(Scroll down for a post show update.)
A very thoughtful and well written email arrived the other day from Michael, an intern at POV, politely asking for a plug for an upcoming show. It's supposed to air on 6/24/08 on PBS, and it's titled Traces of the Trade - A Story From the Deep North .
The show is about a woman who discovered that one of her ancestors was a slave trader, and Michael said he addressed me because of an opinion I expressed here a while back about slavery reparations.
It looks to be an interesting program.
Post show update --
Katrina Browne pulled the people together to make this show. She is a descendant of the DeWolf family of Bristol, Rhode Island, and she determined through her research that the DeWolf family was the largest slave trading family in U.S. history having caused the forced immigration of 10,000 Africans to the Americas.
She tracked down 200 DeWolf descendants and contacted them about accompanying her to retrace the slave trade route with a trip from Rhode Island, to Ghana, to Cuba, then back to Rhode Island and allow themselves to be filmed for this documentary. She received 60 replies, and nine agreed to participate.
One traveler said in advance of the trip that he feared that the trip wouldn't mean a lot to him, but in the next breath said that he also feared that it would mean a lot to him. His second fear came true. They all anticipated an emotional experience, and they got it as they toured places where the slave facilities in Ghana and Cuba once existed.
There was some background about the business model of the slave trade, and it was interesting to learn that the American slave traders purchased the slaves in Ghana using tobacco, rum, hats, handkerchiefs, bread and mackerel as currency for exchange. There wasn't much made of the fact that Africans actually sold the slaves to the American slave traders, but one of the Americans did ask a Ghanan historian about the possibility that slavery actually started in Africa. He explained helpfully:
You see first of all, we should acknowledge the fact that slavery is not peculiar to Africa. Every civilization, Mesopotamia through China, India, Ancient Greece Rome, has known slavery. Secondly, remember that those who participated in the slave trade from the Africa point of view were not ordinary people as the European records indicate. They were the kings, principal men, wealthy people.
Viewers are left to wonder if the descendants of those kings, principal men and wealthy people are as guilt ridden about their ancestors' deeds as are our ten Americans.
Once the trip was over the ten upper middle class, ivy league educated, progressive Americans met to explore their feelings and try to figure out what should be done. Slavery reparations is the solution they settled on.
Many of us white folks who recently watched the clips of Jeremiah Wright preaching fire, brimstone, and damnation of America were stunned to realize that the attitude we witnessed and the sense that there was something owed was quite common in the black community. How wrong we were to think that the race issue had ended with equal rights.
But, there's something very wrong with reparations. It's punitive, and although there are people who would never be satisfied with anything less than punishment, there are many more people who might be subjected to this punishment who don't feel any of the blame and guilt felt by the people in the film. And it would merely shift the feeling of unfairness from one set of people to another.
So what do we do? The issue doesn't have an easy answer. But any resolution has to be voluntary and not forced, otherwise we would be making the same mistake twice. Those so inclined can and should make reparations -- set up a trust, fund it, and go to work. But it should be voluntary. Each of us, whether black, white or other is going to have to work it out his/her own way. And hopefully, if it isn't already so, there will be no place in the US where people are judged by the color of their skin.
Addendum. Previously on these pages: Slavery Reparations on 1/30/04 and subsequently: How firm is Mr. Obama's stand against slavery reparations? Does it matter? on 10/28/08
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