KWAME, THE LAST SLAVE FROM WEST AFRICA AND AFTERMATH

The day was sunny and the sky was blue andinventions of new and ear-splitting music, incompatible
gorgeous. Kwesi had just arrived from spear throwingto the life styles of the Americans were created. One
contest. He was sent by his mother to collect maizeproblem led to the other, and different tribes from
from the farm and he walked through the bushes.Africa with different backgrounds continued to live
Suddenly, he heard some noises and thought theyunder the same roof.
were bush pigs and took a closer look. Two angryAs time passed, the Americans began to find out
men emerged from the bushes with guns andabout the special traits of the slaves. Before then, the
machetes. Kwame was terrified and gasped for air.genetic and cultural traits of the slaves and the
One of the men handcuffed him and he was put intoemancipated slaves were interpreted as idle, criminal,
chains. Kwesi, together with other slaves were sailedargumentative and noisy. The succeeding generations
to the Americas; they were sold and utilized asendeavoured to look for some centre of logic and
workers on American earth.genuineness. They attempted to build commonsensical
They landed at Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 andsystems in favour of the African-Americans but their
worked together with some poor Americans. Kwameefforts always ran into barricades. There were
laboured intensively and conscientiously. He worked onexplosive developments in the understandings of the
rice, tobacco, sugar cane, and cotton farms. OthersAmericans and in their logical abilities. Their way of
were sent to docks to work as craft workers andthinking was transformed and they entered into
housekeeping. Some of the slaves were sent toconversation on the subject of society, evolution,
northern American provinces where they worked onpolitical principles, and religious conviction in all manner
small farms. Minority of the slaves were employed asof truth-seeking topics and themes to improve the
shipbuilders, fishermen, and craftsmen.American society on the subject of racism and
Kwesi was law abiding citizen, well disciplined andsegregation. Parents began to educate their children.
respectful and served his master obediently andChristopher’s family worked unbreakably hard on
unfailingly. Kwesi was given English names, Christopherfarms and factories. Educations were poor and with
Purpleton. Kwesi was the main provider of food for histhe passing of time few received education.
family in Africa and speculated often about how theyThere was poverty everywhere amongst the
would survive without him. His father was old andAfrican-American society but it was fewer amongst
weak and his mother had three very young sons tothe Americans. In many areas, the standard of poverty
look after. Although, his mother was a hard workingwas immeasurable. The elderly African -Americans
woman Kwesi was not sure that her mother couldsuffered from financial difficulties and Dooley was
take care of the family. Kwesi was 21 years old at thegrieved by it. Executions were often higher amongst
time of his capture.the African-Americans than in the Americans and
Time passed and Kwame Christopher grew older incontributed to higher death rate amongst the
America. He observed how the African slaves wereAfricans-Americans. The death rate amongst the
arriving in huge numbers and around 1750, overAfrican-Americans doubled that of the United States
200,000 African slaves were shipped to America.of American soldiers in Second World War and an in
More slaves were shipped and the amount of theVietnam. They were mostly young African-
slaves increased to 700,000 in South Carolina,Americans. In the prisons, there were more
Maryland and Virginia. In 1641, Maryland was the firstAfrican-Americans on death row population than
state to institute slavery in America. Many slaves wereAmericans and the rate of imprisonment for
sold and the town was mainly populated by slaves.African-American women increased more often than
Time passed and Kwesi Christopher married and hadthat of American women. The great majority of the
a son, Dooley. His parents took good care of himimprisoned African-American had children. Americans
because Dooley`s mother was a housekeeper by thewith HIV received medical care and drug therapy
slave master, and as such, she was privileged. Hisreducing death rate of AIDS. The African-American
father was a law abiding slave. At the age of four,did not have such privileges. Killer diseases, such as
Dooley helped his mother at work until he was eightheart disease, cancer, stroke, AIDS, accidental
years old when he began to work on the plantation.homicide, diabetes, pneumonia, and influenza, chronic
Other slave children began to work on the plantationspulmonary disease and infant mortality were higher in
at the age of five. Portugal started the slave trade inAfrican-Americans. Severe high blood pressure that
1562 and from 1646 to 1790, it was a profitableled to stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure, were
business.higher amongst the African-American in all ages than in
The west coast of Africa was their main targetAmericans. The Africa-American had forty five
because it was easier to anchor their ships and thepercent of own homes as compared to sixty eight
elders were easily convinced to sell people captured inpercent of Americans. Over half of the
their tribal wars. The region was ruled by ancientAfrican-American population, between the ages of
empire of Ghana between 790 and1240 and Mali ruledtwenty-five and thirty-five were unemployed or had
the empire betrween1240 and1600. There were seriesless finance to feed a family of four. Amongst the
of tribal wars and ethnic tensions in Africa whichAfrican-Americans high school graduates, fewer men
produced many victims of war. The wars motivatedwere employed than Americans and many of
Westerners as negotiable basis for the slave trade.African-American high-school dropouts were
They offered guns, whiskeys and other commoditiesunemployed as compared to the number of dropouts
to the chiefs and elders.employed amongst the Americans. Many of the
Cheap labour was needed by the westernersAfrican-American children were not able to read in the
because of shortage of sugar, coffee, cotton, and4th grade. They were nearly over two thirds as
tobacco. Spain, France, the Dutch and the Englishcompared to under one third of the American children.
needed labour thus; they captured slaves to work onTHE ROOT OF SLAVERY AND RACISM
their plantations to produce money-makingDooley and his descendants studied the root of
merchandise. Kwesi and his descendants witnessedslavery. They found out that around 414 B.C. the
their profitability. The slave business was given theGreek, Aristotle, favoured slavery and was confident
name “black gold” in 1672.that Greek society could not survive without them.
Cargoes of rum, brandy, glass, cloths, beads, guns, andThey accepted the Greek vision of slavery because
other appealing goods were transported from thethe slaves were honoured. A male slave was priced
west to Africa and, tribal war captives weremore than a female and less to a boy. The Greeks
exchanged for their goods. Slave ships sailed fromhad the opinion that slavery was essential to life thus; a
West Africa to the West Indies, Cuba, Jamaica, Puertoslave of desirable quality was allowed to marry and
Rico, Haiti, Santo Domingo, St. Thomas, and St. John, Sthad a family. The Greeks rewarded good slaves for
Croix and Barbados and off-loaded slaves to work ontheir trustworthiness. On the other hand, those who
their sugar plantations and Islands. From there, rawwere disobedient were harshly punished. A number of
commodities were lasted on board to distilleries inslaves were engaged as cooks, washerwomen,
Bristol and Rhode Island to produce rum fromconcierge, cleaner, escorts, messengers, nurses,
molasses. They continued their voyage to Southcompanions, teachers and tutors. The slaves solved
Carolina, Charleston, and Boston Massachusetts,hateful problems and other difficulties were remedied.
where the slaves were paid for. From there, theyA few number of the woman slaves were allowed to
loaded cotton, sugar and tobacco and sailed tolive in the Kings palace. They were the chosen ones
England. From England they sailed back to Africa withbecause they were very beautiful, attractive and
more rum for more slaves.eye-catching. Their duties were to grind wheat and
In 1768, 53,000 slaves were transported every year.hard seeds of food plants. Greek slaves were
The French transported 3, 000, the Dutch, 11,000 andexpected to spin and weave. They had rankings from
the Portuguese, 8,700 slaves respectively. Altogether,the lowest ranked slave women to the highest ranked
10 million slaves were transported to the Americas.slave. Spinning and weaving was part of the woman`s
The Africans were branded as inferior beings, sinnersrole. Raw wool was shorn from sheep. The
against God and were doomed for destruction. Themanufacturing of fabric was time consuming because
slaves realized the intent of their slave masters andit involved long trips and labour intensive activity which
tried to run away. They were called maroon-consisted of pilling of animal hairs to a fine fabric. There
renegades. The lucky slaves, who escaped throughwas division of labor amongst the slaves.
thick forests, married Native Americans and becameThe men worked on the farms. Whenever a woman
Black Indians.slave was brought to the palace they were subjected
As years passed the slave business became ato rituals which, were planned to position them under
teething problem for American. The British abolishedsecurity of the goddess of hearth. Thus, there was
the slave trade in 1807 and in 1808, the slave tradenearness connecting master and slave. It was alleged
was illegal however, it continued for nearly 60 years.that Odysseus, following twenty years of absence, his
After the American Civil War, Abraham Lincolntwo faithful slaves Emails and Philoitos embraced him
prohibited slavery throughout the United States in 1865.and placed their arms around him and kissed him on
Anti-Slave movements were established to fight downhis homecoming to Ithaca. They were so close that
slavery, definitely.the slaves who were employed at the palace were
Christopher’s son, Dooley, was educated by theoften buried in family burial areas at the side of their
slave masters’ daughter, Aileen, during nightly hours.masters and mistresses. As a result, the slaves
He tiptoed to be schooled in a church nearby. Slaveaccepted lifelessly the conditions in which they were
masters did not want their slaves to be converted toassigned to live. On the other hand, diverse Greeks
Christianity. The masters prohibited the slaves fromtreated their slaves differently.
learning how to read and they were prohibited fromIt was different from one family circle to the other. The
attending churches. However, in the Northern statesslaves were protected by the law against violence
they were allowed to attend church services but,and torment however; starvation and whipping were
drums which were used in traditional religiousimposed on those slaves who did not behave well.
ceremonies were prohibited because the slaveEscapee slave was branded with burning iron if
masters were of the opinion that they would use thecaptured. The slaves and their masters were very
drums to send messages to cause uprising. Some ofclose to such extend that a number of the slaves
the slaves escaped and left their families behind. Fromremitted fractions of their take-home pay to their
the age of twelve a slave girl was forced to havemasters. Slaves with other abilities were employed and
children in order to have more slaves for the slavepaid well. The slaves acknowledged the reality that
master. Kwesi eventually married. The marriagethey had to recognize defeat before they
ceremony was conducted by the slave master. Theoverpowered it and, felt under the circumstances
couple had to jump over a broom, laid down on theperfectly well. High-class people were often good
floor by the slave master before they were declaredbecause they protected and maintained their high
man and wife by the slave master. Before Kwesiquality. Evil people, they said, had immorality,
Christopher married Catherine, she was a house slavewickedness and malevolence in them because they
trained from her earliest infancy. Her work was tohad nothing to protect or maintain.
clean the house, make food, take care of the slaveIn Greece and in the 8th century B.C, the slaves were
masters children, wash clothes and had many oddmainly imported from Thrace (Bulgaria, Turkey),
jobs but, she was given privileges and was allowed toScythia (Ancient nomads, Iran), Illyria (Albania,
sleep near her master’s bedroom.Montenegro, southern Italy), Colchis (Georgian state),
Kwesi lived in wooden shacks with dirt floors. His bedSyria, Caria (origin unsure-Asia Minor) and Lydia
was made up of pieces of straw and grass but had a(Western Asia Minor Region, Provinces of
blanket to cover him. He was not alone; there wereTurkey-Izmir). They were generally obtained by piracy,
ten other slaves who slept with him in a small singlekidnapping or combat.
room. Although, Dooley was born in America, heIn the 17th century B.C., each resident had at least one
received the same treatments as the other slaves. Heslave. The poorest of the poorest Greek had even a
felt that he was more American thanslave. They had the opinion that an ox and a woman
African-American slave and deserved to be treatedslave were all that was necessary in farmer’s
better.existence. The price presented to slaves varied.
Kwesi, the father, had to put up with new cultures. HeEducated slave fetched more money as well as
had to put up with the culture of his son and theslaves with special skills, looks and attraction. Those
various customs and cultures of the other slaves fromwho were unskilled were prized less. Those with
Africa. The slaves’ cultural backgrounds weremanagerial skills were most prized. In Greece, some of
entirely different from tribe to tribe. Their Diasporasthe slaves were advantaged because; they were
were different as well as their behavioral patterns,owned by the community and included in them, were
criminal tendencies, idleness, alcoholism, resentments,panel of adjudicator clerks, public notaries, road
intelligence and awareness. Kwesi was of the opinionmenders and coin testers. Some worked in conjunction
that the traits played prime important part in thewith Athenian citizens in building, contracting business,
differences of the slave society because socializationand others kept peace and harmony in Athens.
was impossible but the slave owners treated themMany of the slaves who were hard workers were
harshly without considering the individual slave`sdescribed as “living separately”. Clashes
background.amongst the slaves and the Greeks minimized
Dooley observed that the some new generation inbecause, they were betrothed in high-ranking jobs
American discovered how humiliating slavery wassuch as managers of shops and factories. A number
however; they treated the slaves in much the sameof them even became prominent bankers, captains of
way as their predecessors. North Africans, thetrading ships, bailiffs and artisans. One even became
Netherlands, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the English,the wealthiest man in Athens. At times, it was difficult
the Swedes, the Danes and even the Australians,for the slaves because some of the lowest societies
New Zealanders and Asians copied from thein Athens considered themselves more superior and
American slave masters. Those who started slaverymore developed than anyone else on earth. SLAVE
were dead and gone but the new generationsPOPULATION Slave population grew in Athens. On
continued to treat the slaves in much the same waythe average Athenians owed two or three slaves and
as their slave owners. Sometimes, the Americansrich citizens had ten to twenty slaves. There was one
disliked their own people because they found themman by the name Nicias, one of the richest men in
uncultured.Athens; he possessed 1000 slaves in the 5th century
Kwesi and his descendants were subjected to hardB.C. He leased them out. Overall, there were over
work on farms, factories and many other menial jobs400.000 slaves in Athens in the late century B.C. Its
for the lowest pay. They were prohibited to enjoy theoccurrence was not industrial accident of history.
same facilities as the Americans. Education was poor.The slaves never searched for a line of attack. They
They were also prohibited to enter restaurants, trainstried to fit into the inflexible living of Athenians.
and busses. European countries monitored theWhatever the matter, the slaves kept quiet but felt
behavioural patterns of the Africans slaves.that they should be treated as skilful members of their
Westerners avoided living near the same apartmentcommunity but they not accepted. They waited
complex as the Africans and in Britain; they sold theirbecause they knew that time would abstain the
houses and left the grounds whenever an AfricanGreeks in clinging to their ideology.
settled in a house near them. Africans were notThe slave business alienated groups of human beings
permitted to enter amusement centres in Switzerlandinto races which was woven into the framework of
and fingers were pointed at them on streets. Incivilization and produced intolerance as well as split up
Thailand, they refused to talk with an African, in Honginto diverse national types such as Caucasian,
Kong; they compared their skin colour with AfricansMongoloid, Negroid, Indians, and Vietnamese and may
and pointed out that they had lighter skin colour. Danishothers. Consequently, racial discrimination was
parents pointed out unconsciously, Africans to theirunexpectedly based on the visible external quality that
children on the streets. In a mixed marriage, their grownindividuals had produced. The characterizations, black
up children shunned their African fathers or mothers. Inman, white man, had become an opinionated antique
Norway, the African could have an empty seat nearterm rather than excellence of individuals and various
him on a Bus, but a Norwegian would stand tiredly onhuman races.
the Bus and would never sit on an empty seat near anIn 18th century, bigotry was cost-effective to Britain
African because they felt bumpy. The Swedish, theand a group of European countries. The earliest
Norwegians, the Finish, the Danes, the Dutch, themerchants sailed to Africa had a vision to achieve
Singaporeans, Tunisians, Russians, and other countriesriches, possessions and assets. Once they gained their
in the Eastern Blocks imitated American ideologies andproceeds they classified the Africans as substandard.
practised segregation as well as people with fair colourThe ignorant and ill-mannered assumptions coagulated
in Africa.into a conviction and principles to give good reason for
Africans began to bleach their skins to march up withtheir deeds because they were conscious of the
conditions in the world. Africans activities were closelyhurtfulness of prejudice and how it affected society.
monitored and the African felt spiky. People living in theDarwin’s information on the subject of
Arctic countries made many Africans feel scratchydevelopment, even though mistakenly interpreted, gave
and cut off.Westerners logical good reason of genuineness of
During the slave era, the original home town ofprejudice. Individuals misinterpreted his conclusion that
Kwame in Africa stagnated in developments. ThereAfricans could not continue to exist because they
were no people to build their country because thecould not survive on earth.
strong and the brave ones had been captured intoBLACK PEOPLE AND CAUCASUS The Blacks
slavery. These and other contributory factors becameoccupied southern Russia as well as the Black Sea
the major causes of stagnant developments in WestRegion since 2000 B.C.: They dominated the region.
Africa.The Caucasus Mountain stretched for over 500 miles
The African-Americans had housing shortages thus;between the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The
they were crowded in slums without possibility ofregion formed natural barrier between Asia and
modernization. Their speaking language, English,Europe. On the northern plains was Russia and the
became distorted with different clangs due to theirmountain regions of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
ancestral traits and intermingling with other slaves fromformed the southern border. The Greek slave trade
various West African countries in America.activities had its origin in the region. The weather was
The African-Americans were placed in slums.strongly affected by the Black Sea. The Caucuses
Eventually, the crowded slums were cleared up andwas divided into three areas, the central, western and
new and modern houses and environments wereeastern regions. The people were albino mutants who
created. House prices of the private entrepreneursmigrated from Africa. There were many people in their
were rocket high. The African-Americans were paidsociety with leprosy, an infectious disease causing
minimum wages thus, they could not afford. Manypainful white patches on the skin. However, a
moved to major cities but that resulted inCaucasia race with blonde hair, blue eyes, and
unemployment and poverty. Poverty led to criminality,alabaster skin was highly desirable. Because of their
criminality led to imprisonments, fear exacerbated toalbinism, most of their relatives vanished from the
segregation, segregation led to new forms of lifesociety to the northern regions to avoid segregation.
styles leading to eccentric behavioral patterns and