Slavery in Africa: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Analysis

Introduction

Throughout history, slavery in Africa has taken a variety of forms—from slavery stemming from the outcome of war, where enemies taken captive are sold into slavery, to debt slavery, plantation slavery, and criminal slavery. For many African states, slavery offered an opportunity to boost their economies: Africans viewed slaves as commodities to buy and sell as well as free labor to work in the commerce industry (Austin, 2017). Today slavery still exists in parts of Africa, though the practice was officially abolished in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a result of the anti-slavery movement in Europe (Klein, 1978), with Niger and Mauritania being the last holdouts to criminalize slavery in 2003 and 2007, respectively. Nonetheless, it is widely reported that slavery as a practice is still alive and well, with an estimated 8% of Niger's population being held in slavery (Andersson, 2005) and people in Sudan being sold into slavery in the wake of the civil war there (Bederman, 2013). This paper discusses the problem of slavery in Africa from the standpoints of ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ethos: The Moral Case Against Slavery

From the standpoint of ethos, it must be said that it is immoral and unethical for slavery to exist in Africa, and it must be fought against. While slavery in ancient Africa resembled more of a system of indentured servitude—with some slaves retaining certain rights—the introduction of chattel slavery, which treated slaves as essentially less than human with no rights whatsoever, changed what little good existed about the practice (Lovejoy, 2012). Throughout the history of Africa, slavery negatively impacted societies and cultures, displacing hundreds of thousands of people from one part of the continent to another and eventually around the world once the Arab slave trade began. This destabilizing effect made slavery an immoral practice even when it was a financially profitable one for those who engaged in the slave trade.

The Atlantic slave trade is seen as one of the worst examples of slavery to emerge from Africa, with estimates of the number of slaves sold during this period ranging between 8 and 20 million Africans (Curtin, 1972). This slave trade lasted for centuries, spanning the 15th to the 20th century. Many people lost their lives due to the harsh conditions of this trade, and those who managed to survive were in most cases sold into chattel slavery to farm and till the lands of the New World. The immoral nature of this slave trade was hotly contested and debated in the civilized world of the West, yet it took centuries before the practice was finally abolished. Still, as parts of Africa are subjected to war—as in Sudan—and the chaos of weak governmental oversight—as in Niger—the enslavement of Africans continues, and this immoral practice is perpetuated from one generation to the next. Some people are born into slavery in parts of Africa even today and never know freedom. This is unfortunate because, as Freire (2000) points out, "if I do not love the world—if I do not love life—if I do not love people—I cannot enter into dialogue…[and that] dialogue cannot exist without humility" (p. 90). In order to stop slavery in Africa today, there needs to be a greater measure of humility and love—a prospect that is made increasingly unlikely as Africa's resources become the focus of competing powers looking to exploit the earth and the people inhabiting the land to enrich themselves.

Pathos: Human Suffering and Personal Testimony

From the standpoint of pathos, it can be said that everyone who has experienced slavery knows what it means to be held captive against one's will, forced to work against one's will, and made to serve someone else against one's will. Slavery carries profound psychological and sociological consequences: it oppresses the minds of both the enslaved and those in society who permit it (Freire, 2000). In Africa, slavery existed for many centuries across the continent, and even as colonial powers began to exert their influence, slavery continued in various forms. People do not like to think that what they are doing violates natural law—especially when they stand to profit from it personally. But when a country allows slavery to exist, it undermines its own national character, its own spiritual health, and its own justification for existing in the first place. Every person who is enslaved is a call to the rest of humanity—a reminder that the dark side of human nature still exists, and that people in positions of power have a responsibility to confront and restrain it. From Sudan to Niger to other parts of Africa where slavery remains a norm despite laws banning it, there is a need for genuine human leadership to intervene and put an end to this suffering.

The stories of modern-day slaves are important to hear because they shed light on reality. Simon Aban Deng, for instance, is a former slave from Sudan. He spent several years of his youth as a child slave: "at nine he had been taken to Northern Sudan by Abdullahi, an Arab neighbour, enslaved for three and a half years by Abdullahi's family. He was beaten, worked constantly, slept with the animals and ate leftovers" (Bederman, 2013). Yet he was only one of many thousands "sold into slavery in the north as concubines, domestic servants, and farm labourers" (Bederman, 2013). In 2008, the Sudanese government estimated "that at least 35,000 were still enslaved in the borderland of Northern and Southern Sudan" (Bederman, 2013). Many of these people are Christians—"taken north and forced to convert to Islam or die," their faces branded to mark them as the property of another (Bederman, 2013). The cruelty of slavery and the barbarity of this practice are recounted by survivors like Deng, who made it to the West and told their stories in hopes of making a difference. A difference can be made—but it requires a united effort on all fronts in order to stop this menace from spreading further throughout Africa and, indeed, the rest of the world.

Conclusion

Slavery has existed in Africa for centuries in one form or another. However, as human rights and respect for others diminish, the forms that slavery takes become increasingly severe. Children are sold into slavery, beaten, and abused; women are subjected to the same fate; and men are forced to live as slaves for their entire lives even though slavery is officially outlawed. In states such as Sudan, Niger, Mauritania, and others, slavery persists because there is an economic incentive that comes from owning another person—free labor. Unstable governments, civil wars, and the quest for power through the exploitation of natural resources and human beings all allow slavery to be perpetuated. In order to stop it, activists are coming together and demonstrating before the UN—but the question remains whether anyone is truly listening. The problem with slavery in Africa today is that too many people are still willing to look the other way.

References

Andersson, H. (2005). Born to be a slave in Niger. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm

Austin, G. (2017). Slavery in Africa, 1804–1936. In D. Eltis, S. L. Engerman, S. Drescher, & D. Richardson (Eds.), The Cambridge world history of slavery: Volume 4, AD 1804–AD 2016. Cambridge University Press.

Bederman, D. (2013). Slavery in Africa is alive, well and ignored. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/diane-bederman/slavery-africa_b_3975881.html

Curtin, P. D. (1972). The Atlantic slave trade: A census. University of Wisconsin Press.

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.

Klein, M. A. (1978). The study of slavery in Africa. The Journal of African History, 19(4), 599–609.

Lovejoy, P. (2012). Transformations of slavery: A history of slavery in Africa. Cambridge University Press.