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Slavery Reparations in Perspective

by William Kweku Asare

108 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-1209; ISBN 1-55395-494-7; US$15.00, C$18.50, EUR12.10, £8.40

Agitation for compensation for the Atlantic Slave Trade rages on. Meanwhile another slave trade has started.

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about the book      about the author      reviews      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book Slavery Reparations in Perspective discusses the claims for reparations for the Atlantic slave trade by Black-Americans and some Africans. It identifies the true victims and all the perpetrators. The book examines the pros and cons of the claims and highlights the resurgence of the African slave trade. It appeals to everyone to help in the resolution of the reparations question, as well as nipping the emergent slave trade and the associated problems in the bud. Governments, international organizations and N.G.Os are all to get involved.

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About the Author William Kweku Asare was born on the 26th of July, 1950 in Bodada-Buem in Ghana. He graduated with B.A. (Hons) History from the University of Ghana in 1974 and P.G.D.E from University of Cape Coast, Ghana in 1997. He has taught history in Secondary Schools in Ghana and Nigeria. Currently he is a history teacher at Mpraeso Secondary School in Ghana. He is married with three children and is a practising Christian.

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Praise for Slavery Reparations in Perspective

BOOK REVIEW

First of all, I wish to congrate William Kweku Asare for writing this book, which is timely and useful. The question of slavery and reparation is a very important one. The rape of Africa and its lingering consequences must be kept alive in our memories so that we are guided away from such devastating incidents in our history.

I find the book very comprehensive in ets details. It covers the various types of slave trade that Africa has suffered and not only the notorious Atlantic Slave Trade. It also gives details on the advocacy and the reasons that led to the end of the Slave Trade. It was not all humanitarian as we were taught when we went to school. There were several economic reasons that again served European interest. These are offered with the expertise of an accomplished historian, with dates and detailed explanations.

At the core of the book is the question of responsibility for the enslavement of Africans and their transportation to other parts of the world where in spite of deep humiliation, they became instruments of production and helped build economies, thus depriving the continent of such human resources and development. The author is very candid in his discussions. As he states clearly on page 86 "The facts of the slave trade show that both Africans and foreigners share the blame. Any attempts to shift blame on any group of foreigners will be a manifestation of blaming others syndrome".

This recognition of blame for Africans as detailed by the author is a very realistic depature point from many discussions on African role in slavery. Probably he does not detail blame to Europeans extensively because previous writers have done that. Nevertheless, this important departure is relevant as the author does not only deal with the past but with lingering manifestations of slavery such as child trafficking and cultural practices that enslave and continue to denigrate life on the continent. The thrust of the book is that in the light of these lingering manifestations of slavery, it is important for Africans and African mations to build a Human Rights culture both in our traditional and modern socio-political cultures. I find this and many portions of the book a moral commentary on contemporary African politics and development.

The book is not only about the slavery but also reparation. The author therefore also discusses the question of reparation, the arguments for it and against it. His own position is that and I quote "Once Africans share the guilt, there is no justification for reparation" (p.84). Proponents of reparation may, of course dispute this position. In spite of this position, William Kweku Asare in his closing chapters recommends reparation from African and Europeans alike. For the former he recommends an apology to descendants of kith and kin sold into Slavery. This should be a true soul-cleansing act of repentance. From the European and other enslavers, the book calls again for an apology and the resolve to abolish all vestiges of slavery and racial abuse. Though the author advocates reparation in the form of some sort of Marshall Plan for Africa he does not see it as a right due to Africa but as a sign of friendship and sympathy. This position, I am sure would be subject to debate since it seems to remove a moral commitment on the part of foreign perpetrators of slavery.

The book ends with recommendations for building social and political institutions that uphold good governance, human rights and development that lifts Africa and Africans out of the quagmire of poverty, which often provides the chains for enslavement of minds and bodies.

One particular recommendation that strikes me is the need for education on all these matters. I think this education should start with recommending and advocating a wide readership for this book "Slavery Reparations in Perspective".

I believe that the subject matter of the book is vital to our self-image, identity and understanding. Indeed many of us are ignorant of details of slavery and its concequences. This book is therefore a useful text for our various institutions of learning and the general public at large aon this painful history of Africa.

Though filled with historical facts and details the book is very narrative in style and readable. Indeed, its discussion of contemporary issues drawing not only on academic works but popular media such as the newspapers engages the reader and makes good reading. The chaptering is good and the printed work is very clear and readable.

The call for education itself reminds us of the need to develop a reading culture in the country to have a well-informed and educated populace. This may call for a revamp of the public library systems backed by the formation of topica issues that facilitate the education of a populace wider than and beyond those in our classrooms.

This I believe will widen the scope of our emancipation so that we can take the shackles not only off out bodies, but also off our minds and thereby free our beloved continent Africa and her people everywhere.

Once again I congratulate the author for a good service done to Africa and her Diaspora.
- Rev. Professor Elom Dovlo

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The case for reparations has been made very strongly from both the historical and economic perspectives. This is a book Pan-African activitists and historians cannot ignore.
- Kwesi Pratt, Jnr. Editor, THE INSIGHT

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BEFORE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO BE FREE: THE DEBATE OVER SLAVERY REPARATIONS

Slavery reparations in perspective
by William Kweku Asare
Trafford publishing

Mr. Asare's work is a timely addition to the literature on slavery in general and the compensation controversy in particular.

It arrives in an era in which politicians and their publics both in Africa and the West are revisiting the issues raised by the slave trade, notably at the World Conference Against Racism in 2001 where discussions on reparations were initiated. The German foreign minister Joschka Fischer is just one example of a senior European politician who has contributed to the debate in recent years, declaring that it was the duty of all those involved in the barbaric trade "to recognise guilt, assume responsibility and face up to historical obligations". Asare's work will help the reading public to decide where guilt lies and what must now be done wherever it finds an audience.

Asare declares that his central purpose is to provide enough information to allow readers to make an "objective decision" on the difficult and pressing question of compensation. He certainly outlines and summarises in a balanced manner the various arguments for and against reparations, and also gives a brief but sufficiently detailed historical background as a context. For these reasons the book is likely to prove useful to students and others unfamiliar with the debate.

The author traces the development of the case for reparation from Chief M.K.O. Abiola onwards. At the heart of the argument put forward by reparationists are several key contentions. The first, which everyone must agree on, is that the slave trade in all its various forms was a barbaric and inhuman act. The Trans-Atlantic trade, on which the question on compensation centers, involved the transportation of between 10 and 22 million Africans from 1500 to 1900. As many as 2 million slaves may have died in transit alone, according to the estimate by the historian K. Shillington. Once enslaved, Africans were condemned to a life of subjection and hard labour. Reparationists argue that the descendants of slaves who were transported should be compensated by those who enslaved them. He second strand in the case for reparation is the egregious effects of the slave trade on Africa and its development. The continent lost many of its productive workers, particularly the crucial 15 - 30 males who were targeted by traders. "Europeans," asserts Asare in his interpretations of the case for compensation, "must accept responsibility for the socio-economic woes of Africa". It is also clearly the case that the trade was an economic exploitation, in which African chiefs (more on their role later) exchanged slaves for low value but attractive goods such as small amounts of tobacco or alcohol. The third strand of the case blames the development of large-scale inter-ethnic warfare in Africa on the introduction of guns and other weapons of technology by the Europeans. According to Asare "many African societies abandoned their former traditional practice of exhausting every possible peaceful means of settling misunderstandings between them and embarking on wars only as a last resort." Perhaps such a sweeping generalization is justified, but regrettably the author provides no historical evidence to support this claim. It is a major weakness of the book that Asare's assertions are occasionally not substantiated by facts. In any case, the fourth principal pillar of the reparationist argument is that just as Africa suffered a massive economic hindrance from the loss of a significant proportion of the workforce, so the New World and its masters gained from the influx of free labour. All the wealth derived from slavery cannot be seen, therefore, as the legitimate property of the West and consequently should be returned. Asare also emphasises the significant role freed slaves played in the Union victory in the U.S. Civil War 1861-65, and the contributions of African-Americans to U.S. culture and society.

Despite the apparent strengths of these arguments, the case for reparations is far from complete. A great difficulty for reparations is the high level of African complicity in slavery. It is widely known and accepted that the Trans-Saharan Trade, which predates the Trans-Atlantic Trade, was carried out with the help of the Ancient Sudanese empires. So there is no justification for the idea that it was introduced by Europeans.

It is an exaggeration to say, as Asare does that "The whole of Africa was involved either as captors, suppliers or users." But it is not far off.

Nor will it do to argue that African chiefs lacked knowledge.

Guns and gunpowder craved.

Different forms of slavery - economic background is it simply a way of trying to take money from those with it? No one is asking the Arabs or the Persians who carried out the East African trade to pay anything back. Is this because they are not as manifestly wealthy as the U.S and Europe? Abhorrent comments - "we can learn from the Jews."

Attempts to build an economic case are absurd. Moral reasons must be then core.

West does a lot already

Asare neglects, however, one key point in the case against the imposition of reparations. That is the universal truth that man is responsible for his own actions but cannot be held to account for those of his ancestors or even the previous generation. They were obviously carried out without the present generation's knowledge or input. The people of the West today cannot be forced to give away their money for the mistakes of the past any more than they could be forced to serve time in jail for a murder committed by someone else. If the international community could somehow compel the West to pay compensation for slavery, which of course is an absurd proposition given the current global balance of power, then the floodgates would open. Would we allow, for example, the Russians to claim compensation from Mongolia for the damage done to their social and economic structures by Genghis Khan in the 13th century? Could the descendants of Kaiser Wilhelm II be tracked down and forced to compensate the descendants of millions of victims of the First World War? If humans cannot draw a line under history, even the most awful events of the past, then our future will be governed by hate and prejudice.

Asare's final position on the compensation debate is infinitely more sensible than that of the out-and-out reparationists or those who dismiss any idea of restitution. He argues that the West could launch something akin to the Mashall Plan for Africa, "not as a matter of right, but in the spirit of co-operation and unity." Any reparations must be voluntary, based on acceptance of the idea that a small part of the wealth of the West has been accumulated by immoral means and should be returned to its rightful owners. It would be the right thing to do, and the people of the West and their governments must acknowledge this and act.

The scope of Asare's work, however, extends beyond the issue of reparations. Asare also highlights the ways in which slavery has persisted in Africa and other parts in the form of child labour and human trafficking. It is abundantly clear from the evidence assembled by the author that slavery is not dead, and indeed the reader may well agree with Mr. Asare's contention that a Œsecond abolition' is required. This interesting additional theme lends the book further contemporary resonance. However, in light of the author's declaration that the compensation issue is of secondary importance to the eradication of modern slavery in all its forms, it is somewhat surprising that he devotes so much of this book to discussing reparations.

Racist overtones of 'white and black'

Despite its faults, though, Asare's work is characterized by a balanced and judicious approach to immensely difficult and controversial issues. Slavery reparations in Perspective stands as an excellent introduction to the current debate.
- Jonathan Edwards, THE INSIGHT, (20TH * 21ST AUGUST 2003)