the work of these groups.

17 posted on 07/11/2009 9:08:19 PM PDT by Savage Beast ("Liberalism" is a psychosis. Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat.)
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To: hinckley buzzard

Or did he take them to the ports where the British ships blockaded the Slave ports and ended the shipping of slaves from Africa to the Americas?

Or that most slaves shipped out of Africa ended up in South America?


18 posted on 07/11/2009 9:22:30 PM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: hinckley buzzard

He won’t admit he is enslaving Americans to government dependance either.

But both are true.


19 posted on 07/11/2009 9:28:04 PM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
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To: Steelfish

Barry’s ancestors probably owned Michelle’s.


20 posted on 07/11/2009 9:30:01 PM PDT by MuttTheHoople
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